The highlight of my garden harvest this year was the potatoes. I had never planted them before so now know what I have missed all these years! Digging the hills is almost like opening Christmas packages . . . you just don't know what you've got there. And for me, each potato was a bonus. Last spring I had a small bag of old potatoes that had gotten soft with sprouts some at least a foot long, so I was taking them out to the garbage when I remembered that I had a row of unplanted dirt along the shady side of the garden where nothing ever did grow good so I decided I'd stick these repulsive tentacled blobs there and if nothing came of it, I'd only be out a bit of my labor. I knew just about nothing of potato culture except to bury them in the ground . . . I put one potato to a hole. There were only eleven little shriveled, mushy seed-potatoes! So this fall I pointed and Bill dug! Voila! I couldn't believe the results as smooth, beautiful potatoes lay there as each shovel was turned. We got 3/4ths of a bushel . . . and I would have thought myself lucky to get a peck! Some were huge . . . none were tiny. Maybe I am psyched up about them because I never tasted any better than these.
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This is another potato story and I swear it is TRUE! The main character must remain nameless for fear of repercussions. I will refer to her as Mrs. X. She planted a little garden in her back yard . . . her first garden . . . and nothing did well. She had a college student living at her home who was majoring in agriculture so she asked her what would grow well in the soil she had. The student took a soil sample and said that in the condition the soil was, potatoes would be the only sure bet. So next spring Mrs. X duly planted some potatoes. Next fall the same student came back and one day casually asked how the potato crop had been. Mrs. X said, "It was a complete flop! About the time I thought the potatoes would show, the darn plants all died!" The student, a girl brought up on a farm, said, "Don't you ever call a farmer a dumb hick again! You city gals are so stupid! You have to DIG potatoes!!!"
This just goes to show you that can raise a kid, send her to school and assume she picks up bits of information along the way even thought some things are not actually taught to her. But am I a failure as a mom since I never got around to mentioning that potatoes grew underground?
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