Kindra and I were happy with our harvest of Yukon Gold potatoes.
For about a week.
We planted the Yukon Golds and some blue potatoes in 18-gallon tubs back in March and have been waiting on them to mature.
The Yukon Golds came first, so a few days ago we recruited Aaliyah to hold a wheel barrow steady while we hoisted the tubs and dumped the contents into the barrow.
It was easier than digging the potatoes out of the ground, and my lower back thanked me several times for doing it this way.
Each tub had several large, well-formed spuds and a bunch of smaller ones.
Although I can’t eat potatoes now due to a diabetes diagnosis, I enjoyed them vicariously when Kindra baked a couple.
The steam slowly rising from the sliced potato fresh out of the oven... Barry White crooning in the background as the butter pooled in the flaky warm potato...
But I digress.
The potatoes had a fair amount of soil hanging on, so we put them in a large box and a bucket for a few days to let the soil dry. After we wiped the dried soil away, the plan was, we’d put them into the final storage bin.
Time passed, as it often does, and we got busy with other things.
One of those things was cleaning the cats’ litter box over the weekend. I emptied the old litter into a trash bag and took the box outside for a hosing. This kind of weather, it doesn’t take long for the box to dry, but Kindra and I got to talking about the bird nest in her plant and there was a load of laundry to take out of the dryer and there was discussion about what to cook for supper.
After a bit, I was walking past the potato box and - wait! What’s that in there with the potatoes? Well, it was J.R. the cat, that’s what it was.
He had waited as long as he thought appropriate for me to bring the litter box back inside.
In fairness to J.R., the potato box was indeed a box, even if a bigger one than his litter box. And enough dirt had dried and fallen off the potatoes to pass for litter. But still. Dang.
That’s a harsh fate for potatoes you’ve waited since March to mature.
The box, the potatoes and all soon were in the trash can and the litter box was back in the house and ready for use.
Lesson learned.