Don't go on a vacation and leave potatoes and onions in the pantry. I must warn people to remove these before departing. I came back to a terrible smell in my house and it took me all morning to remove it. Nothing smells worse should they go bad before you get back.
We came back from a small 4 day vacation with a ghastly odor coming from the potatoes. One was actively oozing. Yiich! The smell was awful. Took hours for it to clear out.
By
10/13/2008
You might use a plastic dishtub under them, cheep from thrift shops. Even a careful person can have a bottom one get bad before the others.
By BellaNell (Guest Post)
10/13/2008
NEVER store potatoes and onions near each other! They will keep forever---well, maybe not that long, if stored in separate areas. My Mom kept onions in a metal coffee can under the sink and potatoes in a bin in the cereal/dry goods area. She never had a problem.