"Die dümmsten Bauern...

... haben die dicksten Kartoffeln."

This is a German saying, "the dummest farmers have the biggest potatoes."

Well, we are pretty inexperienced farmers, let me tell ya. I especially am learning everything for the first time. Tomatoes, for example. Did you know, that you can't just plant tomato plants and wait for the fruit to come? Yeah, that's how I thought it went. Nope. You have to thin out the plants in this special way (that I now know how to do, wahoo!), tie the plant in a special way to a stabilizing support rod (otherwise the plant won't be able to hold up its own fruit), hoe every week around the plant so the roots get life-giving water, weed, etc. etc. etc. I won't bore you with all of the other basics I've learned this year. Christian's parents have been really patient teachers, and I call them constantly with quick plant and harvesting questions. So yes, we're enjoying the small harvest God has given us. The most fun is watching the kiddos learn. I delight in the stains on their play clothes indicating their sampling of various foods. They go out daily and pick themselves tomatoes, plums, nuts, rasberries, currents, etc. to munch on. I love it.

SO, last weekend Christian's dad came for a couple of days to help us with the potato harvest. (He has this nifty potato harvesting gig that hooks on the back of one of our machines and makes the potato harvesting a LOT easier). I did not get a picture of the process (will do this for the last half of harvesting!), but I got a couple of pics of some of the potatoes.

I built (with a tiny bit of help from Christian) the above potato crate! I am SOOO proud of myself. Yep, I am.

So, yes, potatoes are often on the menu around here. Yummy. Good thing I LOVE them!

Note to blogger: it is frustrating that the above picture is being uploaded incorrectly. Now readers must turn their heads or computers for viewing.

I spent FOREVER trying to get the picture to upload correctly, sorry. Got better things to do than to try and figure out a computer program. Hardy har har. SO, what I wanted to say was,

1. the kids were SO excited every time such a mammoth potato was uncovered. One of these babies will feed our whole family. No joke. Thus, the blog title. Grin.

2. No, these are not the clothes we wear to work in the garden. I finally got around to borrowing Christian's work camera today after church. :)

3. I find it quite ridiculous, and quite hard to remember that the singular spelling of the foods potato and tomato are without an "e", and when they go plural, you have to spell them potatoes and tomatoes. Who thought up that?