Oh, what a fabulous day when the sweet potatoes are ready! Now mind you, we could have harvested these babies a few weeks back, but it’s oh-so-much more fun to harvest them in time for the holidays. Sweet potatoes are a staple on our Thanksgiving table. Actually, in our house these potatoes make a year round appearance because not only are they delicious, they’re healthy.
Wonderful! We do love healthy. But now is the time when sweet potatoes are actually “in season” in Central Florida. So, with this in mind, we scooped away the dirt and voilá ~ potatoes!
Kids LOVE this part. Harvesting potatoes is commonly referred to as “swimming” for potatoes and once you let that cat out of the bag, the kids come running. Really puts a nick in my child’s playover when their friends want to garden (ugh-moan) instead of kick the soccer ball around. But gardening is that much fun.
Now, when digging for these guys, one must be careful. An aggressive scrape from your shovel WILL leave a mark on that potato you don’t see until you hit it. Gashes detract from your potato’s storage ability so do be aware.
Best tactic is to don the gloves and get to fingering your way through the dirt. Most potatoes will be collected under the main root system, however, don’t be surprised if you find potatoes on extended vines several feet away. In our case, we actually found some beneath my lovely black-papered walkways!
It’s an adventure. Anyhoo, once you’ve gathered a basket full, gently rinse the dirt from their bodies and set in a cool, dry place to store. Anxious to cook them? Thought you would be. Why not try this Deep Dish Casserole? It has an orange twist to it and is absolutely divine on the tastebuds. Sweet Potato French Fries are also delightful and of course, Sweet Potato Pie proves a huge hit with everyone. No matter how you slice these golden girls you’ll be pleased with the outcome. And remember, sweet potatoes are healthy. Loaded with vitamins A and C, these are superfoods when it comes to anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory power. Enjoy!
Hi! I’m a fellow central Florida gardener and have been enjoying your blog. Tonight I stumbled across your sweet potato posting written last Nov. I noticed you didn’t mention “curing” your sweet potatoes and was wondering if they still taste sweet anyway. The first year I harvested sweet potatoes I was very disappointed because they were not sweet at all. Then after lots of research I found out that you are supposed to “cure” the sweet potatoes after harvest by storing them in a high humidity, high temp area (80-90 d F) for 2 weeks. Such as the garage or in a shed. This process does something that causes the starch to convert to sugar and also thickens the skin. I usually harvest my sweet potatoes in late Sept thougj amd though that maybe leaving them in the ground longer might automatically cure them. What do you think? Thank you and happy blogging! 🙂
You’re right on the sweets but around our house we eat first and ask questions later. 😉 Those sweet potatoes that don’t make it onto the plate the first round are stored in our garden shed–a dark, dank place PERFECT for curing. Thanks for pointing it out!