The average American eats 142 pounds of taters a year. (Gene's family wasn't average. We ate potatoes at least twice a day back in the 40's and, on occasion, it was the only food on the table except for bread and milk.) Over 30 BILLION pounds of potatoes are grown in the US each year. Clemson Univ recommends leaving harvested potatoes exposed to the sun for 1-2 hours to allow for the soil to dry and fall off. Kansas State instructs "Do not expose to direct sunshine for more than 15 minutes on a hot day." Gene advises that neither living humans nor harvested potatoes will freeze if stored underground below the frost line (or on top of the ground in the Piedmont if covered well with 2 or more feet of North Carolina dirt). Frost line: "The depth to which the ground freezes below the surface. This varies from region to region..." Now we know beans about taters. Gene