Today we harvested potatoes with our community. The harvest was poor. And so disappointing. It’s one thing to have a poor harvest when you don’t depend on this food for survival. But when you do? Can you imagine how that would feel? It’d be devastating.
We were able to talk about the potato blight in Ireland, and what crop devastation must have felt like. It’s painful enough to dig in the ground and get very little when you don’t need it.
What about when it’s mandatory for survival?
We also planted many different varieties. Our fingerling harvest was decent. The other two we harvested today were not. We have three more rows to harvest next week. Planting different varieties helps provide insurance so that the potato famine doesn’t happen.
As we picked our meager harvest, one year old Theo wandered in the dirt putting sticks in his mouth and gleefully shaking the tiny potatoes people handed him.
My daughter ran barefoot, the sand squishing between their toes. We got filthy and laughed and made jokes with our cousins and friends.
I love the group of people who are doing life with us here out in Bulls Gap. I love living history with my kiddos and showing them a side of life that most kids never experience.
On the hard days, May I remember WHY we do this …
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