Sweet potato harvest
From planting back in mid-June, it’s been 3-1/2 months to the sweet potato harvest. The variety, Beauregard, is listed as 80-100 days to maturity, although, like potatoes, you can dig them up anytime, as soon as the tubers have formed. The vines are frost-sensitive, and the tubers shouldn’t be left in the ground if the tops are frost-killed, so I’ve been gambling with the first frost timing in order to let them grow for as long as possible. Today seemed like a good time to start. This has indeed been a really easy, pest- and disease-free crop, requiring only a little weeding until the vines filled in. Harvesting turned out to be equally easy. After digging up a few plants to see how the tubers grow, Lynn, Toshiko and I set up a quick hand-harvesting system: remove the vine, loosen the soil with a digging fork, scrabble around for the taters.
The soil had quite a lot of moisture from recent rains, so we had to spend a little extra time brushing off clumps of clayey earth. We left them for a couple of hours to dry in the breeze, then collected them in bins and brought them into the Milkhouse. By the book, sweet potatoes could use 10-14 days of curing at 80-85°F (25-28°C) . In part, this allows some of the starch to convert to sugar, making them…sweeter. That sort of HEAT isn’t available around here right now, but for this first time around, and too small a quantity for really long-term storage, I’m not too concerned. I baked some a couple of days ago, and they already taste good. Let’s see what a week or two indoors does for ‘em!
Somewhat related posts: • Sweet potatoes! • Sweet potato thrives • Digging garlic • Fun with harvest bins • Scrabbling for potatoes
Ooohhh, now I want to grow those! Beautiful.
Mike,
I was amazed by how much the curing improved the flavour. Try it even with a small amount and I think you’ll probably start doing it all the time. A closet can be used if you don’t want to heat a whole room.
Chris
Congratulations! I’m amazed they will grow so far north.
your farm is certainly producing a bounty….i’m sure your customers are appreciative
Those sweets look like a million bucks!
Those potatoes look fantastic - I’ve not tried growing sweet potatoes yet but I’d like to give it a go next year as I love eating them. What did you start with?
Those are simply gorgeous. I haven’t had great luck with sweet potatoes but your pics certainly make me want to try again! Thanks
wah so nice potato…and your soil also look good i like