Charlie Pridham wrote:
Anyone growing them? I think I have Dioscorea batatas, I was given a
small plant a couple of years ago and this year its decided to go mad!
but I am not sure how to crop it with a view to keeping the plant alive
as well. Seems to be hardy and I assume its the swollen tubers one eats?

Charlie, you should soon see small, adventitious tubers forming in the
leaf axils. These can be saved at the end of the season for growing
on to produce new plants and are too small to be used in the kitchen.
The root tubers are dug and cooked after a few years when they have
reached a good size. They need a thorough boiling and/or roasting
because of varying levels of calcium oxalate present, which is not a
good dietary supplement! The Americans can get a bit hysterical
about this because in mild climates it is a highly invasive vine that
can run on for 20+ metres and smother everything. I'm not so sure it
would be that much of a problem here even in the 'mild' SW
-