Growing Sweet Potatoes

GROW YOUR OWN SWEET POTATOES

Roasted, mashed, baked or fried - Sweet potatoes make a delicious alternative to the humble spud. In recent years their popularity has soared and they are easily found in the supermarket. But supermarket ranges are always limited, and with so many different colours and varieties to choose from, it makes sense to grow your own sweet potatoes.Sweet potatoes are traditionally grown in warmer climates but don’t be put off. New, hardier cultivars mean that now you can grow sweet potatoes and here are some tips that would help you do that.

Planting Tips For Sweet Potatoes

• Sweet potatoes are best grown from cuttings, which are not, in fact, rooted and technically called 'slips'.
• Take a fully-grown sweet potatoes from the supermarket. 
• Bury the bottom three quarters of the sweet potatoes in a box of moist sand. Keep the sand moist without letting it get sopping wet. 
• The slips or green shoots with exposed roots will soon sprout out of the skin. 
• When all danger of frost has passed, gently pull the slips from the mother plant and plant the roots in rich, loose soil where the plants will have lots of room to spread.You can plant those slips into pots as well.
• Water well immediately after transplanting, and keep a close eye on the slips for about a week to make sure they have plenty of water to support root development.  
• The vines will soon cover the ground and the tubers will develop slowly below.

Harvesting And Storage

• Tubers take four to five months to mature and are best lifted once the leaves turn yellow and die back. Approximately 12 to 16 weeks after planting them although they can be left in the ground longer if you prefer larger tubers. 
• Make sure that you lift them before the first frosts though, to avoid the tubers being damaged by the cold. Lift them with a fork taking care not to bruise them.
• They rot if frozen and are hard to store, so consume sweet potatoes promptly.

Few Health benefits Of Sweet Potatoes

• Sweet potatoes contain iron: Most people are aware that we need the mineral iron to have adequate energy, but iron plays other important roles in our body, including red and white blood cell production,
• Arthritis: Sweet potatoes are rich in beta-cryptoxanthin, which has been found to help in the prevention of chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
• Digestive Tract: Sweet potatoes are a good source of dietary fiber, helping to promote a healthy digestive system. Research has found that they may also help to cleanse heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury from the digestive tract.
• Rich in vitamins A and C: Both vitamin A and vitamin C, in which sweet potatoes are also abundant, are invaluable for the prevention of many different types of cancer.

Twice Baked sweet potato Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 medium sweet potatoes
• 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup minced kale
• 1/4 cup strained Greek yogurt
• 2/3 cup shredded Parmesan, divided
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
• salt + pepper to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Rinse sweet potatoes and prick the surface with a fork.
• Roast in oven until soft, just about an hour. Remove from heat and allow to cool enough to handle.
• In a medium skillet over a medium low flame, saute the onions in a little oil until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add the minced kale and saute until the kale is soft, 2-3 minutes more.
• Slice sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, carefully remove most of the sweet potato, being mindful to not tear the delicate skin.
• Combine the sweet potatoes with the yogurt, onions, kale, thyme and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese.
• Spoon the filling back into the sweet potato skins. Top with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
• Bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is golden and bubbly.