History
The sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas ) a member of the Convolvulaceae or morning resplendence crime syndicate , is one of several native American plants reveal byChristopher Columbusand his shipmates on one of their American voyages , and Mr. Columbus and gang are given acknowledgment for transporting sweet potatoes back to Europe . However , the origin of odoriferous potatoes did not commence with Christopher Columbus ’s discovery . The earliestcultivation recordsgo right smart back to around 850 BC in Peru , and some archeological evidence suggests the cultivation of sweet potatoes may have begun around 2500 - 1850 BC . By the meter Christopher Columbus make it in the raw world in the late 15thcentury , fresh potatoes were well established in the Americas .
Benefits and function
This South American and Central American tropic craw is remarkably nutritious and versatile ; often bring up to as one of thesuper solid food , it is high in Ca , potassium , vitamins A and C , Fe , and thiamine . It is low in Na and is a good source of roughage and other important vitamin and mineral . A complex carbohydrate nutrient source , it provide genus Beta - carotene which may be a factor in boil down the jeopardy of certain cancers . Sweet potatoes contain no fatty tissue and are a hefty option to blank potatoes , which have a highglycemic index , meaning that starch from white potatoes are quickly metabolize , run to a rapid addition in lineage sugar . sweet-smelling Irish potato starches are metabolized at a tiresome rate . They can be eaten stark naked , boiled , parched , used in soups , sweet , boodle , or stimulate - fries- and do n’t forget that southern classic , homemade cherubic potato tiddler !
A little known fact about perfumed Irish potato is that itsleaves are edible , so they can be impart to fresh garden salads , steam like spinach or loot , or used in stir - fries . And the list go on and on . In the former 1900 ’s George Washington Carver develop over100 productsusing sweet potatoes — ranging from flour to writing ink . And in recent years one North Carolina entrepreneurial farmer develop a creative use for sweet white potato by process them intoan grownup beverage .
Temperature essential
Unlike spud , which like cool conditions , gratifying potatoes enjoy hot weather and can be turn in the home garden with piffling difficulty . One of the headstone to growing fresh potatoes is patience . Do not plant too early ; they need hot weather . The soil temperature should be above65º Fbefore planting this craw , and the plant call for sun — circumstances of it — about10 hours , in fact .
Sweet Potatoes in Virginia
Our state has a long history of growing perfumed potatoes , as they were first cultivated in Virginia in 1648 , possibly even earlier . Did you acknowledge that George Washington was asweet potato farmerbefore he became a general and the first the first U.S. president ? So if you need to supply a little Virginia tradition to your vegetable garden this year , there ’s still time . According to theVirginia Cooperative Extension Publication No . 426 - 331we can plant sweetened potatoes in our sphere up to the last week in June .
Varieties
There are hundreds of variety of sweetened potato , in colors lay out from white , orange , and red to purple . Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication No.426 - 480recommends the following varieties for our expanse : Centennial , Jewel and Barker .
Soil and Fertilizer Requirements
Historically , sweetened potatoes have been a pitiable soil crop that produces a decent harvest , however ; well - drained sandy or Lucius DuBignon Clay loam soil yields sweet potatoes with better root shape . grave or clay soil often give rough or irregular rootage form . Sweet potato brook acid soils and perform dependable withsoil pHof 6.0 to 6.5 . It is best to found fertilizer app on the results of a soil test . If a grime test has not been taken , the testimonial is to apply 3 pounds of 5 - 10 - 10 fertilizer per 100 solid foot or the tantamount amount of organic plant food . After the vine get down to run , in about 3 - 4 workweek , sidedress with 4 pounds of 5 - 10 - 10 fertiliser per 100 feet of row . Be careful with the amount of fertilizer applied as over - fertilized sugared potato flora produce excessive amounts of foliation , result in smaller - sized murphy .
Planting
Sweet potato are broadcast vegetatively rather than from seeds and are typically started from transplants , which are called “ slips . ” Slips are baby works that are sprouted from a fledged sweet potato . While you may grow scented potato drop away yourself , it is always a good ideal to start out with attest disease - loose plants or vine cuttings from a reputable garden supplier . If you have grease with a mellow clay content it isrecommendedto works the slips on a ridge or “ role player raised bed . ” Till the ground and build a pseudo raised bottom ( high ridges ) , about 10 inch all-encompassing and
10 - 12 inches high with flat - topped ridgeline , spaced about 4 foot apart . Then plant the organ transplant with 8 to 12 inch between plants at a depth of 3 to 4 inches .
Sweet white potato require at least 1 in of water per calendar week to grow well . Watering is especially important during the period aright after transplant — which is the formation and root - development menses . In general , skunk can be controlled by mulching between the row s with drinking straw , clean ( weed free ) pasturage clippings or foliage . Once the vines begin to run , they commonly will shade off out weed .
Harvesting
sweet-flavored potatoes are unremarkably ready to harvest in 90 - 120 years , depending on the form . The cover usually commence to turn yellow as it get penny-pinching to harvest home time . In any event , they should be harvested before freeze . Once the soil cools to around50 degrees F , the quality and depot liveliness of the angelic potato is dilute .
One password about jab sweetened potatoes — you could not be toogentle ! Carefully loosen the stain with a digging fork andgently pullthe potato from the ground by their crowns . The skin on honeyed potatoes is very thin , and extreme tending should be taken during digging and plow to avoid skinning and bruise the roots . Even a very lowly wound can become infected with decline organism . I have a gardening Quaker that lines the container with rags to avoid bruising or fray the potato . Also , head off direct picture to sunshine for more than30 minute — that much sun may cause sunscald , which renders the sweet potatoes more susceptible to waste during storage .
Curing
Freshly dug mellifluous white potato are considered to be“green ” — not the colouration special K , but uncured — and are not very odorous and moist . In this uncured land , sweet potatoes have a abbreviated storage life . After the roots are grok , the curing procedure should begin withinan hour or two . The curing procedure is need to fetch out their sweetness , improve their nutritionary value , and increase their storage life . During the cure process , starches are change to sugar anda protective skin(periderm ) develops , which inspissate over wounds and create a barrier to pathogens . To cure , place the sweet potatoes in a warm , humid elbow room for5 to 10 daysat 80 - 85ºF and a high proportional humidness — about 80 to 90 % . These exact condition may be hard to establish around the home , so take a placement that come close to these atmospheric condition . A general rule is that the lower the temperature , the longer the curing meter ; for example , a curing temperature of 65 - 75ºF may extend the curing period to 14 - 21 day .
Storage
After the sweet potatoes are bring around , move them to a dark location where a temperature of about60 - 65ºFcan be maintained . Sweet potatoes are subject to shivery injury , so they should not be refrigerated . by rights cured and stored mellisonant Solanum tuberosum can last for up to10 to 12 monthsunder idealistic weather .
Is it a sweet white potato vine or yam plant ?
What do sweet potatoes and yams have in rough-cut ? If you are a botanist , absolutely nothing ! They are completely unrelated . Sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas ) is part of the Convolvulaceae family , and , like it cousin the morning glory , is a magnoliopsid ( two embryonal seed leaves ) , and native to South and Central America . Whereas , the yam plant is in the Dioscoreaceae fellowship , along with onions , lily and grasses , is a monocot ( one embryonic seed foliage ) and is native to West Africa . perfumed potatoes have a bland thin peel and the yam plant has a rough scaly skin . The listof remainder run on and on .
So how did this confusion come about ? Well , it may have started several hundred years ago with the West African word nyami , denote to the starchy , edible root of the Dioscoreaceae family . The word nyami became “ yam plant ” in America — and was used by some mass to refer to seraphic potatoes , which do have some similarities to the nyami found in West Africa .
To tote up to the confusion , in 1937the state of Louisiana coined the condition “ yam plant ” as part of a marketing drive to differentiate Louisiana - acquire sweet Solanum tuberosum from other gratifying tater grown on the East glide . In 1937 , the Louisiana sweet potato became a yam !
Today the terminus sweet potato and yam are generally used interchangeably ; the USDA require that sweet potato labeled as “ yams ” always be accompanied by words “ mellifluous Irish potato ” to separate them from true yams .
So what ’s the remainder ? It may just count on who you require . If you ask a botanist the worldwide response would be along the melody of : “ They are wholly different ; they have nothing in common ; if is grown in this county it is a sweet white potato , not a yam plant . ” And indeed , the nyami is not as moist and unfermented as a sweetened potato . On the other hand , if you asked a marketing person , you might get a response something like , “ All sweet potatoes are yam , but not all yams are sweet Solanum tuberosum . ” With that being said , it sure clear up the discombobulation !
The sugared murphy is truly a various vegetable ; it is one of the few vegetables that can be featured as a veg or as a dessert . It is fairly easy to grow , with few cuss or disease problem in our area — with one exclusion : deer get it on the vine . If you have a problem with dear in your garden , you ’ll take to protect this wonderful vegetable .
Thanks for joining us in The Garden Shed . We hope you drop by again next month .
beginning :
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