It’s Harvest Time and We’re on Fire!

The dawn of autumn is the time when our farm comes full circle.

That’s because it’s potato time!

Our farm crew who work year-round doing everything “potato” kick into full gear, ready and excited to see what our carefully-tended crop yields.

It’s so exciting to think about the bounty just under the surface of our fields that stretch across the Saco River valley of Fryeburg, Maine and Conway, New Hampshire.

Everybody here gets excited, from our potato-growers to our seasonal employees who man the trucks that move alongside our harvesters, to the warehouse crew, to the salespeople, to those of us in the office.

We Have a Strategy That Starts With a Round White

Our harvest starts in August with our early season round white. It’s known for being one of the first potato varieties to mature and for being an excellent boiling potato.

These handsome spuds help us ease into our harvesting season because come September, we’re all in!

That means we’re at it 5-6 days a week with everyone in direct communication with each other so that everything happens as efficiently as possible.

After the early Round Whites, we harvest the fingerlings and the reds.

If you’ve been keeping up with this blog, you’ve read about our fingerlings. They are delicate, small and elongated with a look roughly reminiscent of a finger.

Our most beautiful fingerlings are destined to become Side Delights® Steamables, a microwave-packaged, healthy and quick way to prepare potatoes. We, along with 7 other family farms across America, use our best fingerlings for these and another product called the Side Delights® Gourmet Petite Potatoes. You can read about them here.

Harvesting and Processing Our Potatoes is Carefully Choreographed

We even bought a new harvester that handles our fingerlings more efficiently so they move from farm to table in pristine condition.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen potatoes being harvested. If you have, you can picture thousands – no millions – of rounded spuds gently trembling on conveyor belts as they leave their dark home underground and rise to the light of day.

I especially love to watch the harvest of our red potatoes. Fresh out of the field, they have a vibrant, pinky-red color that is a visual gift from nature. It only gets better as they move through the harvester, shedding excess soil. They’ll move through the capable hands of our warehouse crew working the packing line where they are washed, sorted and bagged.

The result? Ruby-skinned delectables, as beautiful to behold as they are healthy to eat.

Talk About Side Delights…It’s Not All About the Harvest

One of the great side benefits of working here is that we actually have to taste-test our potatoes. We have to conduct “fry tests,” and, sadly for my waistline, I must participate. Oh, poor me!

One of our sales team members is also a professional chef and he helps guide us in cooking our potatoes in various delicious ways. By doing this, we evaluate the varieties we want to grow for next year.

My side job as a potato tester is simply…yummy!

So, I ask you.

Have you ever held a freshly dug potato in your hand?

I can tell you this: it’s a moment of wonder.

In your hand is a tuber, part of a root of this wonder-plant we call Potato. It may be white, or red, or purple, or yellow. It could be round, or oblong, or skinny like a finger. The soil that created it clings to its surface, thicker in the indentations and none at all in other areas.

The skin is smooth and exposed to light for the first time. It’s tender, and fresher than fresh.

The scent is moist, earthy, alive.

Potatoes are our passion, pride and purpose and when we hold freshly dug potatoes in our hands, we hold our world!

We’d love to share the pride of our land with you.

This healthful wonder, this little tuber on which much of the world depends, is here at our farm, ready and awaiting you. We sell them in the grocery stores under many labels including our Side Delights® products.  We also sell 50lbs. bags at our door, M-F from 8 to 4. Come see us for the most delicious potatoes you’ll find anywhere!