Faith Farm

Sweet Potatoes

This is one veg. plant that I truely love to grow here.  It provides an abundant crop and has a beautiful vine with lovely flowers long after the heat of summer has browned the remaining garden.  The sweet potato has been ranked highest in nutritional value.  It is rich in complex carbohydrates, protien, vitamin A & C, iron and calcium.  Its dark flesh has high beta carotene.  It is claimed to have many health benefits ranging from helping with  Arthritis to Weight gain.  Besides all the health benefits it just tastes great.  Sweet potatoes can be baked, boiled, fried, mashed and fluffed. 

You can grow your own slips by putting a sweet potato on a bed of sand and covering  it completely with moist sand. Keep it moist and at room temperature for four to six weeks until sprouts are about six inches tall and have a few leaves. Remove the new shoots and their roots by gently twisting them off the potato. These pieces are known as "slips." Wait three or four days before planting the slips as little root hairs will develop, and they will help to ensure survival of the vine.  Then just make mounds of loose dirt about 12 inches high and 12 inches apart.  Plant the slip about 4 inches deep.  Keep well watered at first to establish a good root system.  Later it will not require much water.  Keep the weeds out as to not desturb the new roots. Later as the vines grow weeds will not be such a problem due to the heavy vine coverage.

I have had sweet potatoes store for as long as 6 months without change in flavor or texture.  It is a must add to any garden--they require little and produce so much.  There are several varieties that will grow just about anywhere.  Blessings>faithfarm