You say potato, I say Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes have been cultivated for eons because they are tasty, nutritious and versatile. This tuberous root vegetable is easy to grow, and it’s easy to prepare.
If you haven’t tasted sweet potato pie, you probably have never visited the South. With the bright, rich orange interior color, soft, delicate texture and sweet flavor, sweet potatoes are popular as a side dish or dessert ingredient—and sweet potato pie is a dessert no one can resist. Sweet potato melds well with the flavors of cinnamon, honey, coconut, pecans, ginger, butter, and nutmeg, which is why it’s a great ingredient in many breads, puddings, custards, and baked desserts—and sweet potato is equally delicious blended with fruits like apples and berries in casseroles. More savory spices such as green herbs and chili peppers also complement the sweet vegetable in casseroles and stews.
Yams and sweet potatoes are sometimes used interchangeably, but yams have a coarse, rough skin, and sweet potatoes have a smooth, thin skin. They’re actually the products of unrelated families of plants. The cooked sweet potato flesh is moister than a yam’s. If you’re trying to increase your beta carotene intake, sweet potatoes are way ahead of yams. Choose potatoes with the deepest orange color for the most beta carotene content. Sweet potatoes are also a good source of Vitamins A and C, calcium, and iron, and although they’re carbohydrate and calorie dense, they’re low in fat and high in fiber.
Sweet potatoes were first discovered in South America but now they’re grown in the U.S., while yams are all imported from the Caribbean. If you buy sweet potatoes in the supermarket, choose plump, firm roots. Store them in a dry, cool place, but never refrigerate uncooked sweet potatoes. Cook them by boiling, baking, frying, char-grilling or broiling. Dishes prepared with sweet potatoes will generally freeze well. Cooked sweet potatoes can also be stored in the refrigerator for a week or more. Sweet potatoes can be canned and stored for months. Although not the healthiest option, sweet potato chips or fries are a very interesting variation from the traditional white potato chips and fries.
Growing sweet potatoes couldn’t be easier, as long as they have a 80-120-day growing season, and plenty of space to spread out. They thrive in most soils, including sandy to heavy clay. Sweet potato plants ‘slips’ should be planted a full 2 weeks past the last frost. Till the soil to a depth of 8 to 10 inches, then add compost to keep the soil loose, making it easier to dig out your treasures in the fall. Make sure plants have 12 inches of space between them. Keep soil moist with at least 1 inch of water per week.
When it’s time to unearth your produce, most of the potatoes will be in a tight cluster just below the main stem. However, some may spread out below the soil, so start digging 18 inches out from the stem and work your way in, being careful not to damage the stray roots. Once the potatoes have been allowed to thoroughly dry in the sun for a few hours, move them to a protected area for a week or 10 days. This allows the skin to toughen, to protect the potatoes for a long storage life. It’s best to wait 6-8 weeks after harvest before sweet potatoes reach peak sweetness when baked. The ideal temperatures for storage are 50 to 60 degrees, with 60 to 70 percent humidity. Proper curing and storage should help the potatoes last for several months.
Hi There,
I’m from Adelaide,South Australia. How do I plant purple sweet potato? I bought a purple sweet potato and its almost a foot long. How do I make it start having little growths (like with normal potato) so I can plant them?
I’m trying to have a little productive garden for my 9 year old girl to enjoy and look after herself.
Hope to hear from someone out there.
Best Regards,
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0614520324855.html
says to soak it in water to get it to sprout.
Last year I planted potatoes in a raised bed. My soil in the yard is heavy clay, so I filled it with garden soil. I had beautiful potatoes but they had no taste. They were not sweet. In fact most of the potatoes I have bought in NC are not. How do I correct the soil?
There could be several things contributing to the flavor of your potatoes but it’s hard to determine. Here are some things to understand about growing potatoes.
First be sure you start with quality seed potatoes. We have many great varieties. Then you need to provide these conditions:
Potatoes do best in a loose soil that is slightly acidic, with a pH between 5 and 6. The only way know what needs to be added to your soil is to have it tested. You can use a home test kit or check with your extension office for a local testing lab. Adding lots of organic matter will contribute adequate nutrients to the plants.
Be sure to elevate plants well above any standing water. While potatoes like a consistent moisture level, they will become stressed if there is not adequate drainage. Adding plenty of organic material will help with this, as well.
Potatoes are cool-season plants and do best when the soil temp is in the mid- to lower sixties. Daytime temps in the upper 60s are favorable, but one of the big keys with potatoes is cool night temps. That affects the accumulation of carbohydrates in the tubers. With lower night temperatures, the plants’ respiration thru the tubers is slowed, allowing the greater storage of starches.
One other important factor is to be sure that no sunlight reaches the tubers as they are growing, so keep plenty of cover soil or compost handy to “hill-up” your mound. The exposure to sun during development causes a condition called greening. This will make the potatoes bitter and potentially toxic if the levels of glycoalkaloids become too elevated.
I hope this helps and that you have a great crop of potatoes this season.
Karen