Interview: Demonstrator Angus Macdonald

And they used to call them raised beds because of the wet, and they used to plant their potatoes, corn, cabbage, turnips, and everything in the, in the lazy beds out at, especially in the back of the hills here, you see. That’s where they used to do them.

They do a lot there, right enough, ’cause the ground’s so bad, you know, you just mess it up with the tractors and all that, so it’s easier to make the lazy, lazy beds.

But on the west side, on the machair ground they used to do the ploughing there. It was dry.

But it’s usually on peat ground they used to make the lazy beds and they used, well, like I said before, they used to call them raised beds then, just because the ground would dry out. Otherwise your potatoes would just be rotten.

Well it was – put the line down, then turf up one side and then you turn the turf over. And then you go down to spade deep again and you fill in the centre between the two turfs. And they you’ve got a thing you call a dibber and you make holes in the turf, like you know, in the centre where you put – and you planted your potatoes in there. Now I’ll show you a dibber – it’s down there. My dibber’s down there – I think it is anyway. Aye, it’s very very old.

And they used to have a thing called a foot plough. They used to make, you turned the turf over with a foot plough and then you filled the centre in with a spade. But I don’t think there’s anyone in the islands now who can use a foot plough. I’ve still got one of them, right enough, yes. They were wanting it up in the museum up there but I wouldn’t give it away.