Spud Harvest 101

As a newby to Idaho I had no idea what "spud harvest" was or even what a "spud" was.  I am now a bit more educated on the whole process and wanted to share my vast knowledge of the subject (ha ha) with the world because I know you care oh so much (he he).


First of all, a "spud" is Idahoan for "potato" so if you hear another person say "spuds" you will now know what it is that they are talking about. 


To prove how crazy we here in Idaho are about our spuds, some schools actually get a "Spud Harvest Break" from school, which, if your not working in the harvest, is two weeks of sheer bliss!!!

Unfortunatly . . .

I was not such a person because I decided to work in spud harvest for a local farmer.  Goodie!!! :)

There are six main jobs in spud harvest (I will start with the highest paid).

1.) The Farmer - he gets to call the shots and fret and worry about ALL that goes on
2.) The Digger - he gets to run the machine that digs the spuds from the gorund and 

     puts them into the semi-truck
3.) The Crossover - this guy runs the tractor that pulls the crossover (it digs up four

     rows of spuds and puts them into two for the digger to come behind and get)

4.) The Truck Driver - these lucky turds get to sit in a heated/air conditioned truck

     and haul the spuds from the field to the cellar

                      PSSST . . . I'm not jealous of their job AT ALL!!!
                                                       NOT

5.) The Piler - he gets to sit on a stool and move a conveyor belt that puts the spuds

                        into a big pile in the cellar (aren't we so original in our names) :)

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST. . .

6.) The Soil Elimination Engineers!! - a.k.a "Clod Pickers" we

      (including myself) get the prestigious job of picking out the dirt clods,

       vines, and rotten or cut spuds from among the good, sellable spuds.

Oh What Fun!!!  :) :)

So here's where it all starts:                      

In the field (who knew spuds had flowers when the grew! they're quite pretty and the color of flower tells you what kind of spud is growing underneath! Who woulda thunk it!)

Next, the spuds are dug out of the ground and loaded into the truck and brought into the cellar.

Then, comes MY job!!   (Drum roll please!)                    

Clod Picking!!!

(This is not me, but you get the idea)  :)

Next, are a few pictures from spud harvest last year.  I did work, but only part time, whereas this year I worked the WHOLE thing!!!

So the next time you go to the grocery store and buy a bag of potatoes think of us Idahoans working our tails off all for the love of a potato! :)