First bucket of potatoes in wagon
Yesterday we dug the three long rows of potatoes we planted in the big garden. The harvest wasn’t the best we’ve ever had, but we’re still thankful for what we grew.
We really like Kennebec potatoes so that’s what we plant. This is the first year in many that we didn’t plant taters in our big grow bags back of the house. They sat empty for most of the summer so we definitely should have put taters in them.
I think potatoes are one of the easiest things to grow. I like dropping them in the beautiful earth in early spring with the hope of later bounty and I’ve always enjoyed the treasure hunt of finding them once they grow and produce.
I helped Pap and Granny with their potatoes often when I was a girl and even after I was grown and married. One special year stands out in my mind.
Granny came running into the house yelling a storm was blowing up and I needed to help her get the taters she’d been digging in the dry before the rain started.
I jumped and ran. We worked as fast as we could and finished just as the first big drops started to fall.
I said “Oh I feel like we’re on Little House on the Prairie.” Granny laughed and laughed at me. As soon as Pap got in from work she told him what I said and it tickled him too.
We hope to can some of the potatoes like we did last year. Here’s the method we used.
After we come in from working outside Matt baked potatoes for us. They were so good! I think knowing we’d just dug them out of the ground made them taste extra special.
Last night’s video: 2 Suppers for 2 Families in the Same Day!
Tipper
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Remember granny cooking the little ones split in half butter in oven, fried taters from damaged ones and sausage gravy white
😀 oh my goodness! I spent $1 on my seed potatoes and I’m thinking my “return” was about a quarter’s worth lol lol Oh well, it was worth a shot and the green part of the plants were lovely. Wishing I’d planted some butternut squash this year. Yep, already plotting next year’s bounty♡
We would grow a lot of arsh taters each year when I was growing up and would already have them took up by now. At this time of the year we would be getting ready to take up 5-7 hundred sweet potato plants. My sweet potato friend has already started taking up and selling his sweet potatoes. He plants 25,000 plus each year. We would also have some peanuts to along with our sweet potatoes. Daddy would roast them and as young boy I would lay in he floor beside him in front of our fireplace eating them and throwing the hulls in the fire during the winter evenings before we went to bed.
I found a wheelchair this morning. I was not able to go but had to go to our bank this morning for my sister. A thrift store I passed by had two wheelchairs out front of the store. They were not new but either one was good enough for me. After all I’m too poor to be proud! I mostly set in my car and talked to one of the employees. This store is ran by recovering drug and alcohol addicted people. I saw something happen there this morning that is bothering me, a lady was buying something that was priced at $5, she would not pay this but would only offer $3. She was dressed in good clothes and drove a nice newer car. I do not believe she could not afford an extra $2 and knowing the store is there for a good cause. I paid the asking price for my chair and added $2 plus a little more to it. I don’t have a problem with offering less than asking price at a yard sale or flea/jockey lot. I did not write or tell what I did for any praise or glory.
Nice looking haul you all dug up. I love ‘tater’s pretty much anyway they can be cooked, and they are a staple in my diet.
Miss Tipper, at some point you’re going to have to make Potatoes O’Brien. For those who may not know, it’s diced-up potatoes, diced-up onions, and diced-up peppers made as home fries. Choose the “heat” of the peppers (I like jalapeños, but bell peppers do nicely) and your “fat” (bacon grease, canola oil, olive oil), and add garlic to the oil if that’s to your taste. If you’ve dried any tomatoes, you can cut those up real small and add that in, too, but it’s not the original recipe, just a fun addition! Potatoes O’Brien are good at breakfast time or supper time, pretty versatile that way.
Beautiful potatoes ! Love & prayers for all!
Our granddaughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl last night !
The LORD has done great things for us , and we are filled with joy ! ~Psalm 126:3
Congratulations!!
Thank you!
Congratulations on your new great granddaughter ♡
Congrtulations! God bless you all! ❤️
Potatoes are buried treasure! Nothing tastes better than some potatoes just dug up cooked on the stove or any way really!
I love your story about you and Granny! My oldest daughter loved Little House and introduced herself to everyone as Laura for a while when she was about three. I had to tell them all after that Laura isn’t really her name, just the one she wanted. That potato digging adventure does sound like something from the books to me!
I will be praying for everyone and add the people of Walhalla to my prayers. What a terrible loss!
I ended up with about 40 or 50 pounds of new potatoes from 6 tater bags (and a few in the hard dirt that’s not been worked.) I had bountiful tomatoes and plenty of cross pollinating peppers that all morphed into HOT peppers somehow-even my bell peppers got hot. I have several big pumpkins coming on a vine and if they amount to much I plan on giving one to the 9 year old neighbor who’s a big dose of sunshine and happiness with his adorable smile and sweetness. Children ARE God’s best gift-they really are!!! I’m praying for those of you sick or simply in need of healing or any other concerns you have. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read in the written word where God asks “Is my arm too short?” I know it’s plenty long and HES GOT US in the palm of his sweet and loving, capable hands. THANKYOU, Jesus for sticking close to us every minute of every day! Let us live for you! Also, let’s pray for the town that suffered a big fire. May the people be able to keep going undefeated and be strong. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. That’s what I hear anyway.
Good morning, Tipper! With all the rain we had this year we didn’t get many potatoes this year, barely enough for a few meals. A dear friend brought us 2 boxes of beautiful large potatoes, we are very grateful for their generous hearts! Tipper, I’m happy you had a good harvest of potatoes this year. Hopefully, next year will be better for us. I’m still in the middle of processing our tomatoes and I still have apples to turn into canned apple pie filling. I’ll be happy when it’s all done, I’m getting tired, haha! Have a great day everyone!
The last time I planted a long row of taters, the tater bugs ate nearly every inch of the plant despite my efforts to hand-pick them daily. I covered the plants with mesh material, but that didn’t help. My friend looked at the bug-ravaged vines and asked why I planted my taters in a mound. My parents always planted theirs in mounds, and it makes sense to give them some softer dirt to grow in, and the mound makes digging easier. Daddy had a plow that he pushed under the mounds from the beginning of each row to the end as the taters fell aside. There’s nothing better than a tater taken from the hole in the ground where they were holed up for the winter, then placed on the bed of hot coals to cook.
Glad for your potato success . I have given up on potatoes here. Maybe voles are one of my problems, hot weather another then there is no rain. By the way, before you store potatoes do you let them air dry a day or two first? And do you store them in something that still lets them have air circulation? I do not recall anything ever being said about it growing up, it was just done. I stored one of my first ever potato harvests straight from the ground into an old refrigerator. Bad plan! First time I opened it water was dripping inside.
We lay them out in the basement to let them cure 🙂
I’ve been so anxious to see how your potato harvest turned out! The ones in this photo look beautiful. We planted five 25-gallon grows bags of red and Yukon gold potatoes. I’m going to check out the dry canning method once we dig them up. We already had one small potato harvest earlier this summer. Way back in April, I had a bag of potatoes that got away from me a bit and had started to grow some sprouts in our pantry. I cut off all the little sprouts and threw them in one of our raised beds. It was still very cold to plant here but I thought they would probably grow. They were the best potatoes ever and grew so well from those little peelings. We harvested them during the summer and I mostly made them with fresh green beans. My grandma would make a wonderful soup with new potatoes, green beans and bacon in a milk broth with salt and pepper. I think of her every time I make it. It’s special how much food connects us to loved ones who have gone before us.
I am going to try growing potatoes next year. I can remember helping dig them up way back when, in my Ma’s big garden.
Good Morning Tipper and Acorns. I enjoyed the supper video. So sweet of y’all to cook supper for friends/neighbors. It is a blessing to be able to help folks in any way you can. The world needs more folks that live and practice Christian values and commandments. I used to love picking up fresh taters from the field. I think we planted an acre of Kennebec every year. We bought seed potatoes and we planted some from the last years crop. My FIL, Andy Dyson, was a great farmer. I read thru the last 3 posts but didn’t comment. I figured it was too much work for you to have to keep going back to catch me up. I’m just behind from all of Ed’s appointments. He is sick to his stomach this morning. I think it is too much traveling and the medication he has to take to be able to travel. He has lost 10 more pounds. 144 now. He is starting to look like one of those WW2 prisoners. Please keep him in your prayers. TY all so much. I keep Pappaw Tony, Nana, everyone here and up Wilson Holler in my prayers. I love y’all.
I’m so sorry. I will keep praying for him!!
I’m so sorry to hear that your son has lost more weight. I continue to pray for you both and especially for strength for you as you so lovingly care for him!
I planted potatoes for the first time ever this past spring. They were priced at $1 for 5 lbs at the farm store, so I thought to myself…go for it!! I haven’t dug them yet, so my excitement is high and mixed with apprehension. I simply MUST make a tomato tart in the very near future. This is the 2nd time I’ve watched you make them and my mouth waters each time. What a lucky friend/family to be a recipient of a meal from you & the girls. It’s just the most thoughtful thing to do. I’d say it’s tied with mowing a yard for someone who can’t get there’s done♡
Please add my great nephew, Carson, to your prayers today. Without going into details, this sweet young man is struggling so hard at the moment and could use a dose of BPA community prayers♡ Thank you!!
I will pray for Carson!
Praying for Carson today, Kim. I enjoy your positive and cheerful posts every day. Your grandkids and family members are blessed to have you. Please let us know how your potato harvest is when you dig them!
Good morning Tipper, I just enjoy your sites so much. It sure takes me back to my younger years with my aunts in eastern Kentucky and eastern Tennessee. I miss those days and try and share with my twin girls as much as I can. My husband also is a northerner so he enjoys our stories. We are expecting our first grandson any day now and are so blessed and excited. It’s going to give me a time to visit those beautiful mountains of ease Tennessee and Gods country
I’ve grown potatoes a few times in my past gardens, but never had a harvest big enough to last me past two months. I was always thankful for everything I harvest including my small potatoes. They always tasted good no matter how small or big they were. I’m so happy that you and Matt had a good harvest this year of everything you grew, including your potatoes. Enjoy the bounty of your harvest!
Enjoyed hearing your potato story.
My daddy used to grow a lot of potatoes each year. He planted mostly Kennebec but also the red potatoes. They were harvested and put in a cold storage room in our utility room which lasted until early spring. Daddy referred to them as “Arsh Potatoes”. We had potatoes almost every day, fried, cooked, or baked. I love them to this day. When I was small daddy told me to go out and get some Arsh potatoes so Mama could fix some for supper. I paused and said Arsh,Arsh, what are Arsh potatoes? Then it dawned on me and I said, Oh, you mean Irish potatoes. Boy, that made him mad and he smacked me on the arm. He thought I was making fun of him.
good morning God bless each and everyone, Lord Jesus Christ we call upon you today, we pray for Papaw Tony, anybody that sick Lord, please help, touch them , bless them and make things right Lord, comfort provide heal , save the lost, help us Lord as we wait your return in Jesus name amen, God bless you friends thank you for praying for me please continue to do so, God bless you
Those are really nice looking potatoes! I definitely miss having my garden this year, but it will be in the ground next year and potatoes will be part of the assortment of veggies we will grow. I grow our potatoes in big tubs here because voles are so bad. That is the only way they can be grown if we want potatoes. I tried growing them in the ground, but the voles ate up all the potatoes except for 2.
This year was the worst year for our potato harvest. Due to health issues I could not spend as much time as I usually do. Most of the plants that came up were eaten by the deer and very few of my seed potatoes produced plants. My fault. Bought seed potatoes at a cheap price. You get what you pay for. Diane cooked up a wonderful pot of half runners side meat, and our own potatoes. It wad delicious. You are 100% right, potatoes are the easiest group to grow. If not for the deer.
Hi everyone, Ron responded to a comment from me a couple of days ago and we talked about a neighboring town in SC. I am requesting prayer for the town of Wallhalla, SC. There was a fire in the middle of Main Street. Seven small businesses were affected. Most of them completely destroyed. This is a very sad time for the community of Walhalla and my community (Salem) as well. Many of my childhood memories of shopping with my Mama’s and my Granny’s were in that block of buildings. Thank you.
I’m sorry! I will pray!
Pam, I teased you about Walhalla being called Hogwalla. This is heartbreaking to me. My wife and I have stopped and shopped in some of these stores back in the past years when we were going on up to the Mountain Rest area. At that time the stores were different business from what they were now. I talked to my sister in law last night, she was concerned and upset about the fire, her and her husband had drove up Walhalla’s Main Street right past these buildings Monday morning. In my comment about Walhalla I mentioned another member (Gene) living in Walhalla when he was a young boy. I talked to him yesterday through an email and know he has many memories of past businesses in these stores.
The Lord has blessed you with a beautiful bounty. I will be dry canning this weekend what few potatoes we salvaged. I’m ever so grateful for them though they are few. I love to watch Ruthann. She is filled with so much joy and knowledge.
I’m also putting up some apples. Not sure yet what I want to do with them. I have plenty of applesauce and apple butter from last year so maybe some apple pie filling.
I was able to salvage more tomatoes. Enough to make a run of marinara and a run of meat sauce that we add marmalade to for meatloaf or meatballs.
God is good! Thinking and praying for y’all! May you find many blessings in your day!