Digging Potatoes

Potatoes were one of very last crops of the season. In Pennsylvania, it is time to dig them now!! We used what would be considered an antique piece of equipment. It could be pulled by either horses or a tractor. The blade in the front slid into the ground just below the potato crop, unearthing them from where they went up a chain like shaker to remove the soil from the potato. They then dropped out the back and we kids with our baskets or buckets followed along picking up the harvest. By now, the weather was cool, often a frost had already hit the area, and it was a more fun job than some of the other chores we had to do. Perhaps it was because we all liked and ate a lot of potatoes  -  crispy fried in lard, boiled, mashed and baked. If you have a question or would like to hear more, my email is: tomdeimler@me.com

Peaches

This a great time of the year for delicious peaches. When they are nice and ripe the skin will peel off in one piece. The flavor is outstanding. I am very fussy about how peaches taste. Guess I was spoiled  growing up on a farm that raised a lot of them. We had a fairly large peach orchard for those days. I would say about 500 trees. Dad had the orchard layout designed so that the first few rows would be the earliest crop and ripen in the beginning of June. Other varieties would be ready to pick later and continue throughout the summer. By the time we reached September and early October, the last few rows were ready to harvest. To me, these were the best tasting of all, the juice ran with the first bite and while just a bit messy, the flavor could not be beaten. Mom had canned many a jar of peaches for the winter months and by now had quite a supply ready and waiting. With the last peach of the season, we knew that Fall had arrived and frost was not far away.