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  • From: "Jen Prosser" <jen AT sunstoneherbs.com>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] sweet taters
  • Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 17:52:04 -0500

Dave,

Here is an account of my brief experiment of growing sweet potatoes in NY zone 5 (6 with global warming).   

 

I am in the Eastern Catskills area and tried sweet potatoes for the first time in 2005. I tried the variety pack (5 or 6 varieties) from Shumways. Sweet potato slips are not very common in the catalogs. Shumways will send you a “how to grow sweet potatoes” with the order.

 

I got around to planting them out in June, but based on a comment from someone that I should have ignored, I planted them outside my deer fencing in my open field reserved for garlic onions and medicinal herbs. I planted them at 12” spacing in 2ft wide x10ft long rows that were a foot apart.  They came up just fine even though I planted during very high winds & I didn’t water the slips.  They grew up beautifully and then the deer started in on them and kept them mowed to about 6” all season. My greatest effort at keeping them away was throwing some cages of field fencing over the beds but the deer got right through that. 

 

Since they were an experiment and summer is as we all know, busy, I stopped weeding or paying any attention. At about frost time (in 2005 this was mid October), I went through and pulled out the knee high “witch grass” and, lo, growing through the tangle of weeds were longer vines that escaped the deer’s attention. I dug up the vines and found slender, carrot sized sweet potatoes, not a lot, but enough to get me interested in growing them again this year, inside the deer fence this time! 

 

This may not be much help, but I believe it can be done. What I have heard though is that the potatoes will be smaller than those in the supermarket because of the shorter growing season, and probably heat differential. But that’s fine by me. You can also grow your own slips from supermarket sweet potatoes, but you’ll have fewer varieties to choose from. 

 

Good luck,

Jen

 

 

Jen Prosser
Sunstone Herb Farm

55 Sunstone Rd.

Olivebridge, NY 12461

(845) 657-6059


From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of david purpura
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 12:49 PM
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [Market-farming] sweet taters

 

Hi All.  Is anyone successfully growing sweet potatoes in Mass. area?  I don't find any information in the usual places - fedco and johnnys, or ronnigers.  Where do you get seed, how to grow, harvest, season, etc...

 

thanks,

dave




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