- Mike heads out about 8 AM. There are some days on occasion that they will start at 4 or 5 AM, but that is only if we know bad weather is coming and they need to get as much done as possible. He gets a few things done in the shop, but usually heads up to the field and gets the tractor and the digger ready to go.
- The truck drivers head up to the field between 8:30 and 9
- I take care of kids and get them dressed, off to school. The past week has been harvest break. Yes, the kids get a week off of school, and neighboring districts take off two weeks.
- I will take lunch up to Mike about 12 or 1.
- About 3 or 4, I take treats (soda and candy bars, sometimes donuts) out to the pit crew and the truck drivers grab a treat when they come down to unload.
- I get dinner up to Mike about 6 or so, and we will usually go for a ride in the tractor or truck.
- The crew finishes up about 10 every night, unless they are almost done, then sometimes they'll go well past midnight.
This is a picture from the tractor showing the potatoes being put in a truck by the digger. The truck drivers stay pretty close to the digger and watch the driver of the tractor to know what to do. The tractor doesn't change speeds, so the truck needs to speed up or down so the potatoes can be loaded in the truck. The driver of the tractor lets them know what to do. That arm on the digger can move up or down, as well. Mike and Derrick (who is our hired man) drive the tractors and literally get no breaks at all. Some other farmers here run a crossover, which is basically a digger, but low to the ground and digs the potatoes and lays them in between two rows, then a digger will come a long and pick up those, as well as the potatoes he is digging and put them in a truck. We don't have a big enough operation to warrant using a crossover.
Here are a few trucks waiting to back into the cellar. They come down to from the field and weigh the truck on a scale we have right across the street (it is blocked by a truck in this picture). They record how many pounds, then come over to the pit to unload.
Here is the piler. We have high school kids usually working in the pit. The trucks back into the cellar and up to the piler. When the truck is unloading, the kids working the piler help to sort the potatoes. They grab dirt clods, rocks, vines, and any broken potatoes. There are some steps on the side of the piler that kids will stand on, as well, to make sure there isn't anything in there that shouldn't be. We have a guy that runs the piler with a remote basically and he makes sure the potatoes get piled efficiently. If you can see that green line on the wall of the cellar, the spuds go a bit higher than that. You can see a mat right under the truck and the piler, and that is where a lot of dirt and potatoes that are too small fall. After 3 or 4 trucks, the mat is full of dirt and potatoes, and it gets hooked up to a truck and pulled out of the cellar.
My life doesn't change too much, I just need to make sure I get treats and meals out to people, and that can take a while sometimes. I'll be honest, harvest for us used to take about 3 weeks, and I am so glad that right now, it is only a week. We are a little more than halfway done. Once we are done with harvest, we do field work to get the ground ready for winter.
That is a little bit about spud harvest. Any questions? Please ask! Is there anything you want to know about operations or why we do things the way we do? Ask!
