Sweet potato plants are a nutritious option for keeping the basement full during the winter! Gardeners who grow large harvests must keep a few things in mind when harvesting sweet potatoes in order to extend the life of their delicious premium.
While the growing season is full of high humidity weather, they prefer cool and moisture-free environments for storage so that they will last all winter. Storage can only follow a process called curing, which converts the starches in the sweet potato into sugar and the tuber forms a second skin that makes it more resistant to injury.
Long-term storage has been perfected over the centuries and evolved with the development of human technology. For people who live in an energy efficient house or off the grid, it is still possible to store sweet potatoes outdoors using the age-old "bank method". For gardeners looking for a more accessible method, storage in boxes and crates is also an option. Home cooks can also boil potatoes and then freeze them for easy access to french fries or baby food.
To further increase your chances of a successful harvest, look for varieties that are known to have a long shelf life or that will best suit your garden conditions and growing zone. Getting a healthy tuber is one of the best indicators of success for your storage!
When to harvest sweet potatoes
Harvesting sweet potatoes isn't difficult, but post-harvesting takes a bit of work. Source: Chidorian
Sweet potatoes are ready to harvest when their tubers begin to poke above the ground and their vines begin to turn yellow. Knowing which strain you are planting will help you guess the harvest date by looking up the expected growing time.
The conditions in which sweet potatoes can be harvested and your crop cured are very important. Wait for a warm day (over 55 ° F) with no chance of rain, as exposure to water will slow the drying of this root plant to properly begin curing. Harvest well in advance of your first frost date as frost can seriously injure sweet potatoes. Harvest all of the plants at once and compost the vines when they are disease free. Start in the morning, preferably on a few days with rain-free weather.
How to harvest sweet potatoes
For backyard and homestead growers, there are two main ways to harvest sweet potatoes. The first is simply digging with your hands and small hand tools to pull the roots out of the ground. It can actually be very satisfying to dip your hands in the ground and search the ground for these wonderful bulbs. Another method is to use a tool called a garden fork. Insert the fork well outside of the root growth area and raise the soil. Keep digging until you get progressively closer to the plant roots.
Don't wash your roots right after taking them out of the ground, however tempting it may be. It's okay to leave some soil on the potatoes during the curing process. Just remove any large piles of dirt on the roots.
Healing your harvest
Let your sweet potatoes harden before storing. Source: Henna Lion
Immediately after harvesting, sweet potatoes need to be hardened. During this process, the starches turn into sugar and make the potatoes sweeter, the roots also lose moisture content. The taste develops over time after the harvest, which means you will need to be patient. That's why sweet potatoes are great for storage.
To heal properly, leave the potatoes in the shade outside in your yard for the rest of the day after harvest. If there is a breeze, so much the better. That evening, move the tubers to an area with high humidity and let them sit for 7 to 14 days while they harden. Ideally, try to keep the temperature high, around 80 degrees if possible. Cure for an additional week in cooler climates.
Store sweet potatoes
There are several methods that can be used to cure these delicious roots. Depending on your conditions, choose the most suitable method for you. Each of these options use different means of preventing moisture from getting on the tuber, keeping temperatures low (preferably 60 ° F), and keeping the roots dry throughout the storage period. If done correctly, your harvest can take several months or even a year.
Banking method
The banking method for storing potatoes is perhaps the most complex, but it works well for storing a small agricultural crop. The bench method is performed outdoors and a hut-like structure is constructed to protect the potatoes from the elements without taking up valuable basement space.
To create it, find a sloping piece of land and dig a shallow hole about two meters in diameter and one meter down. Cover the bottom of the hole with straw or dry leaves and start layering the potatoes so that the pointed ends of the potatoes are facing up and down. Place the potatoes around a medium upright pole for ventilation. Once one layer is made, put another few inches of straw down and form another layer until you run out of sweet potatoes. When you're done, straw cover it again and create a teepee-like structure with boards to protect it from the elements. Lastly, cover the boards with mud. The resulting teepee-like structure should provide good storage for several months, even up to a year.
Sand method
The sand method prevents sunlight and other elements that can damage the sweet potato roots. However, since this method does not provide good ventilation, it is not as strongly recommended as the others.
Place the sweet potatoes in a barrel or bucket (make sure they aren't clear and don't let light in) and layer sand over the sweet potatoes. Make sure the potatoes aren't touching. Store in a warm cellar.
Boxes or boxes
Brush off any excess soil, but don't wash your harvested sweet potatoes. Source: Scott SM
To store in boxes or crates (perhaps most easily accessible), find boxes and crates that provide good ventilation and layer the sweet potatoes inside. Try to only have one layer of sweet potatoes per carton and stack them so that there is as much ventilation as possible.
Put the hardened tubers in a cool, dark closet or room with good ventilation, or in a large closet or pantry. If you are concerned about exposure to sunlight, wrap individual sweet potatoes in newspaper to protect them from light but allow airflow. Ideally, storage temperatures are close to 55 – 60f.
Freeze
A modern and more labor-intensive way to store sweet potatoes would be to freeze them. This is ideal for the gardener who has a small crop or a large freezer.
Tubers cannot be frozen immediately. After hardening, peel, cut and cook the sweet potatoes until they are fork-soft. Freeze freshly cut or mashed sweet potatoes immediately after cooking. This is ideal for sweet potato fries or individually portioned baby food.
frequently asked Questions
Once your sweet potato crop has hardened, save it for later consumption. Source: Jalexartis
Q: Can you eat sweet potatoes right after they are harvested?
A: While the tubers are edible, they are not yet very sweet. Wait at least 10 days for the sugar to develop before eating for optimal taste.
Q: How many sweet potatoes can you get from one plant?
A: It depends a lot on the growing conditions. Many healthy plants produce 8 sweet potatoes per plant, but the size of the tuber depends on the health of the soil and the length of time in the soil.
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