Veg collectors, volunteers, any visitors to the Fields back in early Spring would have noticed this green machine, with its intriguing foreign language warning. What is it, what does it say?
It is a potato planter. By the looks, a single row one – but that is just a guess! This photo is taken looking at the back, but the business end is more at the front. We can see a hopper with the writing on it, wheels, some sort of footplate, and 2 discs.
The writing says, “Przebywanie w czasie pracy na sadzarce zabronione!” which is Polish. It means, “it is prohibited to stay with the planter whilst working!” The last word, “zabronione” means prohibited. Presumably the footplate is there to help with loading in a sack of seed potatoes, but not to stay there.
It can be mounted on a tractor with a hitch. It makes furrows, automatically seeds the potatoes, and hills them in with soil.
All in one fell swoop! In one pass!
What does the 15 mean? We think the speed limit, probably in km/hr which is just over 9 mph. Again, just a guess! It probably has a manual somewhere, but who reads manuals, eh!
There are little buckets on a chain that pass up towards the yellow part, at the top of the green hopper. A double one would have two of those yellow bits at the front. After the potato is planted, the discs we can see from the back of the machine do the mounding up.
We are wondering if the growers and the work shares have a nickname for this bit of kit, which probably sees most action at Matfen. Perhaps if they don’t have a name for it, we could suggest one? Green Lizzy? The big green spud planting machine? Answers on a postcard!
As we write this, it is new potato season, which is always a joy. Delicious warm with a hot meal or cooled down again with a salad.
