They do a lot of funny things up here in potato country and one of the local traditions here in Rexburg is called the Great Spud Race. It is basically a potato race down a stream with prizes for the winners. We took some pictures to show you how it works.
Here is Saren on the bridge awaiting the spud race commencement.
Lucy is also anxious to see what this whole thing is all about.
First they take all of the potatoes that people have purchased and write numbers on them. Once they are all in a big barrel, they give the signal and dump them into the stream.
Look at those little spuds go! They kept the potatoes in the center of the stream with poles so none would get caught in the grass.
Now, of course, potatoes don't race terribly fast so we had time to pose for a shot on the bridge.
We ran ahead of the racing roots and watched them speed by the river bend.
The spuds are then funneled into a single file line. Their numbers are called out to a scribe and the potatoes are collected in a net. There was an award ceremony later announcing the placing potatoes and their prizes. Unfortunately, our two little competitors didn't make it into the top 25 and so we didn't win a prize. However, they announced that anyone present at the event would be able to take home a 50 lb box of freshly harvested potatoes. Since both Tristan and I had each purchased our own separate potato entry, we qualified for a box each. That's 100 lbs of potatoes!
Here's our prize. Combined with the bag we already had, the total count was 159 spuds. They're big potatoes too. We figure we will be eating a lot of potatoes this winter and have been looking for new or good recipe ideas. If anyone knows something delicious with potato, let us know. So far we are not sick of the taste yet!
Here is Saren on the bridge awaiting the spud race commencement.
Lucy is also anxious to see what this whole thing is all about.
First they take all of the potatoes that people have purchased and write numbers on them. Once they are all in a big barrel, they give the signal and dump them into the stream.
Look at those little spuds go! They kept the potatoes in the center of the stream with poles so none would get caught in the grass.
Now, of course, potatoes don't race terribly fast so we had time to pose for a shot on the bridge.
We ran ahead of the racing roots and watched them speed by the river bend.
The spuds are then funneled into a single file line. Their numbers are called out to a scribe and the potatoes are collected in a net. There was an award ceremony later announcing the placing potatoes and their prizes. Unfortunately, our two little competitors didn't make it into the top 25 and so we didn't win a prize. However, they announced that anyone present at the event would be able to take home a 50 lb box of freshly harvested potatoes. Since both Tristan and I had each purchased our own separate potato entry, we qualified for a box each. That's 100 lbs of potatoes!
Here's our prize. Combined with the bag we already had, the total count was 159 spuds. They're big potatoes too. We figure we will be eating a lot of potatoes this winter and have been looking for new or good recipe ideas. If anyone knows something delicious with potato, let us know. So far we are not sick of the taste yet!
Hahaha thanks for the spuds!! We're still working on the little bit you gave us.
ReplyDeleteOh, If you do a search for potato pancakes, you'll find some interesting recipes that look fun to try. :)
ReplyDelete