One of my readers asked me recently when a person should dig up her sweet potato vines and harvest her sweet tubers.
Despite its name sweet potato is not a true potato. Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas) is related to field bindweed. This nutritious tuber is a wonderful addition to any Christmas meal.
The orange flesh of the sweet potato is rich in vitamins and stores well if harvested at the right time.
My mother and grandmother cooked many sweet potatoes in the oven over the years. I remember watching them cook and splitting them after they were softened.
They would put butter, maple sugar, or those tiny marshmallows on top of the sweet potato. This sweet aroma mingled with the smells of roasting turkey and delicious pies – truly unforgettable smells wafted through the house.
Mom would soften the sweet potato first, peel the skin, then spread the flesh in a casserole dish and place it at the bottom. She would mix the softened butter and maple sugar.
She would then mix crushed soup crackers with butter and maple sugar, then layer them on top of the sweet potato mix.
Finally, she would place a layer of miniature marshmallows on top and finish cooking the sweet potato until the marshmallows turned a nice golden brown. Christmas felt like a good time for this comforting side dish.
Sweet potato should be harvested from 70 to 100 days or from 3 to 4 months after you plant the tuber. My dad and a friend of mine grew their sweet potato vines in raised beds, and the vines would cover the bed and spilled over the edges as harvest got closer.
The answer as to when these tubers should be harvested is after the leaves have started to turn yellow and before the first frost.
Another approach to harvesting is to allow the leaves to completely turn black from frost, which is supposed to improve the flavor of the tuber, increase the vitamin content, and, of course, improve the yield.
The only challenge is that once the frost hits, the tuber will rot quickly. Waiting to harvest can be a gamble.
You will need to dry them out in the garden for 2 to 3 hours before storing them after you dig them up. As you may already know, the skin is a little more delicate than that of a normal potato, and if you have damaged any of the tubers, you will need to use them quickly.
To cure these tubers, store them in a humid place at 80 to 85 degrees F for about 10 days.
Then gradually reduce the temperature and store them in a humid room at 55 to 60 degrees F. You can harvest sweet potatoes with a spade-type shovel, a potato fork, or, as my dad did, just pull the tubers out of the soil with his hands.
My dad grew his sweet potato vines in rich, friable soil that he could push his hand into a foot deep without slowing down. Rich organic soil yields the best sweet potato harvest.
I have kept sweet potatoes year to year, and there are a few ways to preserve them for replanting next year. The yellow-green and the purple-leaved sweet potato vines are not cold-hardy; left outside in winter.
If you are as frugal as I am, there are three different ways to overwinter a sweet potato.
Take cuttings from the vine and place them in a cup of water. These sweet potato pieces can sprout quickly and grown as a houseplant.
Sweet potatoes are vigorous growing plants, and if you raised your plant as a potted plant, you will need to trim it.
Your plant may also go into shock coming inside and turn yellow. It will recover in a few days.
As with most tubers, you can store a few potatoes in a cool, dark, and dry place, such as peat moss or coco coir, for the winter, then bring them back to the yard to plant in the spring.
Winter care of sweet potato is more involved than outdoor care, because you need to be mindful of water, light, and pests.
Sweet potato casserole is a delight to all the senses at Christmas dinner. This column will help with planning for next year’s sweet potatoes. Our sweet potato casserole is a blessing that you can share with your family.
I hope you all have a wonderful stroll through your gardens this week. Merry Christmas!
If you see any issues, don’t hesitate to email me your questions at ericlarson546@yahoo.com.