Thanks, Mama N.

Last year we got so much rain in September and October that the potato harvest kept getting put off and put off and put off until when we finally dug them up they had sustained significant insect or worm damage or something. Whatever it was that burrowed into the potatoes caused an awful lot of waste. Every time I cooked potatoes I would end up cutting away half the potato to get rid of the nasty little brown holes.

Irritating.

But this year, Mama N. took some mercy on us. About time. She owes us, big time.

ANYWAY.

It's been dry and sunny and warm for about a week now, so I declared this Potato Digging Weekend. A. was way excited. He just loves digging potatoes.

He doesn't enjoy digging actually, not at all, but he does enjoy eating french fries. So he dug. And I picked up. And then I spread them out on tarps and flipped them so they would dry on all sides and picked them all up and rubbed some dirt off (I don't wash them--they supposedly keep longer if they're unwashed) and put them in wine boxes and brought them down to the cellar.

My back kind of hurts now, but no matter! For we have potatoes in the cellar, I just made a fresh batch of tallow*, and we can have french fries whenever we want. Winter can come now. We're ready.

* Yes, I had already used up the first batch of tallow. Who knew rendered cow fat would go so fast?