September 25, 2011 Coats Museum News
As one travels the back roads of Grove Township this time of year, the tobacco fields are now pictured with tobacco stalks sans golden leaves or ones in which the stalks have been cut into the soil to make space for the winter grains. However, work is just beginning for the sweet potato farmer. The ground beneath the running green vines contains bushels of sweet potatoes that have names likely unknown to the average shopper today who purchases the “perfect food” at the local markets.
Farmers who grew sweet potatoes in the early decades of the 20th century had fewer varieties to grow. Two familiar names were the Porto Rico and the Batatas. Several years ago, Carsie Denning, Sr. and Cornelia Johnson shared some memories of growing sweet potatoes with this writer. Carsie depicted images of several decades prior to the Second World War. Denning noted that prior to that time, farmers grew almost all their food on their farms. They had hogs, beef, and all types of vegetables. One of the main foods was the sweet potato.
In April of 2004, Mrs. Cornelia Creech Johnson told me what she remembered about making sweet potato beds. That’s right-beds not pies. She recalled that the family began preparations for a potato bed in March. The size of the bed depended upon the amount of plants needed by the family and those that might be given to neighbors. The shape of the bed might have been a family preference, but Mrs. Johnson recalled that the Creech potato bed was about three feet wide and varied in length from six to ten feet. She recalled that the soil was worked up softly with a small amount of fertilizer mixed into it. The small seed potatoes were pressed down into the soft dirt. The potatoes were placed close to each other but could not touch each other. Next, stable mature was crumbled up and a small amount was strewn over the potatoes. Finally about three inches of dirt was placed over them. As the heat of the sun warmed the soil, the potatoes would sprout and shoot up through the manure and dirt and form potato sprouts. Over in May, the young potato sprouts were pulled when they were about six inches long and were planted on ridges very much as tobacco plants were planted.
Carsie recalled that potatoes grew long vines during the summer. To plow the potatoes, the vines had to be turned out of the middle of two rows for the plow to throw additional dirt on the ridge. A farm worker used a long stick to turn the vines so the farmer could use a plow to throw more dirt upon the ridges. When the potatoes were ready for harvest, the entire process of potato harvesting began with the cutting of the vines with a special knife mounted on a long handle. The vines were place between the rows where they would become plant food for the next year’s crops. A mule drawn plow was used in unearthing the potatoes and workers would then pick the potatoes from the vine stubble and carefully place the potatoes into baskets to be taken to storage. Bruising the potatoes would cause them to rot.
Where was this storage place on the farms? A spot was located near the house, in the field, where digging would be easy. Clean pine straw was placed in a round pile about eight feet in diameter and twelve inches thick and packed well. The potatoes were piled on the bed of straw in a cone like manner in heights of five to seven feet. Pine straw was then placed over the entire pile. This required about a foot of pine straw over the cone. The trench was dug around the pile and the dirt was put on the straw that covered the potatoes. The dirt was about ten inches thick. This process would keep the cold out of the storage space since the decaying straw would provide enough heat to properly cure the potatoes. During the winter as the need for cooking the potatoes came, a hole was made in the side of the “tater hill”, and one would reach in and pull out all the potatoes wanted. The hole was then closed with straw and dirt and the “tater hill” was again a perfect storage place. By spring, all the potatoes were gone and the dirt was put back in the trenches and the straw was left for fertilizer. After the spring plow had been applied, the ground was ready for another crop.
For those of you who never saw a “tater hill”, could you visualize one? Did it look like a dirt teepee? Don’t know, but I do know that I have been told by some who have visited our Coats Museum that their parents packed a hot sweet potato into their lunch boxes to be eaten along with a link sausage biscuit. Dorothea Stewart Gilbert once told that a hot potato would keep hands warm as students walked to school on those cold winter months. These were likely the children who crawled out of those warm feather beds to get to one of those early Grove Schools located throughout the township.
This I do know. The Yellow Front Store-R.A. Taylor and Company of Dunn was offering some items to entice farmers to shop at his store. A man’s worsted suit sold for $12.85 and a small man’s worsted suit could be had for $4.95. A pair of dress shoes sold for $4.95 (The “Harnett County News” October 27,1922).That’s the value of seven bushels of potatoes in 1922, folks.
Were there Halloween Carnivals in the schools in 1922 and did the Grove Township have bootleggers making their special brew in the deep woods of the township? Read next week to learn more about the happenings in the final months of 1922 in the Coats area.
Please be mindful that this Coats Museum News was published in the Daily Record on September 26, 2011.
As one travels the back roads of Grove Township this time of year, the tobacco fields are now pictured with tobacco stalks sans golden leaves or ones in which the stalks have been cut into the soil to make space for the winter grains. However, work is just beginning for the sweet potato farmer. The ground beneath the running green vines contains bushels of sweet potatoes that have names likely unknown to the average shopper today who purchases the “perfect food” at the local markets.
Farmers who grew sweet potatoes in the early decades of the 20th century had fewer varieties to grow. Two familiar names were the Porto Rico and the Batatas. Several years ago, Carsie Denning, Sr. and Cornelia Johnson shared some memories of growing sweet potatoes with this writer. Carsie depicted images of several decades prior to the Second World War. Denning noted that prior to that time, farmers grew almost all their food on their farms. They had hogs, beef, and all types of vegetables. One of the main foods was the sweet potato.
In April of 2004, Mrs. Cornelia Creech Johnson told me what she remembered about making sweet potato beds. That’s right-beds not pies. She recalled that the family began preparations for a potato bed in March. The size of the bed depended upon the amount of plants needed by the family and those that might be given to neighbors. The shape of the bed might have been a family preference, but Mrs. Johnson recalled that the Creech potato bed was about three feet wide and varied in length from six to ten feet. She recalled that the soil was worked up softly with a small amount of fertilizer mixed into it. The small seed potatoes were pressed down into the soft dirt. The potatoes were placed close to each other but could not touch each other. Next, stable mature was crumbled up and a small amount was strewn over the potatoes. Finally about three inches of dirt was placed over them. As the heat of the sun warmed the soil, the potatoes would sprout and shoot up through the manure and dirt and form potato sprouts. Over in May, the young potato sprouts were pulled when they were about six inches long and were planted on ridges very much as tobacco plants were planted.
Carsie recalled that potatoes grew long vines during the summer. To plow the potatoes, the vines had to be turned out of the middle of two rows for the plow to throw additional dirt on the ridge. A farm worker used a long stick to turn the vines so the farmer could use a plow to throw more dirt upon the ridges. When the potatoes were ready for harvest, the entire process of potato harvesting began with the cutting of the vines with a special knife mounted on a long handle. The vines were place between the rows where they would become plant food for the next year’s crops. A mule drawn plow was used in unearthing the potatoes and workers would then pick the potatoes from the vine stubble and carefully place the potatoes into baskets to be taken to storage. Bruising the potatoes would cause them to rot.
Where was this storage place on the farms? A spot was located near the house, in the field, where digging would be easy. Clean pine straw was placed in a round pile about eight feet in diameter and twelve inches thick and packed well. The potatoes were piled on the bed of straw in a cone like manner in heights of five to seven feet. Pine straw was then placed over the entire pile. This required about a foot of pine straw over the cone. The trench was dug around the pile and the dirt was put on the straw that covered the potatoes. The dirt was about ten inches thick. This process would keep the cold out of the storage space since the decaying straw would provide enough heat to properly cure the potatoes. During the winter as the need for cooking the potatoes came, a hole was made in the side of the “tater hill”, and one would reach in and pull out all the potatoes wanted. The hole was then closed with straw and dirt and the “tater hill” was again a perfect storage place. By spring, all the potatoes were gone and the dirt was put back in the trenches and the straw was left for fertilizer. After the spring plow had been applied, the ground was ready for another crop.
For those of you who never saw a “tater hill”, could you visualize one? Did it look like a dirt teepee? Don’t know, but I do know that I have been told by some who have visited our Coats Museum that their parents packed a hot sweet potato into their lunch boxes to be eaten along with a link sausage biscuit. Dorothea Stewart Gilbert once told that a hot potato would keep hands warm as students walked to school on those cold winter months. These were likely the children who crawled out of those warm feather beds to get to one of those early Grove Schools located throughout the township.
This I do know. The Yellow Front Store-R.A. Taylor and Company of Dunn was offering some items to entice farmers to shop at his store. A man’s worsted suit sold for $12.85 and a small man’s worsted suit could be had for $4.95. A pair of dress shoes sold for $4.95 (The “Harnett County News” October 27,1922).That’s the value of seven bushels of potatoes in 1922, folks.
Were there Halloween Carnivals in the schools in 1922 and did the Grove Township have bootleggers making their special brew in the deep woods of the township? Read next week to learn more about the happenings in the final months of 1922 in the Coats area.
Please be mindful that this Coats Museum News was published in the Daily Record on September 26, 2011.