Sweet Potatoes Galore

Sweet potatoes grow well for us, so every year I plant as many as I can. I’ve found that two beds-worth will provide enough sweet potatoes for a year’s supply for us and the goats.

For our first several years here I experimented with different varieties. We’ve tried Porto Rico, Beauregard, and Vardaman. I have to say that we’ve liked the Vardaman the best. They are good keepers with excellent flavor, and have pretty purple foliage. Plus they are a bush type, so they are space savers in the garden. For the last couple of years, however, I haven’t been able to produce many slips. That has meant having to ration the harvest for special occasion meals.

I missed having the larger harvest, and especially being able to feed them to the goats. So this year I decided not to count on making my own slips. I decided to order some as well.

Sow True Seed featured an offering of several heirloom varieties this year, so I decided to try one called Nancy Hall. Apparently this variety was very popular in the early 1900s, but after being replaced by commercial varieties became quite rare. I liked the write-up, so I ordered 36 slips.

Well, guess what!

My Vardamans decided to put out more sprouts than they ever have! So I should have plenty of those too.

All my slips have been planted and are being diligently watered to give them a good start. If they get adequate rain this summer and the deer don’t eat the vines, I should hopefully have a bountiful harvest and sweet potatoes galore!