9.11.15 Picking Up Potatoes

My grandmother used to sing me a song:
     Where or where is sweet little (child's name) Mandy
     Where or where is sweet little Mandy
    Way down yonder in the Pawpaw patch.

    Pickin up Pawpaws and put n' em her pocket
   Picking Up Pawpaws and put n' em her pocket
  Way down yonder in the Paw Paw patch

   Come on boys lets go find her
   Come on boys lets go find her
   Way down yonder in the Pawpaw patch!

My grandparents are the only ones that could and did call me Mandy. For years I thought a pawpaw was just a made up thing until high school spanish class. There I learned a pawpaw is a potato. This
last week has been full of potatoes and papas literally!

Each year since Greg and I have been married we have stored about a ton of potatoes. These were shared between our respective families. As the tables have turned and we are now the big family and our parents are empty nesters we continue to need the ton or more of potatoes. So we went on our yearly excursion. These are my helpers this year!

This is a potato harvester. A four row shoveling dream. It slides large thick metal plates 18 inches or so under the ground scooping up dirt and potatoes alike. The dirt falls through the chain and the potatoes roll on up the belts to be dropped into the truck or pick-up as our case was.

I would be very ungrateful to not mention the kindness of our cousins the Wagstaff's who share their talent and work with us each year. Both my family and Greg's grew potatoes when we first married but the acres have all gone to one farmer in Washington now days. It is the kindness of the Wagstaff's heart and time that they provide a giveaway plot of potatoes! And being very considerate of my usual delicate condition (not saying anything about now just in the past) they insist on loading up my pickup and don't ask me to dig with a shovel all these lovely potatoes.

That harvest is the easy part. Then the fun begins. In years past we have sorted all the potatoes by hand, mostly my mother-in-law while she waited for someone or the other at the shop. This year she is gone so I recruited more helpers. All the kids from school 3-6 grade meaning about 40 kiddos, some adults at mutual, and some other families that came to our house. It has been a big job but a fun time to visit and work with friends. I much prefer visiting when my hands are busy to sitting and staring at someone trying to focus on a conversation.

 

And the end reward baked goodness. We tried a new process, pressure canning the potatoes! It was over 90 degrees this weekend and I don't turn on my oven if I can help it when it is that hot. Usually we fry hash browns as it is quick but I think this new method will come as a fast second. I was impressed the finished product gives you moist baked potato not dry like the oven not to mention it's fast! We did 13 potatoes in the big canner for 15 minutes between 10-15 lbs pressure. We used 1 qt of water and our rack elevated on jar lids to keep the potatoes over the water not in it. So it might take 20 minutes at 10 lbs but so good. Also the skins came off very easily so if you do potato salad this would be a great way. Or making your own hash browns for  funeral potatoes.