Sweet Potato Harvest - Evangeline vs. Beauregard

[kath]

Decided to harvest the sweet potatoes today because of the predicted heavy rains, because it's nearly time for the first frost and because the tubers I could see were HUGE. I grew a few slips of Evangeline this because only 4 survived shipment- a refund was given and I'm really glad now that I see the result- a huge disappointment. They were very difficult to harvest and produced tubers that were sometimes 3' away from the plant. Four had rotted. Most were very long and skinny.

The first photo shows the Evangeline tubers from all 4 slips.

The second photo shows the individual harvests from each of the 14 slips of Beauregard- looks like a lot of sweet potato pie in our future.

The third picture is a close-up of one of the piles.

The fourth shows the largest tuber weighing in at 4.31 pounds.

So it's really no contest. Even if the taste of Evangeline is sweeter as claimed, we like Beauregard well enough that I won't be wasting space on Evangeline again. Did anyone else try this one this year and have better luck?

[salix]

Oh Kath, those are just beautiful pictures of your harvest, I am so jealous. Do they need to 'cure'? Do they store well? You would laugh at what I managed to harvest from 2 plants last year - small tubers that I roasted and served for 2 meals only!! Oh well, it was just an experiment...

[wmontanez]

Those sweet potatoes look amazing! I tried a sampler from Sandhill and the plan is to harvest them this weekend.

[kath]

Salix- Thanks- yes, they do need to cure in order to store well. Recommendations vary, but not washing them seems to be important and then storing them at 85-90 degrees for 4-10 days seems to be the suggested temperature range. Most recommend high humidity as well and some say it should be dark. I have them in a tiny unused bathroom with water in the tub for humidity and a space heater running. I need to cover the window today if I can get to it!

Last year some of the tubers began sprouting in April, but they keep much longer for us than regular potatoes because we can provide good storage conditions for them.

I think the key is to find a variety that works in your conditions. I tried lots of varieties and the only one that grows nice tubers that keep well so far is Beauregard. I got slips at a local Agway several years ago for $7 and have grown my own slips since then.

wmontanez- Thanks- hope you have good results from your sampler and find some varieties that you like. Maybe you could post some pics.

[lakelady]

wow nice pics. I failed miserably at growing potatoes this year in a barrel. Maybe next year I'll try again in grow bags or something.

[kath]

Originally Posted by lakelady

wow nice pics. I failed miserably at growing potatoes this year in a barrel. Maybe next year I'll try again in grow bags or something.

Thanks- I tried growing regular potatoes in containers a couple of times but had no luck either...ditto for growing under mulch. Growing in the ground is pretty foolproof.

[Medbury Gardens]

Nice crop kath,here in New Zealand they are called Kumara we have many heirlooms to choose from,but are hard to grow in my three month frost free climate,can be done though, a true test of a real gardener.

And you are right,they don't do as well growing under mulch.

[wmontanez]

Richard, the sampler I got 5varieties from Sandhill preservation they have heirlooms and some other that are 90-120 days if they have the heat units. I was reading that some in Canada grow them under a layer of plastic to trap heat. I did mine in containers not having enough time to set up better with the plastic. My only goal was to test those that do better in my 3mo season and select from there for next year. Anyway mine have to come out because it is getting cold. I'll post pictures of my crop if I get any

[Medbury Gardens]

The native Maori gardeners here used rocks for that same effect Wendy.
I grew a purple heirloom last season which did well so i'm waiting on some shoots of the same again to be sent to me.

[Randall]

Those look great, Kathy!

[kath]

Originally Posted by Randall

Those look great, Kathy!

Thanks, Randall! It might sound silly, but we would prefer that at least 1/2 of them were smaller because there are only two of us at home here and 4 lbs. of sweet potato is a lot. Next year I'm considering planting later and harvesting earlier.

[nicky]

I am jealous... I actually harvested less than I planted this year! Its wasn't a great year for any of my root veg - except the parsnip & carrots. I love sweet potatoes in butter & brown sugar.... or sweet potatoes in wild rice risotto with sage... mmm... stopping thinking about sweet potatoes before I end up in the kitchen cooking again!

They look great Kath.

[kath]

Originally Posted by nicky

I am jealous... I actually harvested less than I planted this year!

How is that possible...did you plant the tubers?

[Elizabeth]

I'm sitting on my hands to keep from harvesting mine to see what's under there. Our first frost date isn't until Nov. 21 and we just had a bit of a heat wave (it was 86 and 89 degrees Wednesday and Thursday) so I'm hoping that boosted them a bit - I swear I think the vines were longer today than they were Tuesday I'm getting so antsy to harvest, it's my first time growing them and I want to see how they did! Peeks around the edges look good, and some of them are getting pushed out of the ground a bit, so I'm hoping that's a good sign that maybe the ones under are getting nice and big. I have no idea what variety I have since I grew slips from a couple that came from the grocery store.

Other than the danger of frost is there any problem with letting them grow as long as you can?

[kath]

Elizabeth-
The pushing up out of the ground is indeed a good sign- make sure they are covered with soil because they can green up like regular potatoes do if exposed to light. Splitting can happen with some varieties if they get a lot of rain after sizing up. When that's happened to mine, the splits seemed to heal over and it didn't pose a problem for storage, but of course they weren't pretty for sales- a non-issue for me. The only other thing that's happened to mine is that critters have begun nibbling.