Cleaning potatoes throughout the years

Tag : potatoes

As I was brushing off red potatoes, I thought, I should keep ajournal. Then it struck me that I have been keeping a journal ofsorts for 20 years or so by writing a column.

OK, I guess I don't need to worry about that.
One thing I realize thinking back on those years is that this oxcart way of life does not move along quickly.

I find myself doing the same thing, year after year, although eachyear I see improvements and a deeper understanding in my methods.
I probably get more done now, because I don't worry so much abouthow things should be done. I realize there are plenty of directionsout there, what's often missing, though, is the doing.

I've started cutting sweet corn that's gone by down at the Vinceks'farm in Wilton, to clear the fields and gather feed for theanimals. I use my cane knife and sometimes John Bennett helps usinga traditional corn knife.

In Hadley, we are still harvesting our first batch of sweet corn.In any case, one corn patch at the Vinceks' equals just about allthe corn I'm growing this year, including my Indian corn.

While in Wilton, we fill up the pickup truck up to the racks withcornstalks. Within two or three days, all of the cornstalks andstarchy corn are gone.

There is something approaching awesome in the amount two big BrownSwiss oxen can eat in a day. I figure in dry hay they are eatingmore than 40 pounds a day each, when they aren't eating things likecorn.

Who knows how many pounds that converts to in uncured corn stalks.I'm sure it's in the hundreds of pounds.
A lot of the corn seed itself goes to the pig and chickens, firstin the form of unshucked cobs.

Tulip Pig puts one foot on the cob and expertly strips off thehusk.

The chickens gather around her and join the feast. After she isdone with corn, she wanders around eating her greens off the lawnand around the edges of the gardens.

The chickens finish whatever she's left.

After grazing, if the day is sunny, Tulip will take to basking,standing as still as a statue for five or 10 minutes at a time.
Later, Marty and Peanut Ox will wander over to the scene of thefeast and clean up what's left of the shucks and cobs.

Once we start cutting corn, it is always a happy time. All kinds ofthings are starting to be harvested as well, and all the roughagefrom the harvest ends up going to the animals.

August and September are always the time for fresh food. We allpartake, man and beast.

Experience does come with age, if you spend your time trying tofigure things out. The problem with that experience is trying topass a little of it on. I guess that's what children are for.

Unfortunately, the experiences of the past are not alwaystransferred to the future. We look at what is happening in Georgiaright now and ask ourselves why the mistakes of history must berepeated.
When everything was malleable in the former Soviet Union we failedto settle differences and build a way to ensure peace between us.Instead, we let our advantage cloud our capacity for both kindnessand shrewdness and let the old forces of confrontational diplomacyfall back into place.

It may be that the forces of history will always manifestthemselves in the drive for empire, but it would be a comfort tothink that we could channel that drive in ways that don't involvedropping bombs.

The problem remains: how to get the present to appreciate thelessons of the past.

Forrest Hartley is cleaning potatoes in Hadley. You can reach himat new_americangothic@yahoo.com .