Raising Potatoes, Part 2...and Ultrarunning

I 'veblogged about what locally is referred to as "raising potatoes" a couple of times, here and here.

To bring you up to speed, this is what I wrote previously:

When we first moved to south central PA as newlyweds, the bride and I rented a trailer in the country and started a garden.

I soon heard the expression "raising potatoes" and naturally assumed it meant the complete life cycle act of growing potatoes, much like you'd raise a pet goat or a child.

Wrong. Around here the term has a very specific and narrow meaning, namely, the act of digging one's potato crop out of the ground. Thus one might grow potatoes, followed by raising same. Get it?

So, here is part of the 2013 crop.  These are the largest, baking-size potatoes.

 

 

 

This year brought an unusually large number of large, conjoined spuds, reminiscent of snowmen, such as this one:

And the obligatory connection to Ultrarunning? That's easy: many folks just love cut-up chunks of potatoes dipped in salt at aid stations during our races.

Me, not so much; I go for stuff that contains both protein and carbs, such as turkey and cheese sandwiches.

Things Gardening...and Ultrarunning

Photo by Gary

Some of the fruits of my garden labors this year: 10 gallons--some 55-60 lbs--of new red potatoes (unfortunately, I forget the exact variety).  These came from approximately 28' linear feet of planted row.

I posted last summer about "Raising Potatoes," which is the local phrase used for harvesting one's potato crop.  Well, these were raised on the 4th of July.  I got them planted quite early, in our abnormally warm March of 2012.

The bride and I grilled some rib eye steaks and a few of these potatoes, cut into chunks and tossed with some olive oil and tarragon wine vinegar to coat them for the grill.  Oh, and some of our sugar snap peas and fresh tomatoes, also from the garden.  Quite the feast!

The nexus to Ultrarunning?  Healthy eating, of course!  I know that over the years I have tended to think that my fitness from running conveys some sort of immunity from the normal laws of cause and effect that rule the rest of the world.  That despite family history, running gave me a bye on eating and drinking whatever I choose.

Well, nobody gets out of here alive.  My remaining years are far fewer than the years I've already put in, so whatever I can do to ensure the quality and duration of my life is, well, pretty darn important.

So eat and drink wisely, my friends.

Pocket Cameras, Flowers...and Ultrarunning

I came across a stunning new flower in my yard on Sunday.  Couple shots to illustrate a point about pocket cameras (or at least my pocket camera, a Nikon Coolpix):

Sunday was a flawless day without a cloud in the sky.  The first photo is in full sun and is tough to get the auto exposure right.  The yellow flower parts just get all washed out.  In the second shot I deliberately cast my shadow on the flower and got better results, but still not quite there.

I wish I had shot # 3 where it all comes together in a perfect exposure, but such are the limitations of my device.

Oh, and the flower?  This is from my vegetable garden, a variety of red potato, which I planted (and got away with) back in March when early spring hit here in south central PA.

With respect to Ultrarunning, I have often carried this camera on runs.  It is the size of a deck of cards and takes excellent photos.  As we've seen above, it has some limitations (full sun shots and close ups) but it covers 95% of my needs.

 

Raising Potatoes...and Ultrarunning

When we first moved to south central PA as newlyweds, the bride and I rented a trailer in the country and started a garden.

I soon heard the expression "raising potatoes" and naturally assumed it meant the complete life cycle act of growing potatoes, much like you'd raise a pet goat or a child.

Wrong.  Around here the term has a very specific and narrow meaning, namely, the act of digging one's potato crop out of the ground.  Thus one might grow potatoes, followed by raising same.  Get it?

Anyway, this past weekend the tops of all my potato plants had just about died off and it was time to raise them.  No further growth would be taking place underground anyway.  You dig carefully from the side with a digging spade; even so, you will spear and thus ruin a couple potatoes.

My garden is small and I cannot devote copious space to the tubers.  So my raw yield consisted of two 5-gal buckets, which I sorted into 3 sizes as depicted in my photo above.

I prefer the red potatoes simply because in a home garden you get a lot of small ones, which are great for special or elegant dishes.

And the obligatory connection to Ultrarunning?  That's easy: many folks just love cut-up chunks of potatoes dipped in salt at aid stations during our races.  Me, not so much; I go for stuff that both protein and carbs, such as turkey and cheese sandwiches.