"Dwayne" wrote
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.


Excellent. Thank you Dwayne, exactly the sort of information I wanted (and
some answers to questions I hadn't asked yet but was thinking about).

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK