Getting back into it.

Who would have thought I would be photographing potatoes and posting about them on my blog!

I love these potatoes! They have a story.

At the Chandler markets this morning, I noticed that at my favourite rose stall they were also selling buckets of freshly dug potatoes. I was intrigued.

Dave and Sheila are market gardeners' from Booval, a community south of Ipswich which is set at the foothills of the Great Dividing Range called the Scenic Rim. Parts of the Scenic Rim have experienced severe flooding and primary producers have lost crops and their livelihoods.

Dave recounted his story of how they harvested most of their crop of potatoes, when they knew that the heavy rains were imminent. However, they were unable to pick all of their other market garden vegetables they produce. Their home is on high ground so was not affected by the floods.  However, their crop-producing land was low lying so they did lose all their crops...

...and their pigs were in trouble!

From their kitchen window they were able to see their pigs swimming in the flooded paddocks. All they could see were little snouts poking out of the water and there was not a thing they could do for them as it was too dangerous to venture outside.

A good news story here! The pigs survived!

As the water levels subsided, the pigs proceeded to roam at their will. Pigs and mud...heaven!!! Dave and Sheila's fences were down and they were very concerned for their pigs. When it was safe to do so, Dave rounded up his pigs and corralled them into a make shift enclosure which originally was a field  cherry tomatoes and potatoes. Again, the pigs were in heaven...Dave said they ate too much here! Those particular potatoes the piggies were feasting on, were the ones that didn't make their previous harvest.

So, the potatoes I bought today, are like gold to me, freshly dug and  have a powerful story behind them.

I have been supporting local farmers at our markets this morning. People like Dave and Sheila with smiles on their faces they recount their losses, but at the same time try and concentrate on the positives to get them through. Lovely people!