The sweet potatoes harvest begins by plowing them up at Kirby Farms in Mechanicsville, VA on Sept. 20, 2013.
They devote 200 acres of the farm to eggplant, spinach, beets, tomato, jalapeno peppers, melons and a variety of greens. Soybeans and small grain are grown on the remaining 300 acres. The fertile Virginia soil and their management practices, allows Kirby Farms to double and triple crop fields with rotational crop selection. Wholesalers, who buy from this farm, sell the produce to major supermarkets in the Mid-Atlantic region, from North Carolina to Maryland. Restaurateurs in the local area prepare and serve their harvest to patrons in the Greater Richmond Region. For more information about this farm operation, please see the photoset description at http://flic.kr/s/aHsjLgeD4J. For information about the USDA, please go to www.usda.gov. USDA photo by Lance Cheung.