Sweet Potato

A garden experiment. Ok, not really, but at least for me. I don't know anyone who has done a potato. This gardening thing goes back generations too, but I still don't know of anyone growing potatoes. Maybe because it's of the cheaper varierty of things to buy at the grocery store so why bother growing them? I don't know. I've always wondered and I read that it's a great summer time veg to grow, which is hard to find in the hot humidity of Florida summers. I started mine late, what a suprise for those who know me. :) But, I won't make that mistake next year. Here is a blurb from Tom MacCubbin's site on the basics of starting the potato.

As you may recall the potatoes were started in May. This year I could not obtain starts at the garden center. The producer said a wet spring in Georgia cause a crop failure of starts. So my crop came from some saved potatoes from last year and a potato or two from the store. The potatoes were started in soil or a jar of water. The shoots that developed with roots were removed when about 6 inches long and grown on in containers until a foot or so long or stuck directly in the ground. They were kept moist and fertilized 2 to 3 times during the summer season. That is all it took to grow sweet potatoes.

 This is the month to harvest and I was ready to get the vine off the ground so I can make room for other veggies. Honestly I was just tired of moving the vine around since it kept creeping into the yard. Otherwise it's a no brainer thing. I started ripping it up and I found little sweet potatoes hanging off the roots.

Like I said before I started them late and their smaller then they should be, but just as delicious. Did you know you don't have to peel a sweet potato? One of our family's favorite dishes are the potatoes cut into bite sized pieces with a little olive oil in the pan. When they start to soften we add diced onions.Once it's all soft and yummy then I put in herbs-fresh or dried. Yum! Anyways, here is my harvest from two potato starts.