How Sweet It Is!

Have you been wondering where the newsletter is?  We were without electricity all day Tuesday so we weren’t able to do it then and we are just now getting to it.

How sweet it is to have the sweet potatoes harvested

We harvested the sweet potatoes!   This Is the earliest we’ve ever gotten them all out of the ground?  I think so.  This year we did a few things differently.  First of all, we got our sweet potato slips directly from a certified organic sweet potato grower just a little ways south of us in Mississippi.  Because we picked them up as soon as they were ready, we planted our sweet potatoes two weeks earlier than we did last year, when we ordered slips from a producer in North Carolina.  Sweet potatoes are a tropical plant, they take a long hot season to grow, so getting them in earlier is advantageous.

We have a persistent problem with voles in the sweet potatoes.  In the past we have had damage on as many as a third of the tubers.   This year we put dog-proof bait stations throughout the sweet potato patch.  We use an OMRI approved bait that kills the voles but is safe for predators and scavengers.   That way we can be sure the our dogs or other wildlife wont be harmed.  While we still had vole damage, my totally unscientific estimate is maybe 15-20% damage.  That is still significant, but it’s a lot less than usual.

Harvesting the sweet potatoes promptly and quickly was also a part of our vole control strategy.   We dug the first beds a week ago Monday, and the final beds the following Tuesday.  The overall yield is down quite a bit from past years.  Usually we leave the sweet potatoes in the ground as long as we can and end up with some real whoppers.  This time, they are a lot more modestly sized, leading to a lower overall yield.  In addition to the prompt harvest, there were also a fair bit of weeds in some parts of the sweet potato patch, which may have also affected the yield.

Getting ready for spring already

In addition to harvesting all the sweet potatoes, we also prepared all our beds for the spring garden.  These beds will be home for strawberries, potatoes, carrots, onions, greens, and all the other spring and early summer crops.  These will be planted before it is dry enough to get the tractor into the field, which is why we prepare the beds in the fall.  Randy worked through the whole weekend to get the soil prepared for bed shaping before it dried out too much.  Our soil is particular about moisture level – it has to be just right!  It is unforgiving when worked too wet or too dry.

Small Shares

• Kale
• Radishes
• Sweet potatoes
• Squash and/or zucchini
• Juliet tomatoes
• Slicing tomatoes

Full Shares

• Kale
• Radishes
• Sweet potatoes
• Squash and/or zucchini
• Juliet tomatoes
• Komatsuna
• Cucumbers