It was a busy weekend, a long drive to the Grand Prairie farm of Larry Fontenot to buy and bring home some 450 pounds of freshly dug sweet potatoes, just about as much weight as our little van can handle.
We had called in our order, and he had 11 boxes ready, each weighing about 40 pounds. His crew squeezed them into the van while we visited with Fontenot. He explained the differences in the varieties and grades he offers.
The farm is near the historical Washington, Louisiana, community, not far from I-49, but you are not likely to happen upon his grading and sales shed. A visit requires turning off I-49 onto a succession of paved but narrow highways, then, after perhaps a dozen miles, looking closely for the post where his original advertising sign hung before years of weathering rotted it away. The current best indicator for our last turn is a simple street sign, "E & L Loop," marking a narrow, tree-lined dirt lane leading perhaps 200 yards to his barn-like shed.
This time of year, the remote shed has lots of visitors, all aiming to have Fontenot's tasty "yams" for their holiday feasting. Five middle-age ladies tucked 13 boxes of potatoes into their roomy four-door pickup while we waited.
The driver, Fontenot said, had missed the location twice before getting fresh cellphone directions. Other shoppers were local regulars who had no trouble getting there.
Annual event: It was the first stage of our yearly "sweet potato run." We had driven the 140-odd miles home by 4:30 Friday afternoon and started delivering boxes to old friends and customers. The list is a little shorter than formerly, some of the original benefactors of our runs having passed on or moved away. Still, folks hear about our little trip and place orders. We deliver them for the price we paid, now $16 a box. We would make the trip for our own supply anyway and incur no additional trip expense for adding a few boxes. Still, some customers insist on adding a bit for our trouble.
As the sun set we suspended deliveries until Saturday because, as you may have guessed, there is more involved than dropping off a box or two and collecting payment.
Visiting: The potatoes are boxed for delivery unwashed, with a loose dusting of sandy soil clinging to them. Fontenot prefers to sell them that way. Somehow, he explains, they keep better in storage unwashed, and it may take weeks or months to use up a whole box. We pass that explanation on at each delivery and spend a while "catching up" and swapping recipes. Our favorite is very simple. Wash enough to fill a big baking sheet, stacked high, and bake them several hours, until all are fully done. Take out a couple for the next meal, then cool and freeze the rest. Days, weeks, later, microwave a couple of frozen potatoes for an quick, easy meal. Just remove the skins, butter, and enjoy. Many people turn their sweet potatoes into casseroles or candied yams. We have no recipe for either. We find them sweet enough, naturally.
Reciprocation: Some grateful recipients wait for us with gifts of their own. This time, one family would not let us leave without a sack of satsumas and a bag of fresh-caught sac-a-lait, filleted and ready to cook. Another gifted us with citrus, including huge lemons. Still another insisted we stay for supper. We gave a box of potatoes to the same Schriever folks who had earlier supplied us with big batches of okra. Returning home from the Saturday deliveries we found they had delivered a gift bushel of grapefruit in our absence.
Retribution? A Sunday e-mailer seemed to take umbrage at my admission that I preferred Biden over Trump, but the language is so irregular that I am not sure: "The Trump campaign is livid that you withheld your endorsement of Joe Biden. You have caused the campaign at least 3% points and therefore tipped the election against Pres. Trump. We will pursue all options available to us to correct this injustice. We'll be in touch!"
If the message is clear to you, please explain it to me.
Houma farmer's market: It continues, every Tuesday, 3-5 p.m., in the parking lot of South Louisiana Seed Store, corner Main and Naquin streets, with local gardeners offering fresh greens and other fall produce right from their yards and fields. Other vendors include kettle corn, MyFoods Vietnamese fare, snowballs and a variety of craft booths.
Responding? Contact Bill Ellzey at 985 381-6256, at ellzey@viscom.net, billellzey312@gmail.com, or c/o The Courier, P.O. Box 2717, Houma, LA 70361.
November 18, 2020 at 04:02AM
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Bill Ellzey: Tag along on our annual sweet potato run - Daily Comet
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