You Say Po-tay-to, I Say Po-tah-to...

We all say FUN!

The men departed first in order to rent a tiller attachment for our 13hp (and 13 wee horses at that) tractor.  Upon arrival at the rental store, James attached the tiller, lifted it up… and nearly flipped the tractor.  So they rented a tractor too… a big tractor, for us.

By the time I arrived at Purgatory Ranch, James had mastered the basics and was getting a little frisky driving the tractor.  It certainly made short work of tilling both the old bed (and doubling its size) and a new bed.  The fluffiness (I considered saying “tenderness,” but I don’t know if anyone else would say that) of the soil was amazing in comparison to last year’s unbroken hardness.

During the tractor escapades, my girls enjoyed a little time running around the borrowed trailer.

Upon completion of his work, James reloaded the tractor onto the trailer, and I fully appreciated how much larger it was than our little tractor: James’ truck almost came off the ground.

Needless to say, James and Dan “need” full-size pickups, a large tractor, and a trailer to haul it.  Myle and I say we’re too broke.

While James was returning said tractor and trailer, Dan and I began marking rows with sticks.  Myle arrived with their kids, and we broke bread together.  Yum.  

Shortly thereafter, a man arrived with nearly 4 tons of dirt that we hoped he could dump gradually across the bed.  Most of it ended up in one large pile.  (It’s Purgatory Ranch for a reason, so we all moved a little dirt.)

Around the time of the compost moving, my dad, older sister and her son, and second youngest brother arrived.  They were amazing.  I walked all the kids to Six Penny Pond, but it is still dry.  70 pounds of potatoes later (Kennebec, Blue Viking, and Yukon Gold), we are looking forward to an exciting and gigantic crop in the summer.

At the end, the men (who by now were aching and sore, no doubt) loaded their children into the wheelbarrow and gave them a run up and down the patch.  I think they were happy (the kids, I mean).

 Later, we will be planting sweet potatoes and onions in a new patch that James freshly tilled.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.