I'm not going to whine today. I am simply going to state for the record that I dug up the remaining three rows of potatoes yesterday by myself, and now it even hurts to type. Yet here I am, typing. For you.
I think martyrdom is much more attractive than whining, don't you?
I dug them by myself because A. doesn't get home until 6:30 p.m., when it's already dark, so he can only dig on weekends. And this weekend is calling for a lot of rain. And it makes me nervous to not have the fall garden chores done in a timely manner. And I only meant to do one or two rows, but I hate to leave jobs half-done, so I finished. And I hurt myself a little. In all seriousness, it was too much.
However, I have photos of the bounty! Wanna see?
What do you see here? I see a tarp full of french fries, myself.
I added my clippers to the photo for scale this time. In case you can't see them in the midst of the potato glut in the above picture, here's a close-up.
That big one kinda looks like Mr. Potato Head.
And that huge potato is not an exception, by the way. There are many of that size. Also many with those funky protuberances. What are those about? They freak me out a little.
So, all the potatoes are harvested. I need to go to the liquor store for more empty boxes (and liquor, but that's a separate topic) so the potatoes can be properly stored in the cellar. Well, "properly" if you define storage in old liquor boxes as "proper," which we do here at Blackrock because we don't have a real potato bin in the cellar and are too cheap to buy the wood to build one.
The garlic was planted this weekend, as well. And I raked compost into the potato patch and scattered oats (they grow in the winter, preventing weeds and providing green compost when they're tilled under in the spring). So the garden is pretty much ready for its winter rest.
And good lord almighty, SO AM I.
Yes, take a rest! After you make me some fries, that is.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered what you do with potatoes in the winter. How long will they keep in the cellar? They keep about two weeks in my hot, humid kitchen.
ReplyDeleteIt must feel good to have the garden winterized. What an accomplishment!
Dear mayberry magpie,
ReplyDeleteSome potatoes keep beautifully; others don't. Potatoes fall into three main categories: early, mid-season, and main crop. We grew Bake Kings and Green Mountains. Both are main crop potatoes, and both should keep. Green Mountains will still be good to eat in May. Early potatoes don't keep so well, but I think keeping capacity varies by variety. One of my favorites for eating, Carolas, are not good keepers, for example.
Potatoes are kept in cool, but not cold, cellars, between 40 and 50 degrees. They must have adequate air circulation (they rot in plastic--take your potatoes out of plastic as soon as you bring them home), and they will develop an off-flavor if they are kept too cold.
Not every home has a cool cellar, but as you can imagine, we are not lacking in cool (or cellar, for that matter).
Well I'm just thankful God didn't bless me with a personality that has to have the job completely done. I would have had one row dug and then gone in to have a hot chocolate. It is people like you that build skyscrapers and find cures for diseases...all the while people like me are drinking their hot chocolates, lol! Great job, unfortunately I still have most of my fall chores yet to do, ughhh!
ReplyDeleteWell, obviously you should rest and eat french fries. That is a boatload of work, my friend. Yeouch.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain.
you have got to pace yourself better. You're making the rest of us (by that I mean me) look bad.
ReplyDeletethe first thing i thought was french fries. with ketchup.
ReplyDeletevery good for sore muscles i hear.
Your menu for the next month:
ReplyDeletepotato pie, potato soup, potato cake, potato cereal, potato steak, potato burgers, and a side of potatoes.
Ooooh - mounds and mounds of amazing fries.....
ReplyDeleteI didn't dig the potato's but I very much enjoyed the bounty of my aunts potato patch this weekend. Hers were reds that were much smaller than yours - and I do have to say, they weren't growing arms and legs. YIKES.
ReplyDeleteI have been ever fascinated with the way she stores her onions and potato's. I guess it would be obvious by the sheer nature of us purchasing and storing, but as a city girl at heart (now living in the country - well at the edge of it - 45 minutes from my coveted Target), I guess the obvious wasnt so much! :)