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Re: Sweet Potatoes?

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Nancy,

We are zone 4, near Green Bay, WI.  We order our sweet potato plants (slips)
from Jung's Nursery and they arrive, usually to be planted over the Memorial Day
weekend.  We make two mounds the length of our raised beds, cover each mound
with a small soaker hose that is part of a watering system on a timer.  We then
cover the mound with black plastic fabric and let it set until the slips
arrive.  We try to prep the beds at least 2 weeks before the slips are due so
that it is nice and hot.  We plant about 12 - 18 inches apart.  Then we cover
the mounds with remay and clear plastic that is supported by hoops, which are
secured into the beds with pvc pipe.  Now, do not panic, this is how we have to
do it in zone 4.  If you are in a warmer climate you would not need to do the
clear plastic to keep things warmed up on cool spring days. Once you get them
planted and have a system for keeping the plants warm you just sit back and let
them grow.   We usually harvest right before or after the lst fall frost.  After
many years of testing different varieties we plant only Georgia Jet.  We get
good production and like their color/favor/and storage life.  I prefer to work
them up rather than store in the root cellar.  I peel, nuke, mash and then
freeze.  All the humans at our house love sweet potatoes and we also feed it to
our dogs as part of a raw diet.  We plant 50 plants and this keeps us in sweet
potatoes until the next harvest.  We usually have one meal a week.  It has been
a long time since I weighed and counted the taters.  We have learned that
planting near rhubarb and tomatoes reduces production significantly.
Remind me next spring/summer and I can send updates and photos of our hoop
system.

Deany

Nancy F wrote:

> Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
> Deany,
>     Are sweet potatoes hard to grow, maintain? 'Real' sweet potatoes or
> yams? I have a tiny yard space, but this caught my eye as a possible fall
> crop. How many on each plant, on average? TIA,
>
> Nancy F < chinancyf@msn.com >
> Cats, Chorus, Computers & Care
> Ventura County, CA  zone 9 I think.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Dennis&Ludene Smits <balke@netnet.net>
> > Most of my gardens are done except for the
> > sweet potatoes that we will start harvesting next week. From the test digs
> it
> > looks like we will have a great harvest which means I will be busy
> cooking,
> > mashing and freezing for a weekend or two.  Deany, zone 4/WI
>
> Nancy F < chinancyf@msn.com >
> Cats, Chorus, Computers & Care
>
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