| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| mikesgirl |
Posted - Apr 09 2008 : 5:06:25 PM
We've been eating a lot of sweet potatoes lately and I thought I might try and grow them this year, but I haven't been able to find the starts anywhere. I know they take a long time to mature - is that why I'm having a hard time finding the slips? Anyone have experience in this?
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| N Marie |
Posted - Apr 19 2008 : 01:55:25 AM
Yep, Sherri. It snowed a little here, too, today. Dang it, where did Spring go?! Sometimes I wish I lived in Sequim... hmm... only ~15" of rain and snow per year, there. There's just so many things that won't grow in the Pacific NW, especially in the Puget Sound/Seattle area.
I did happen to find a variety of watermelon that will grow in a short summer. Best part is they're awfully tiny, ~8 lbs. Cut one in half and it's a perfect treat for two. I think it was offered by Seeds of Change. I've never considered sweet potatoes. That would be something.
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| Tina Michelle |
Posted - Apr 19 2008 : 01:19:21 AM
they are so yummy with a little tiny bit of butter, cinnamon and a teensy sprinkle of either sugar or brown sugar..yum yum.
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| mommom |
Posted - Apr 18 2008 : 3:40:32 PM
We have been planting sweet potatoes for years because all of us love them so much and they are very healthy for you. When we harvest them we put them in a cardboard box with a tight fitting lid and keep them in our basement where there's no light. We lose a few but oh my! Do they taste good in January! Susan |
| Tina Michelle |
Posted - Apr 18 2008 : 2:40:40 PM
yikes..well I'll enjoy this 68 degree weather here.
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| mikesgirl |
Posted - Apr 18 2008 : 07:52:06 AM
Hi Tina - we have SNOW forecast for today! I'm jealous!
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| Tina Michelle |
Posted - Apr 17 2008 : 11:14:03 PM
set out our sweet potatoes this evening in hills. 16 plants of them. So we should get a good crop come fall.gonna plant some watermelon plant starts(2 of those) and I got one pimento pepper plant too. We've been adding to the garden..so far we have corn coming up, we have cukes, about 16 plants of those, 4-6 summer squash plants,about 18 tomato plants or more, plenty of broccoli,spinach,mesclun and other lettuce varieties(just about ready to do a cut and come back trim on those and then spray with a fish emulsion after cutting back to an inch for the second growth)
we have peas starting to set flowers now, the tomatoes are setting flowers.we have carrots planted,cowpeas and green beans....
bell peppers too. And in the little herb garden we have lemon basil,lemon thyme,peppermint,stevia,parsley,oregano,dill,lemon balm.
So..so far everyhthing is growing good. Oh and our pear tree is absolutely loaded with baby pears this year..and...
we have about 40 raspberry canes..and about 10 blackberry canes...and..I've started to see flower buds on the raspberries! woohoo!! happy dance!
The blueberry trees have a few blueberries, but I don't expect them to produce much this year.
But we are getting strawberries about every week already off of the strawberry plants..at least a handful or two a week.
but they'll produce straight through to the fall on those.
oh...and....my cottage garden has been making an awesome come back this year..so lush and green..blanket flower plants and cosmo plants and mini snapdragons..can't wait to see everything that grows in it this year.
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Gotta get the lawn mowed this weekend then will try and get photos.
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| junebugs |
Posted - Apr 17 2008 : 11:00:08 AM
hi ladies, yes you can use store bought potaotes to plant, if you take a bag and let them sit out a few weeks they will grown the eyes, and then you can cut them up , and plant with the eyees up....i prefer the the red taters tho.. you can use them for anything, and oh how i love digging for those little things, like finding a treasure.. i found if you take the water hose with a sprayer on it, but the taters in a bucket and spray the water on them the skins just comes off, boil those little things , put a little butter and add some garlic salt with a little parsley... Yummm...
oh i havent every grown sweet taters before and not sure why?? |
| mikesgirl |
Posted - Apr 17 2008 : 08:59:09 AM
Jennifer - I wondered that too about the store bought potatoes. I know some of them are treated not to sprout, but I wouldn't want to grow/eat thouse anyway.
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| Betty J. |
Posted - Apr 17 2008 : 08:56:23 AM
I have never grown sweet potatoes, but I just love the sweet potato vines (especially Blackie) and have had them in hanging baskets in the front and back of my house. The leaves are very dark purple. When they were frosted last fall, I dumped out the container and there were two relatively large sweet potatoes. I kept them, but they haven't started sprouting yet. I don't think I would eat them either. |
| La Patite Ferme |
Posted - Apr 17 2008 : 08:46:08 AM
How can you tell the difference between sweet and other potato plants? I have something growing out of my compost pile and I think it's some kind of potato. Crossing my fingers its a sweet potato 'cause we eat lots in the fall and winter. Never tried them fried, sounds good. We slice them and bake them with butter, brown sugar and nutmeg or cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. Um Um!!!
Could you use a store bought potatoe and just cut it so you have eyes in each section? I've heard you can do this with russets and other white potatoes. How long do they take to grow? Maybe DD and I will try growing some too. |
| Tina Michelle |
Posted - Apr 16 2008 : 11:14:29 PM
we plan to grow some this year..in fact have the plant starts setting out by the garden now. will be planting them by the weekend.
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| mommato4 |
Posted - Apr 16 2008 : 9:35:16 PM
Our local hardware store gets them in, the beginning of May. We live in Missouri. We usually leave them in the ground until September and then start pulling them up...yum yum!!!!
Have a wonderful day!!
Christy
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| mikesgirl |
Posted - Apr 15 2008 : 08:09:34 AM
Wow - I can't imagine them being so plentiful!! I did find some slips from a company called Steel Plant Co. - I think they were in Tennessee. They are going to send them out to me in a few weeks. They said I need to get my soil warmed up before they arrive because they take so long to mature and our summer isn't that long here. I put black plastic out, so we'll see what happens. I hope I have good luck - I"ll keep you updated as to their growth. You can't buy them in any of the hardware or plant stores here, so that might be a clue to me that you can't grow them here, but I'll only be out 10 bucks so I thought I'd give them a try!!
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| sugarplum |
Posted - Apr 14 2008 : 10:24:33 PM
Hey Sherri, You must come down south this summer, to get sweet potatoes. They grow like weeds here and you can find them on home lawns, the back of pickup trucks (beside the road) and the flea markets, for sale. We use slips that are found at the hardware store or garden supply centers. But they are so plentiful here it is cheaper to buy them. Good luck though on your patch of tators, you must try them fried in butter and sugar.
Have a wonderful day, RoseMarie
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| Rosemary |
Posted - Apr 09 2008 : 7:33:58 PM
I found my slips at Johnny's Seeds ( http://www.johnnyseeds.com ) . They ship them when it's time to plant them. Mine are due here in another couple of weeks. They're are organic, untreated, etc. |
| mikesgirl |
Posted - Apr 09 2008 : 7:01:03 PM
Thanks Jonni - I'll try those that you suggest.
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| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Apr 09 2008 : 5:11:11 PM
If I'm not mistaken, they're available from seed savers and Bakers Creek. I was going to do them because we sure eat a lot of them, but I just didn't. Maybe next year.
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