Spud Harvest

We dug potatoes last week.  It took us a whole 2 hours to harvest our potato crop.  It took longer to hook up to the digger then it did to dig them.  Yep, that's me picking up the spuds.  I finally got my Farmer to snap a picture of me working so I could post it.

 Here is my Farmer in the tractor starting down the potato rows.  He is pulling the cross-over digger.  This machine digs 2 rows at a time.  

 As the blades go down in the ground under the potatoes, the dirt and potatoes go up a chain that has a slight bounce to it.  As it all travels up the chain, the dirt sifts out, leaving the potatoes on the chain.

Then the potatoes fall onto another chain that is crossing over in another direction.  This chain then drops the potatoes on the ground.  Typically, the spuds would drop between 2 un-dug rows and then another digger would come along and pick up the two un-dug rows along with the dug potatoes, so 4 rows total.  The spuds then travel up the chains on that machine and eventually travel up a conveyor that dumps them into a truck.  Since we only have a few to dig, we skip this last part.  No big digger and no spud truck.  We just pick them up by hand and put them in sacks to store in the potato cellars.  And now instead of filling the cellars with 30+ semi-loads of potatoes, we put a pickup load in.  It also seems pretty crazy to use the one machine for such a small amount of spuds, but we have it so we use it.  And it does go faster than just using a shovel.   

This is me admiring a nice baker.  This is something my Farmer's grandpa did.  I can still picture him standing beside the sorting table, watching the potatoes go by, and when he spotted that perfect baker he would pick it up, and start gently rubbing the dirt off, almost as if he was petting it.  He knew how hard it was to grow a nice crop of spuds, so he would take the time to admire a nice looking potato.  He took a lot of pride in our potato crops.  I think he is the reason we still grown the large garden spot of potatoes that we do.  I believe it's my Farmers way (and mine too) of staying connected to his family heritage.

Potato Chip Cookies

Recipe #1 in honor of potato harvest.   I got this recipe from a country magazine a long time ago.  This cookie tastes a lot like the pecan shortbread cookies you buy at the store.  yum yum.....


Potato Chip Cookies -makes 7 dozen
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 sticks butter or margarine
2 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup crushed potato chips
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups flour
1 cup pecans (or walnuts)
Mix all ingredients together well and roll into balls the size of a walnut.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, pressing down with the palm of your hand or a fork.  Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Down time means Domestic duty time............

There's not much going on around our farm these days.  My farmer is delivering hay with the semi-truck and that does not require my help, so that leaves me with time to do my domestic duties.  Which I pretty much hate dislike greatly.  My mother told me as I was growing up that I should never hate anyone or anything, so I came to just dislike greatly those things that I hate.  And one of them is housework.  I would so rather be out helping my Farmer than doing housework.  However, if I don't do the domestic duties, they don't get done. (was that a double negative?)  Now don't get me wrong, my Farmer does help me out around the house.  Just ask him.  However he does drawn the line at;  laundry, vacuuming, dusting, mopping, dishes.......you get it.  Oh wait, I think he did do the dishes one day 5 months ago.  And as far as the laundry, he does create that, and very well I might add.  But that's OK, he does the farm work and I will do the house work. So as I am doing my housework, I'm thinking about my blog and what I can blog about when there's not much happening around here.  And I decided I would share recipes.  Lots of people out there blog about cooking and share recipes so I might as well join in.  My recipes are usually very simple.  If it's not simple, I probably won't make it.  And I am really not into making fancy things.  My Farmer is pretty much a meat and potatoes kind of guy so that's basically my cooking style.  So next time you stop by my blog to check out what's new, if there's not much going on around the farm, I'll be sharing a recipe.  But first I had better finish my housework.  I've been working all summer off of the philosophy, "Don't fret about it, it'll still be there tomorrow".  And yep, the housework is still there, only deeper. 

Losing Weight for a Cow is Different than Losing Weight for a Woman

The Challenge
I found out about a 90 day health challenge a while back and it is awesome!  I took on the challenge and it is one of the best things I have done for myself (and my Farmer) in a long time.  Not only do we feel healthier, we have both lost weight and have more energy.  I am so excited about the results that we have experienced and the results so many others are experiencing that I am sharing it with everyone I know, (and don't know for that matter).  As I am losing weight, I am reminded of a story from a few years back involving my Farmer.  It was one of those times when he should have just thought his thought and not said it out loud, but he did, and it was kind of funny, so here goes.
Where's the duct tape!
We ran into a friend that we hadn't see for a few months and she had lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time.  As my Farmer was visiting with her,  he mentioned something regarding her weight loss.  (I had stepped away, so I was not there with the duct tape.)  He asked her if she was feeling OK, or if she had been sick.  She answered that she was fine.  (In his opinion she didn't need to lose the weight)  Then he continued on with his thoughts.  (This is where the duct tape was needed)  He stated that when he has a cow that losses a lot of weight really fast, it's usually because there's something wrong with her, which means it's time to get rid of her, so she's shipped off to the sale yard.  (See, I told you, duct tape!)
Excuses
I was shocked when he told me he said this to her.  I know he was just joking with her but still!  I informed him that was not a very nice thing to say.  This story became a little joke between me and my Farmer.  It  became the excuse I used as to why I didn't lose weight.  You know, "If I lost weight, my Farmer would just ship me off to the sale yard".  HA!
Losing Weight
Now that I am actually losing weight, this story keeps popping into my head.  My weight has been coming off,  I look healthier, and I actually have more energy.  My farmer seems to like what he sees, and with having more energy I get more work done! (could be why he likes it??)  So, I'm really not worried about being sold off or replaced.  He could never get rid of me THAT easy, cuz  I have come to like it here on the farm.  (After 31 years, I guess it grew on me.)
Lovin' Life
And so, as my saying goes, I'm livin' the life, the farm life that is, and now I'm living the Vi-Life and loving my life even more!

The Pipe Is In!!!

Well, we went from getting sunburned and dying of heat on the first day of installing the pipe to being wet and cold on the last day.  It's amazing how the weather can change so quickly.  I am just thankful that we only had one day of rain the whole time we were installing the pipe.  Here are some pictures of the pipe installation.

The first scope of dirt

view looking from the pivot center towards my house

this view is from half way to the canal looking back towards my house

Padded pipe

A very large rock that was in the path.  Now it will be yard decor at my house

 This pipe line is approximately 6200 ft.  It has enough of a drop in elevation to run on gravity, which will be wonderful.  The digging went really well.  There was enough help that I didn't have to get in the trench once to pad pipe. (I have padded pipe in the past.  In fact, that's what I was doing on the day of our 10th wedding anniversary, which I often remind my Farmer.  But that's another blog story)  I just stayed up on top and pushed the pipe closer or handed the guys things so they didn't have to get in and out of the trench to much.  Plus, I took pictures.  I also made the crew lunch everyday.  I usually choose to be involved with the field work and have never really been one to stay at home and make the meals.  But I've really been enjoying making lunch for everyone.  And then in the afternoons, my sister-in-law would bring treats out to the crew.  (and she makes wonderful treats!)  When we were digging potatoes, she would brings us goodies every day.  It became something the crew would really look forward to, and it really helped get through those long days.  So it was great to have this little ritual again.  Now that we are done with the pipe, my Farmer is really going to miss those goodies (and I'm sure the other guys will too).  And I guarantee that I will not be making treats for him like that everyday!   So the pipe is in, except for hooking it up to the canal.  And then the next step is removing things that are in the way of the pivot going around in a complete circle.  Like some trees, old machinery, the shop, power poles, you know just stuff.   This step might take a little while, but heck, we have all winter to get it done.........