Smokersmith Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 52 minutes ago, Walker570 said: Just purchased 50kg which should see us through to the New Year. Same price as last year and first class quality. You paid too much last year then !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 52 minutes ago, islandgun said: I remember that ! about 1970 we even riddled them but loaded them via a bale conveyor belt with sides straight into a large artic tippers, then poured a blue dye over them with a watering can... I also remember the price of spuds at the farm gate in 76 after the drought being a tad high, no irrigation in those days That is correct islandgun , when they had a glut of spuds the chaps who sprayed them with a dye done them from the top of the pile and was hopping it penetrated right the way through , this didn't happen and one of the local wheeler dealers who bought the lot for stock feed sorted them out and bagged a lot of the bottom ones that the dye didn't reach , these were sold at the car boot and as far as I know nobody had any ill effects . In the mid 80s , one of the tenant farms grew spuds , he would pull up the rows and leave them laying on top of the ground , the women from the village would walk along the rows putting the loose spuds in empty fertilizer bags and leave them on the ground , his boy would then bring the tractor and wooden trailer and hand load them into the trailer , when it was full he reversed it into a hopper with a conveyor belt that fed them into a little barn , he then put some white powder over the heap and covered them with straw , at the end of the day the women used to queue up outside his back door to be paid , this went on until the crop was safely in the barn and the women got paid daily . Now , when I walked behind the harvester the other week I never saw one person get out of there tractor while taking the spuds up , the only time they got out was when they stopped for a tea break . , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 7 minutes ago, marsh man said: That is correct islandgun , when they had a glut of spuds the chaps who sprayed them with a dye done them from the top of the pile and was hopping it penetrated right the way through , this didn't happen and one of the local wheeler dealers who bought the lot for stock feed sorted them out and bagged a lot of the bottom ones that the dye didn't reach , these were sold at the car boot and as far as I know nobody had any ill effects . In the mid 80s , one of the tenant farms grew spuds , he would pull up the rows and leave them laying on top of the ground , the women from the village would walk along the rows putting the loose spuds in empty fertilizer bags and leave them on the ground , his boy would then bring the tractor and wooden trailer and hand load them into the trailer , when it was full he reversed it into a hopper with a conveyor belt that fed them into a little barn , he then put some white powder over the heap and covered them with straw , at the end of the day the women used to queue up outside his back door to be paid , this went on until the crop was safely in the barn and the women got paid daily . Now , when I walked behind the harvester the other week I never saw one person get out of there tractor while taking the spuds up , the only time they got out was when they stopped for a tea break . , About that time [1970] all our spuds were picked by hand. women from the village and a few do as you likeys..they would follow the spinner, picking into a metal basket then tip that into a 5cwt box. it was my job as a teen to make sure the boxes were full and counted, then using a loader stick them on the trailer.. those ladies could make you blush with some of the suggestions... wish i had taken them up on it now.. wonder if anyone would pick spuds now ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
243deer Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 The 'white' powder was probably fusarex - it was an anti sprouting agent - was a contributor to why I have COPD now (along with spraying in orchards and rather too many roll ups) as I used to apply it with a shovel and no thought of ppe in those days. You have reminded me of the stench of the Egyptian potatoes we used to have to riddle out when they first arrived in the UK just before Jersey Royal and Thanet new potatoes - they were hand loaded into ships - obviously the ones in first at the bottom were not in a good state when they arrived here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-G Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 21 minutes ago, islandgun said: About that time [1970] all our spuds were picked by hand. women from the village and a few do as you likeys..they would follow the spinner, picking into a metal basket then tip that into a 5cwt box. it was my job as a teen to make sure the boxes were full and counted, then using a loader stick them on the trailer.. those ladies could make you blush with some of the suggestions... wish i had taken them up on it now.. wonder if anyone would pick spuds now ? Did that many a year in my youth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 49 minutes ago, Smokersmith said: You paid too much last year then !! 6lbs of very good quality sausage(various flavours), 56kg spuds and a large colly came to £17 ...didn't think it a nad deal. The sausage is to die for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 5 minutes ago, islandgun said: About that time [1970] all our spuds were picked by hand. women from the village and a few do as you likeys..they would follow the spinner, picking into a metal basket then tip that into a 5cwt box. it was my job as a teen to make sure the boxes were full and counted, then using a loader stick them on the trailer.. those ladies could make you blush with some of the suggestions... wish i had taken them up on it now.. wonder if anyone would pick spuds now ? Nice nostalgic photo islandgun , my bag I use for the loose ones wasn't as big as the one the youngster in the photo is carrying , mind you , I bet I would have got them in my bag somehow or other . 18 minutes ago, 243deer said: The 'white' powder was probably fusarex - it was an anti sprouting agent - was a contributor to why I have COPD now (along with spraying in orchards and rather too many roll ups) as I used to apply it with a shovel and no thought of ppe in those days. You have reminded me of the stench of the Egyptian potatoes we used to have to riddle out when they first arrived in the UK just before Jersey Royal and Thanet new potatoes - they were hand loaded into ships - obviously the ones in first at the bottom were not in a good state when they arrived here. That might well had been the same powder you mentioned , We done some building work at Smith.s Crisp Factory in Yarmouth when it was operating and they used to have a lot of Egyptian spuds , they looked like they were grown in Red / Brownish soil , nice eating spuds if I remember correctly , especially for chips . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 23 minutes ago, islandgun said: About that time [1970] all our spuds were picked by hand. women from the village and a few do as you likeys..they would follow the spinner, picking into a metal basket then tip that into a 5cwt box. it was my job as a teen to make sure the boxes were full and counted, then using a loader stick them on the trailer.. those ladies could make you blush with some of the suggestions... wish i had taken them up on it now.. wonder if anyone would pick spuds now ? That's a serious posh modern tatter lifter. Ours would just spin them out to the side and we also had a group of miners wives picking or in the school tater picking holiday in early October there would be a queue of kids at the back door asking for a job picking. I think 10/- a week was the pay ....for you youngsters that's 50p. I used to drive the tractor and occasionally for a bit of fun would hurry round after spinning a row and pull up and start spinning another as soon as the picker at that end had cleared enough room. The miners wives could turn real nasty. They would pick into buckets and tip into hessian sacks. These would be trailered to a ready prepared potato clamp dug out one spit deep and 6ft wide and maybe 50yrds long. The soild carefull thrown on the sides and after the potatoes where tipped and arranged in a long pyramid shape a foot of batten oat straw would be laid on top and then the soil on top of this but leaving a breather at the ridge. No backacters in those days , all spade work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpowder Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 In the 1950's pupils could still get leave from school to work in the potato harvest. There were two ways of gathering in this part of the world, one was to pick into buckets and empty into hessian sacks as others have said, The second method was into wire baskets which were emptied into a trailer. It was a version of slave labour as the farmers did not know how fast they could drive the spinner diggers, never a chance to straighten your back and woe betide if you heeled a few into the ground when the baskets were full aand the trailer had not come around to empty them. Character forming at £1 a day in 1955 it sure was. Blackpowder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 10 minutes ago, Walker570 said: That's a serious posh modern tatter lifter. Ours would just spin them out to the side and we also had a group of miners wives picking or in the school tater picking holiday in early October there would be a queue of kids at the back door asking for a job picking. I think 10/- a week was the pay ....for you youngsters that's 50p. I used to drive the tractor and occasionally for a bit of fun would hurry round after spinning a row and pull up and start spinning another as soon as the picker at that end had cleared enough room. The miners wives could turn real nasty. They would pick into buckets and tip into hessian sacks. These would be trailered to a ready prepared potato clamp dug out one spit deep and 6ft wide and maybe 50yrds long. The soild carefull thrown on the sides and after the potatoes where tipped and arranged in a long pyramid shape a foot of batten oat straw would be laid on top and then the soil on top of this but leaving a breather at the ridge. No backacters in those days , all spade work. This looks more like the machine. a continual slatted metal bed that the heavy or small stuff fell through leaving the spuds to fall off last and on top, worked well but sometimes stones would get into the cogs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 Ours was just a spinner run off the driving wheels. A wide blade went under the row and lifted it and the spinner was set to flick soil and potatoes sideway one row at a time. I am talking 50s that machine looks like a 60s model and partial 3 point linkage to lift it out of work and pto driven. Two rows at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konnie Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 The machine in the picture is what I would call a 2 row hoover a 1 row was possibly more common we used it for daffodil bulbs and potatoes, also had a machine called a shaker but mainly for tulip bulbs, remember some of those wicker baskets then went onto red plastic ones. The mounds for storing them we called potato graves. hard working times but can honestly say did us no harm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 32 minutes ago, Walker570 said: Ours was just a spinner run off the driving wheels. A wide blade went under the row and lifted it and the spinner was set to flick soil and potatoes sideway one row at a time. I am talking 50s that machine looks like a 60s model and partial 3 point linkage to lift it out of work and pto driven. Two rows at a time. So are you saying the photo islandgun posted is fairly modern compared with the machines you used in the 50s . I can remember one year the ground was that hard the farmer ran a roller over the rows a few times to break the soil up before he tried to lift them . Then at the other end of the scale , it was that wet another year he left them in the ground until the Spring when the conditions dried out a bit , I am not sure if they were good enough to sell or used only for stock feed . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 Yep absolutely. I know our neighbour the Colonel, had one of those new fangled two row jobs in the early 60s but I spent a couple of days using the spinner in October 1962 to help out as I had two days leave mid week. We had a 'sit up and beg' Fordson then with a Perkins diesel which was a pig to start and a young chap who worked for my Grandfather tried to swing it on the starting handle and it knocked his front teeth out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted November 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 i lost my virginity to a woman who used to pick potatoes from a spinner..............she had a strong back and strong knees...........i met her when it was too wet to pick and we ended up riddling together in the barn..........i forked and she riddled...and some ole boy bagged up and went home at lunch.....i rekon it was the movement of the riddle what done it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 26 minutes ago, ditchman said: i lost my virginity to a woman who used to pick potatoes from a spinner..............she had a strong back and strong knees...........i met her when it was too wet to pick and we ended up riddling together in the barn..........i forked and she riddled...and some ole boy bagged up and went home at lunch.....i rekon it was the movement of the riddle what done it... Im sure your right, those riddles were a big ole vibrating thing to be leant up against all day......... I speak from experience.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 12 minutes ago, Walker570 said: Yep absolutely. I know our neighbour the Colonel, had one of those new fangled two row jobs in the early 60s but I spent a couple of days using the spinner in October 1962 to help out as I had two days leave mid week. We had a 'sit up and beg' Fordson then with a Perkins diesel which was a pig to start and a young chap who worked for my Grandfather tried to swing it on the starting handle and it knocked his front teeth out. This thread is better than the ole Bygones program 10 minutes ago, ditchman said: i lost my virginity to a woman who used to pick potatoes from a spinner..............she had a strong back and strong knees...........i met her when SHE was too wet to pick and we ended up riddling together in the barn..........i forked and she riddled...and some ole boy bagged up and went home at lunch.....i rekon it was the movement of the riddle what done it... After she was riddeled , was she rejected , or was she Desiree(able) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 40 minutes ago, ditchman said: i lost my virginity to a woman who used to pick potatoes from a spinner..............she had a strong back and strong knees...........i met her when it was too wet to pick and we ended up riddling together in the barn..........i forked and she riddled...and some ole boy bagged up and went home at lunch.....i rekon it was the movement of the riddle what done it... Heck that would make a great folksong .🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted November 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 34 minutes ago, marsh man said: This thread is better than the ole Bygones program After she was riddeled , was she rejected , or was she Desiree(able) that is awful... 25 minutes ago, johnphilip said: Heck that would make a great folksong .🤣 there are several folk who play the banjo and fiddle on PW................................commercial oppotunity there......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 I play guitar and sing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 4 hours ago, Blackpowder said: In the 1950's ......... Character forming at £1 a day in 1955 it sure was. £1 a day - luxury! When my big brother was 10 he got 10 bob, and, although well underage, I tagged along for a day for the grand sum of 2/6d at the age of six. Horrified at such inequity I went on strike and refused to see out the week. In the Pennines in 1956 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westley Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 On 30/10/2018 at 20:38, marsh man said: In the new Co op at Harleston today the Kettle crisps were £2.55 a bag , and no prizes for guessing what the main ingredients are , this time last year the spuds were a fiver a bag or three for a tenner , this year they are £9.99 for 25 kilos , and some places so I am told are dearer than that. Well worth walking behind the harvester this year . 😊 ER.....................................Kettles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted November 3, 2018 Report Share Posted November 3, 2018 15 hours ago, ditchman said: i lost my virginity to a woman who used to pick potatoes from a spinner..............she had a strong back and strong knees...........i met her when it was too wet to pick and we ended up riddling together in the barn..........i forked and she riddled...and some ole boy bagged up and went home at lunch.....i rekon it was the movement of the riddle what done it... 14 hours ago, johnphilip said: Heck that would make a great folksong .🤣 How about a Lyric. Ditchman went to help picking spuds He would end up using his goods to a woman picking spuds from a spinner He thought he might be on to a winner She had good knees and a strong back The ole boy stood there with his big sack He went home for his dinner Ditchy was definitely on for a winner they riddled and they bagged at the end he was ******* (tired) It's Tuesday , fish and chips for dinner Sorrry folks I could not resist! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted November 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2018 38 minutes ago, 7daysinaweek said: How about a Lyric. Ditchman went to help picking spuds He would end up using his goods to a woman picking spuds from a spinner He thought he might be on to a winner She had good knees and a strong back The ole boy stood there with his big sack He went home for his dinner Ditchy was definitely on for a winner they riddled and they bagged at the end he was ******* (tired) It's Tuesday , fish and chips for dinner Sorrry folks I could not resist! that is a rap song....by Ali Gee................................................we need to make as if the Pogues were going to make it the xmas song............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted November 3, 2018 Report Share Posted November 3, 2018 Good grief, don't put your daughter on the stage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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