At some point during the summer, I found sweet potato plants at my favorite nursery. I didn't plant them for quite a while, because I couldn't decide where to put them. I knew I didn't want them to suffer an untimely death because of my indecision, so I finally put them in an unclaimed bed near our house. I threw in some compost and told myself we'd check on them in the fall. In the meantime, they filled the bed with crawling vines.
When I saw these vines taking over, I knew I was breaking the rules. It was suggested to me that you should cut back the crawling vines so that the plant puts its energy into making potatoes. I knew I was living on the edge when I didn't. I wanted to see if they would root and make even more. The jury is still out on that one. I have a feeling this will probably be a lesson in not being greedy.
Moral lessons aside, I was very surprised and excited when we found these!
From what I have read, I think the standard practice is to wait until the leaves turn black or start to wilt before digging up the tubers. Well, we couldn't help it. In our defense, one of the potatoes was sticking out of the soil. How could we resist? At least I left the other plant. I have to admit, though, the real reason I didn't check on those potatoes is that lately the soil around that area has seemed to bulge and crack and, well, just look generally unsettled. Instead of yummy starchy potatoes, I am afraid I will find some kind of large, mutant, burrowing mammal attached to the other end. We'll see. Who knows? Maybe there are so many potatoes that the earth cannot contain itself. My money's on the hairy, mutant, snarly mammal.
Apparently, Sam finds the shape of this one as funny as we do.
So did you cook them? How did they turn out? I've never tried sweet potatoes - looks like fun!
ReplyDeleteWe had sweet potato chips. They were mostly yummy, but I am really sad to say that I burnt about 2/3 of them. I am hoping that other plant has a ton waiting for me.
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