Sprouting Sweet Potatoes

Sprouting Sweet Potatoes:)

Once they all got going really good, I moved them outside and planted a row about a foot tall, a foot wide and about 5 feet long.  Our soil is very sandy and we left it that way. There's no added compost.  That was some time right after Christmas.  I really didn't bother with them, only watering weekly.  Those lighter colored leaves with blue flowers growing behind and up the fence are their close relatives, morning glories.

Sweet potatoes are one of the top 15 clean foods ( Click this link for the clean food list. )  Meaning, they grow well without pesticides or fertilizers so we can feel comfortable using store bought potatoes to start.  Considered one of the world's healthiest foods, they are so loaded with vitamin A and other nutrients, you can see the difference in your skin the next day.  Click this link for nutritional information. The roots have been in the ground now for about 3 months and look! 

Four years we lived in Costa Rica and I don't know how to grow a sweet potato.  What a shame.  They've been cultivated in Central America for thousands of years!  So I read an article about how to grow your own from slips you make yourself and bought my last bag of them.   Click this link for an easy tutorial.  I discovered it's so easy, even if you don't live in Florida like us.  They mature quickly and don't need much attention so there's no excuse.  Cut up a store bought potato and put the pieces half-in and half-out of water.  I sat mine in the east facing kitchen window where they get plenty of morning sun.  After a couple of weeks, they sprouted.  

That's one about 4 inches big!  Thanksgiving will be extra special this year making Maya's favorite pie!

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