Sweet potatoes; who knew?

Message 7 of 404

I just finished reading an article on Hobby Farms on line about sweet potatoes. They are apparently really easy to grow as well as being one of the most nutritious vegetables available to us. Sweet potatoes (not yams) are native to the US and should be in every garden.

Here is everything you didn't know that you didn't know about sweet potatoes: view link

They will be in my garden next year, for sure.

posted by collieflower

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I planted some in the garden that sprouted kind of late Collie. We got some small fingerlings off of them. We just fried them and they were delicious. We grew them years ago..they take up a lot of room but we did enjoy them and will put a few in next year. I canned so much this year we decided to do a few diffrent things next year.

posted by maryjane47
about 1 month ago

Good info. If we expand the garden next year, I'll definitely devote a space for them. I love sweet potatoes ... in fact today I made raw sweet potato soup in the vitamix ... simple and delicious!

posted by Levamssg
about 1 month ago

wow hobby farms has come far. i remember them when they were first starting. i was one of their first articles, it was about our sheep. they werent sure they were gonna make it. im happy to hear they are doing such worthwhile articles. i was really afraid they were going a bit burgois.

i honestly never thought of sweet potatoes. perhaps i will look into them, for the garden this spring. if our summer is anything like the last one, i wont get much of anything. who would have thought alot of rain would be a bad thing?

posted by hippiemama
about 1 month ago

I just love sweet potatoes! Baked, fried, in pie (mmmmm .....), french fried, mashed, you name it. How often is something that tastes so delicious good for you?

posted by bluejjazz52
about 1 month ago

If you plant the sweet potatoes in a raised bed, it should give you good enough drainage to avoid rot problems. It certainly is worth trying! I know that there are varieties that adapt to the shorter growing season we have up north. I can't wait for those new catalogs. I know some people start the slips by setting a sweet potato part way into a glass of water and then they just cut off the shoots that start that way and plant them right in the garden.

posted by collieflower
about 1 month ago

Anyone have experience storing sweet potatoes. This is what is in the article. We buy them seasonally and enjoy them tremendously.

Sweet potatoes are best cured by storing them in a humid, dark and warm (80 to 90 degrees F) room for a week or so before being moved to temperature-controlled (ideally, 60 degrees F) long-term storage. If the temperature in the storage area is too cold, the tubers will develop a hard center, but if the temperature is too hot, the tubers may shrivel and sprout.

posted by pcalenda
about 1 month ago

For me the challenge will be the initial curing period. I have a humid basement that has an enclosed storage area, but it is not warm enough. I have storage buildings that could provide dark and warm (particularly my kiln shed) but not humid. I will study on this and figure something out. If I can get the potatoes cured properly, I should be able to store them for a few months, although I doubt it would be possible to keep them stored until the next crop came ripe.

posted by collieflower
about 1 month ago

Thanks, Colliie - I could doubt I could cure them at 80 degrees or higher, and then I would have a problem giving them 60 degrees after that - I wonder how well they freeze?

posted by pcalenda
about 1 month ago

You could certainly cook them and freeze them, particularly if you freeze them mashed. You could defrost mashed frozen sweet potatoes and use them for casseroles, breads, pies or just as they are with some seasoning.

posted by collieflower
about 1 month ago

I've done that with pumpkins and froze them after draining. Worked well, thanks, Collie, never thought about trying to do it with sweet potatoes - so will probably try it next year. No wonder they are expensive during the "off" season.

posted by pcalenda
about 1 month ago

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