May 18, 2010

Potatoes



I love the color of the Rose Finn Apple potato. Makes me want to fry up some chips and admire the way they look. And that's a good thing. You absolutely may feed the workers on Windflower! If I don't eat it, everyone else will. Come to think of it, there isn't much that I won't eat.

We planted dozens of different potato varieties this year, some as lovely as the Rose Finn and others as classic as what you'd find in the grocery store. It took two days to cut all the seed potatoes and I am missing those afternoons in the sun, standing barefoot with my pants rolled up to my ankles just cutting them into sections. It's relaxing, but it wasn't always like that.

My second year at Windflower was when I first remember being a part of the potato action. It may have been the first year we ever grew them, I'm not sure, but I recall the several days we spent dragging plastic tubs of seed potatoes along the furrows just to plant them. (Transplanters were the best invention ever . . .) The tubs weighed more than one person could carry and there was no tractor that went by that evening to cover the furrows. It was all by hand back then. Imagine my appreciation for the new equipment.

It's my firm belief that newcomers to Windflower cannot fully appreciate the comfort we have in our tasks. It still seems hard, but it really could be (and was once) harder.

Check out the poll at the side of the page if you know anything about potato planting.

1 comment:

  1. As tedious as planting potatoes was four years ago, I still look back on the memories rather fondly (if anyone can believe that haha). Dividing our small four person crew up into two teams and racing each other down the endless rows; one dragging the massive tub of potatoes while the other grabbed, dropped and covered everything with their foot. Oh it was crazy and we were all so sore at the end of the day, but the company was awesome!
    ~ Naomi Litwin

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