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Because I enjoy a challenge in the garden and I'd never grown them before, this year I decided to plant sweet potatoes. I've written before about how you plant skinny little plants called "slips" in well-turned soil - and then sit back and wait.
The slips went into the flowerbeds in front of my house in the middle of June, right next to the Siberian Iris and purple coneflowers. I watered them every day, as instructed. Four weeks went by and I started to think the slips must have died because nothing happened. Then, suddenly, signs of life appeared in the form of ivy-shaped leaves. Soon the beds were covered with vines, which I trained up a couple of decorative wrought iron pyramids in an attempt to get them off the lawn.
Sweet potatoes are harvested after the vines have flowered, and last week, finally, I spotted some purple blossoms. I fetched a garden fork, located the base of a plant and dug, holding my breath to see what - if anything - was below the soil. Imagine my delight when up came an enormous red-skinned sweet potato! It's a variety called Beauregard.
This weekend "dig up the sweet potatoes" is on my list of gardening chores. They have to cure for three weeks in a warm room in order to develop their sweetness, and I can't wait to taste them. They should store through the winter. I'll keep you posted.
Have you ever tried growing sweet potatoes?
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