"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
Hi Bob.

I harvest them before the first frost. If however, you wake up and find
that it frosted overnight unexpectedly, you can go out first thing, and cut
the greens off at ground level and save the potatoes.

I then wash them off, and let them dry. Then I put them in a container that
allows the air to get to all sides of them, and put them in the warmest room
I have. They want high humidity and 80 to 90 degrees F for 10 to 15 days.
If you cant provide the humidity and high temp, leave them in the warm room
for another 5 to 9 days. Once the curing process (the starch changing to
sugar) is completed, you can put them in a cool, dark room. I put mine in
the basement, where they will stay for a long time. I still have a few I
raised in 2005. Never let them get cooler than 55 degrees F, or they will
be ruined. Don't store them in the fridge.

I always save some for the next years planting. I get a planting tray that
will hold water, and is about 2 inches deep. It is also about 2 feet long
and 18 inches wide. In February or March, I lay several sweet potatoes in
the tray. They can touch each other, but must have the majority of them
touching the bottom of the tray. The tray must be located somewhere that is
warm. I have my "frost free" freezer in the basement. I put the tray on
top of the freezer, and check the water supply every 3 to 5 days, and I add
water as needed.

Within about 3 weeks the slips will start sprouting up from the potatoes.
This goes on until the danger of frost is over in the spring March or
April), and I hold the potato down with one hand and pull up on the slip
with the other, using a rotating motion. I pick 10 to 20, trim the leaves
off the bottom 2/3 rds of the slip, and set them in a can of water. Don't
let any green leaves hang in the water, or they will rot and kill the slips.
Within 3 to 5 days these slips will have roots.

I like to plow up my garden space and rake the dirt into raised rows. Then
I flatten the top of the rows with my rake. I lay my soaker hose on top of
the rows and plant the slips along the soaker hose. If they get frosted by
a late frost, you can plant them again if you have more in the can
developing roots. If you have a lot of extra, you can then sell some to
your friends.

I wash the potatoes off, pat them dry, coat them with cooking oil, lay them
in tin foil and bake them in the oven for an hour. They are so sweet I
don't need to add brown sugar and so moist I don't have to add a lot of
butter. You can fry them, bake them, boil mash them, or cut them into
chunks and add them to stew.

Have fun. If you need anything else, contact me.

Dwayne (in Kansas)