some hard work digging potatoes

(the following was written on an idle Sunday, much after the events took place, and just for the sake of putting some memories down)

I knew in advance we would have a different day than usual on Wednesday: our Turinek friends once more had requested some help, and this time we would be harvesting potatoes from one of their fields (in fact, a field I see very often, as it is on the way between Maribor and Jurovski Dol).

Digging potatoes is some hard work. At first, Matjaž would ahead in a sort of tractor that digs and separates the potatoes from the root; we would then follow, separating the big, hearty potatoes from the smaller, defective, or involuntarily freshly cut from the tractor's work. After this first separation, the big and hearty are put in boxes, while for the second batch there is a more through selection – some goes for immediate and exclusive home use, and the remaining can either go to animal feed or for seeding; in any case, there is barely any waste, which feels nice.

It was a whole day in the field, from 8 in the morning to 4 in the evening – and a lunch break, of course. My legs were sore for a couple of days from all the squatting and kneeling. Organic farming is hard!