Field Trip

Yesterday the kids and I went on an unexpected field trip. We had planned on going to see Grandpa Tom and Grandma Jane so we could pick apples together, but we hadn't planned on getting a lesson in agriculture at the same time.

One of the women who works for my Dad has a brother who is an apple farmer. His apples got hit by hail this year. The skin on many of the apples has scars from the hail. Since the damage was so widespread, the farmer decided not to thin or harvest them this year--the cost would have been too great, even if the apples had just been sold for sauce or juice. The food bank wouldn't even take the apples because they were "damaged." (This was really too bad, because it was a shame to see all the fruit going to waste.)

Anyway, we were invited to pick as many apples as we wanted. The orchard had Fujis, Braeburns, Goldens and Grannies. If you were careful to pick on the South side off of the lower branches, there were plenty of unblemished apples from which to choose. We picked almost eight boxes.

Then our hostess took us to another farm to get some potatoes. When we arrived they were busy harvesting. The kids and I had never seen potatoes harvested before, so we asked plenty of questions about the process.

Once the potatoes are dug from the ground, they travel to the farm via semi-truck where they are unloaded onto a huge apparatus called "Spudnik" which carries the potatoes into the enormous shed in which they are stored. The vines, weeds, rocks and such are picked out by hand as the potatoes travel along the conveyor belt to the shed. Any "green" matter is a potential rot hazard and needs to be removed.

The potatoes are put into the shed (which has a aerated floor) with a piler. The piler is operated by a man who has a remote control joy stick. The shed had four bays, each able to hold 600 tons of potatoes. The potatoes will be stored until as late as next July, depending on the rise and fall of market prices.

The potatoes are checked every day for "hot spots." Hot spots indicate spoilage. A laser thermometer is used to check the potatoes' temperature. The potatoes also have their temperature taken manually when a man climbs out onto the huge pile of potatoes and sticks a thermometer into them. Any hot spots that are found must be eliminated by removing all of the potatoes stored in front of the hot spot and then removing and discarding all the potatoes in and around the hot spot.

Since I grew up around wheat farming, learning about potato farming was all new to me. In fact I may have enjoyed myself even more than the kids did. We left the farm dirty and tired, but we all agreed it was a good time. Even Elizabeth, who had protested earlier in the day about the long car ride, said she enjoyed herself.
(Videos by my Dad, on his iPhone.)