Swee-eet Potatoes!

What’s not to love about a sweet potato? They are tasty, nutritious, and simple to grow.

Sweet potatoes are oh-so-very versatile in the kitchen! Simply search “sweet potato recipes,” and anything from soup to ice cream will appear. Although my favorite is just a simple, baked sweet potato (with butter, of course!), you are only limited by your imagination when putting this tuber to use.

Their orange flesh is evidence of the beta-carotene content, which is a precursor to Vitamin A. According to WebMD, one sweet potato has 400% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of this eye-health vitamin! However, sweet potatoes do come in a variety of colors, and purple is thought to have the highest level of anti-oxidants. All sweet potatoes will contribute to your required intake of vitamins B & C, calcium, magnesium, and even iron—so this tuber is definitely a worth-while addition to your dinner table beyond just the fall and winter holidays!

We enjoy growing our own, and we start our own “slips” in late winter/early spring from the previous year’s harvest. By potting half-way deep in organic potting mix and supplying plenty of light, water, and heat, we can start harvesting the slips as they grow, and then pot them up until the soil is warm enough for this tropical plant to be planted into the garden.

For me, the key to having a successful sweet potato harvest is to continually remind myself that it IS a tropical plant—which means lots of heat and plenty of water. It is the last thing that I will transplant into the garden, at least a couple of weeks after our last frost-free date here in zone 6. If you live in a cooler climate, don’t despair; you can use clear plastic to warm up your soil for a couple of weeks before planting. Although I typically avoid the use of plastic in and around my garden, if there is no other work-around, I don’t hesitate to use it.

After planting, I will layer with a healthy dose of compost which then (hopefully!) gets covered by a layer of mulch (such as pine needles or grass clippings) to hold in moisture. With the layers of mulch, whatever weeds that might poke through are typically very easy to pull. A word of warning when it comes to fertilizing: error on the side of caution and do not fertilize other than compost. Over-fertilizing leads to long, beautiful vines—but very small sweet potatoes.

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When you start to feel the coolness of fall in the air, it is time to dig-up your tubers. Even though they feel hard, be gentle because even though the curing process may “heal over” cuts, it won’t heal bruising. After your sweet potatoes have been removed from the ground, place them in a dark, warm (80-90 degrees), and preferably humid spot for about a week to “cure.” This not only adds an extra skin to the cut areas for better storage, but it also brings out the best flavor.

After properly cured, store in a cool area with high humidity (we use a corner of our basement). Do NOT store them in a container without ventilation (such as a plastic box). A laundry basket or a woven basket works best. Cover them with an old sheet to keep the light out. Properly cured and stored sweet potatoes will last most of the winter, giving you access to this superfood to keep you well-nourished through a long, cold winter!