Harvesting Sweet Potatoes

As the fall approaches and we are harvesting the last of our summer bounty, so comes the time to finally collect the sweet potatoes that have been growing all season. Sweet potatoes are only distanly related to the potato, and prefer warm weather and are very sensitive to colder temperatures. It is important to harvest them prior to the first frost. In Virginia, this is typically in mid October. Note that the vines and tubers will continue to grow until the frost kills them back. Some interesting facts include:

•The leaves are edible! They are used widely in asian and african cultures and can be cooked like spinach, used in stews, or used in green smoothies
•You can eat fresh sweet potatoes, but with curing the flavor improves dramatically as starches are converted to sugars.

•They are propagated by stem or root cuttings or by roots called "slips" that grow out from the tuberous roots during storage.

•The best benefit for the home gardener is that they have few natural enemies so pesticides are rarely needed.

Once you have decided to harvest your potatoes, follow these steps to cure them and enjoy them into the winter months:
1.Take care when digging the potatoes. Be careful not to bruise them as they can then decay very quickly. The skin is fragile so it is recommended to not initially remove any soil from the tubers. Let them dry before the soil is wiped away

2.Cure sweet potatoes by keeping them in a warm area for about 10 days at 80-85°F, and high relative humidity (85-90 percent). A good place to keep them is near your furnace where the temperature stays consistent. If the temperatures is lower than 85, cure for a longer period. Ways to keep the humidity high is stacking the sweet potatoes in boxes and cover them with paper or a heavy cloth. Another idea is to pack them in plastic bags will holes so that the humidity stays high, but excess moisture can escape.

3.Once cured, store potatoes in a dark place where the temperature is around 55-60°F. A good way to store them is to wrap them in newspaper and place in the back of a closet where the temperature remains pretty constant. Note: DO NOT store sweet potatoes in the refridgerator as they can get damaged by the coldness.

Once cured these sweet potatoes can last for a few months. Sweet potatoes are delicious baked by themselves, used in casseroles, etc. the list in endless. Check out some recipes. Keep checking them throughout the winter to make sure that none have spoiled, and if you are lucky to have any left over, use them to start new plants in the spring! Or check out George's Plant Farm to buy an interesting variety of tubers!

Happy curing and eating.