Holes and Tunnels in Sweet Potato Roots
Big, ragged gouges with paired tooth grooves along the edges are voles. Narrow tunnels and pinholes running through the flesh, often with a tiny entry…
Hedge Plants for Montana: What Holds, and What Only Looks Hardy
Montana’s hedge palette is narrower than most nursery catalogs suggest. Of the twelve hedge species tracked here, six hold across the state’s full USDA…
Sweet Potato Vines: Leave Them or Lift Them
Leave most of them. The vines are the plant’s solar panels, and cutting them back costs the roots underneath.
When to Pull Carrots in Manitoba, and How to Keep Them
Carrots are ready when the shoulders at the soil line have swelled to the width the seed packet promises.
Orange, White and Purple: Which Sweet Potato to Grow
Start with an orange-fleshed type. It is the soft, moist, sweet sweet potato most American cooks expect, and it is the easiest one to judge in the kitchen.
Sweet Potatoes and Yams Are Not the Same Thing
Nearly every “yam” in an American grocery store is a sweet potato. True yams are a separate plant: tropical, rough-skinned, and rare outside specialty…
Storing Sweet Potatoes: Never in the Cold
Cured sweet potatoes belong in a dark, ventilated spot inside the living part of the house, holding somewhere around 55 to 60°F.
Sweet Potatoes That Spoil After Harvest
Sweet potatoes that rot in storage were usually damaged at harvest, not in the pantry.
How Much Room Sweet Potato Vines Need
Give each sweet potato slip about 12 inches of row, with 3 to 4 feet between rows, and you’ll get a mix of table-sized roots.
The Soil Sweet Potatoes Actually Want
Sweet potatoes want loose, well-drained ground that is modest in fertility and low in nitrogen. Sandy loam is close to ideal.