So this weekend Rodney took me up to Burley and we spent some time with his dad on the farm. Unfortunately... they weren't harvesting potatoes because it was too wet, but I did get a tour of everything and now I understand a little about what Rodney is talking about when he talks about the farm. So here's a few pictures of what goes on when harvesting potatoes:
So it all starts with the tractor that pulls "The Harvester". That's right... it's actually named The Harvester. So the harvester has these huge blades that go about 18 inches under the ground and all the dirt and potatoes and everything is run threw a series of conveyers that bounce the potatoes and weed out as much dirt as possible. They then get dumped off the boom into a big truck that is always driving next to the tractor. If you can't tell, that's me on top of the harvester!
The trucks then drive the potatoes to the cellar where it is sent through another series of conveyers. The potatoes first get separated into 2 lines. The really big potatoes, and the regular to small sized potatoes. The big potatoes get sent down a line for the "Clodders" to pull out the big dirt clods from the real potatoes. The other potatoes get sent through the "Dirt Eliminator" (again, such a clever name) that continues to separate out the dirt. Potatoes bounce more than dirt so they fall down a couple shoots and the potatoes bounce to higher levels and the dirt gets disposed of. They then all get sent down a conveyer belt that send them in to "The Piler" the final machine that piles the potatoes in the cellar.
The Piler is a really cool machine that is run by remote control and places the potatoes in HUGE piles in the cellar. One of these cellars will hold bout 150000 sacks of potatoes.
Yep... this is us standing on 150000 sacks worth of potatoes! Such a fun weekend! Anyways... not sure if anyone cared too much about how potatoes are harvested but I was sure interested! More to come on Rodney's newest hobby and the intramural championship game!
3 comments:
Wow I can't believe how much goes into getting those juicy delicious potatoes!!! I'm glad you had fun Stef! Wish me luck at the Dr's today!! I'm nervous!!!
I have a whole new appreciation for those potatoes from Burley, Idaho. I feel so much more educated now! I can't wait to see you again. I love you.
Thats really cool. Stef I am so proud of you for blogging. You're doing a great job.
Once I went to some small town in Idaho and got to stand on a huge pile of potatoes and we were even in a parade for Spud Day. I know how exciting the potato can be and share your enthusiasm.
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