This is a Minnesota potato field.
It used to be a Tall Grass Prairie...undisturbed as far back as I can recall...possibly longer than 70 years.
Now it is an irrigated field, planted with Russet potatoes bound to be long French fries.
There is a potato plant/French fry factory just South of town when the wind is from the South and you are shopping in town it smells like French fries.
FYI we didn't have Sea Gulls in town either but they love freeloading at the potato plant and flying over town to sit on tall light poles and poop.
Far Side
There is a reason my brother calls the gulls, shit hawks. Fits them perfectly.
ReplyDeleteNot long after covid hit, I read an interesting article about how hard it was on potato farmers... because apparently a HUGE percentage of potatoes grown in North America go to the restaurant industry to make french fries! Who knew it was that big???
ReplyDeleteThe Tall Grass Prairie has slowly disappeared from so much of the upper Midwest. Smelling like French Fries doesn't sound too bad. My hometown (Renville) has a sugar beet processing plants just east of town, and it smells horrible when the wind is from the east.
ReplyDeleteSea Gulls poop a lot, all I can say is DUCK!!!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I like fries, I would prefer that to have remained prairie.
ReplyDeleteI have a blog friend who lives in a bird sanctuary town...the town is the natural winter home of the Barn Swallows----she said the POOP in the town was a tad much :)
ReplyDeleteYes, it's the poop!
ReplyDeleteI think french fries smell pretty good! :-)
ReplyDeleteFrench fries would be a better smell than the sugar beet factory when I lived in Moorhead. But I would prefer the long prairie grass. I grew up with fields by me and watched then slowly be destroyed so they could build the senior high and softball fields and a track/football field. I see the same thing happening in Fargo/West Fargo with all the buildings going up. Probably a big part of why I feed the displaced critters.
ReplyDeleteI think french fries would smell better that cows.
ReplyDeletePotatoes are really expensive here of late. I haven’t bought any in a while. Sweet potatoes, I’ve been getting at the store. I do enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteThe smell of french fried is a good smell....we had Quaker Oats in downtown Cedar Rapids Iowa and you could smell Captain Crunch! LOL! I use russet potatoes for all things potato.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a shame when land that has been undisturbed prairie is cultivated. It will never be the same again.
ReplyDeleteGulls like the free food around malls too.
ReplyDeleteI remember when we first moved to Spokane. I had never seen seagulls before and was so happy to see them. It seemed so different from Nebraska. Then I discovered how much they poop. The infatuation when away pretty quickly. :-)
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
I guess I never thought Minnesota would be a good place for potatoes. They must plant them early in the cold.
ReplyDelete