Huff and Jenny (part 2)

A tater diggin’ crew consists of one man to drive the tractor and four to six

women on a wagon pulled behind. The tractor has a scoop that pushes the taters

up onto a conveyor line. The women grab them, shake the dirt off, sort ‘um

by size and stack them in crates.

The work day started at sunrise and Jenny showed up ready to work. She

was wearing an old straw hat that belonged to her grand dad and carrying

a grocery store sack with her lunch in it; two slices of white bread with a thick

slice of country ham, a dozen tea cakes and a quart jar of sweet tea.

The other women showed her where to put her lunch and explained how

the job was done. She would be at the front of the line since she wut’n

experienced and all.

Huff drove the John Deere out of the barn and stopped at the shade tree by the

edge of the field where the ladies waited to go to work. Huff spotted Jenny

and asked, “What’s yo name girl?”

Jenny perked up and said, “Jenny Louise Barnhill from over in Houlka.”

“Well Jenny from Houlka,” Huff asked, “You ever dug taters ‘fore?”

Jenny blushed and said, “Naw, but I’m ready.”

Half way down the third row, Jenny grabbed her first rotten sweet potato .

She screamed so loud, Huff stopped the tractor. He turned around and all the

ladies were laughing. Huff said, “Damn girl, you supposed to let them rotten

ones go.” Betty, Huff’s aunt, who was working next to Jenny, gave her a pat

on the back and an old rag to clean her hands with. With a smile and a nod she

let Jenny know they had all done the same thing.  Huff fired the tractor up and

they were digging again.

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