HARVESTING POTATOES

During the harvest season, when we see the trucks passing with their huge loads of potatoes, my thoughts return to the late 50's, and early 60's, when potatoes were harvested in a more traditional way.

At this time, there were many more potato farmers in Bear River than there are today, and most growers grew a small acreage, with the exception of a few, who had more land. Most farmers were engaged in a mixed farming operation. They would have to be in the barn at 5 a.m. to milk the cows and put them out to pasture. Then, they would hurry to the field, to turn out potatoes with a beater—digger, which dug only one row at a time. Weather was very important because, if rain was pending, and a downpour occurred, the farmer would not get them all picked up. If there was frost over night, he would lose them.

The rural children started school two weeks early, and were then given two weeks off during the potato harvest season. Many students took advantage of this time to make money with which to buy their winter clothes.

The day’s work in the field began at 8 am. and finished at 5 pm, with an hour off for lunch. Most pickers crawled on their hands and knees, pushing the bushel-sized baskets. They picked both the potatoes on top of the ground, and those that were covered when the second row was turned out. Usually, two men standing behind the pickers emptied the baskets into one-hundred—pound bags. The bags were then loaded on trailers, and taken to the house, where they were stored in the basement. This was very hard work, and storage space was minimal. When the cellars were almost full, the men had to lie on their backs and empty the bags. After a long hard day, when all the help had gone home, the farmer would go to the barn to milk the cows,

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