Sweet potatoes are easy to grow and delicious to eat.
They actually becometastier and sweeter in storageas their starches convert to sugar.
When to harvest sweet potatoes for the best crop?
Credit:Marty Baldwin
In fall, when the weather begins to turn cool and the vines start to wither.
Marty Baldwin
Sweet Potato Harvesting Tips
Sweet potatoes bruise easily, so handle them gently.
It helps to cut and remove the vines two or three days before you harvest.
This will encourage the thin skins to toughen up a bit.
Lift the sweet potatoes gently.
Its easy to skewer a root with your garden fork while digging.
Separate out damaged roots for immediate use (just cut out and discard the damaged area).
For undamaged sweet potatoes, brush off as much loose soil as possible; dont wash them with water.
Dont rub hard, or you might scrape off the skin.
Curing heals small scratches and starts the conversion of starches to sugars, which improves the flavor.
If the weather cooperates, you’re able to cure them outdoors in a shady spot.
If the weather is not suitable, an attic or shed might provide appropriate conditions.
However, you may need to boost the humidity with a humidifier oradd warmth with a space heater.
Place them in boxes and store them in a dark space where temperatures stay between 50F and 60F.
A basement or cool closet often provides ideal conditions.
Do notstore them in the refrigerator.
Check the sweet potatoes regularly and remove any that show signs of rot.
What to Make with Sweet Potatoes
Don’t let your sweet potato harvest go to waste.
Beyond classicholiday-style sweet potatoes, there are lots of ways to use thesevitamin and potassium-richtubers in recipes.
you’re able to use yourslow cookerto make mashed sweet potatoes orboil themto use in recipes.
So it’s best to harvest before it rains, and always harvest before a hard frost.
Freezing temperatures will damage the roots and significantly reduce your harvest.
The skin of fully cured sweet potatoes becomes more firm and small scrapes dry and heal over.
It usually takes one to three weeks to cure sweet potatoes, depending on your exact conditions.
