green potatoes

[regolith]

Since the bulls and dry cows demolished (ate) half of my vegetable garden the other day, I decided to dig up the potatoes I brought from the other farm in the winter and just leave the little ones behind to re-sprout. Got a good bucketful, about half of them clean and undamaged that should store for a while.

Dug up a *lot* of green-skinned ones. Now I know light causes the green and it's common in potatoes sitting at the surface of the soil & poisonous (I just cut off all green sections before cooking them). But most of these green potatoes were well buried, four - six inches of soil on top of them.
Can the green colour form without light?
Any idea if it's okay to store these, or just use them asap (or plant them again)?

 

[Jogeephus]

Can the green colour form without light?

I would think not since green is from chlorophyll and photosynthesis. Could you not just rebury the ones not covered in dirt?

 

[regolith]

I could. Somewhere else so I have three potato patches instead of two because a bucketfull really won't go all that far.
Maybe our sunlight is so intense it gets that deep into the soil? I'm racking my brain for whether I've disturbed that ground or built it up significantly since planting the potatoes and can't remember doing so.
I'll plant them back deeper just in case.

 

[ANAZAZI]

It will not help to plant them deeper, they will put the new ones where they want anyway. You can put grass clippings on top of the soil after you plant them; this way no sun radiation will gett to them.

 

[Bigfoot]

I remember a college professor telling our class (years ago) of course, that the green color in potatoes could be poisonous. Dought I'm spelling in right solanine was what he said was in it I think. I also think that's what's in night shade. I haven't eaten one since, and died yet.

 

[hillsdown]

Solanine develops in potatoes when spuds are subjected to light or either very cold or warm temperatures.

http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/potato.asp