Sweet Potatoes From the Garden, growing styles and recipes.

This is the second year of our garden, and the second year to grow sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes grow best from a slip, which is simply a sprouted vine beginning to grow out of a mature sweet potato, that you have placed in either water or soil.

True confession, I did not grow slips the first year in our sweet potato patch, 

I simply tossed a sprouting sweet potato or two, that I had on hand in the pantry into a garden bed. Did we get sweet potatoes? Yes, but a small harvest was the result of that method. But here recently I have learned there might be more to large sweet potatoes than starting from a slip. 

The second year I attempted to grow sweet potato slips 

by placing a sweet potato on it's side with the top one inch of the potato out of the soil. I watered it faithfully and while the slips did (finally!) begin to grow they were slow and eventually I tossed the whole potato into the bed and we will have to see what comes of that! There is always lots of vine on top of the garden bed, but you never know about the size (or the quality) of the sweet potatoes until you harvest at the end of growing season. Next year, I will definitely go the water route! 

When is growing season for sweet potatoes?

Here in Texas and probably in most areas, summer time is sweet potato time. And honestly here in Texas it is nice to have a easy plant that does not require a lot of weeding. But my plan for next year also includes starting the slips on our anniversary date Feb. 14th so there is lots of time to grow them properly. It will definitely be fun to see the quality difference in the harvest from the previous two years of simply dumping in a few potatoes and hoping for the best. 

 

It turns out that sweet potato vines are also edible and nutritious. 

And it was when doing a bit of research on recipes for sweet potatoes that I found this helpful hint. Each week cut the sweet potato vine back to three or four feet. The vines are completely edible, however, it is in the removal/harvest of the vines that helps to grow the largest potatoes. What? Yes, by cutting the vines back each week, the plant will send energy to the potato instead of energy maintaining all those vines. 

I did challenge my self to trying sweet potato vine in our own kitchen! 

Probably the end leaf and two additional leaves in, along the vine. With the remaining vine sections going to the chickens. My research also offered that they are routinely eaten in many countries. Much like spinach. So far, we have not tried sweet potato vine, but honestly, one of the fun parts of gardening is trying new to you, food! But even if you decide not to eat the vines, do cut them back each week for a larger sweet potato crop! Stir Fried Sweet Potato Vines will definitely be new to our table and new to us...

Here are the before and after photos of trimming back the vines!

This bed was tidy enough, but had more long vines, than the photo indicates. 

This bed was almost hidden from view with all the Loofah vines surrounding it! But lots of very long vines were added to the wheelbarrow. 

A full wheelbarrow of sweet potato vines were taken to the chickens! It is easy to see how the energy needed to keep all these vines growing, would lead to smaller sized sweet potatoes. 

Through the years I have made a sweet potato pie which was delicious, 

and not at all like pumpkin pie. As a kid, on Saturday's my dad would make fried potatoes in a big cast iron skillet. He would start with a one inch layer of shredded russets, then add a one inch layer of shredded sweet potatoes, and top the sweet potatoes with more russets. He would turn it like a big pancake and when it was served the inside sweet potatoes were soft and sweet with the outside russets being crispy and golden brown. We loved it! And of course we had the standard sweet potato marshmallow casserole at Thanksgiving (which was too sweet for me), and cans of sweet potatoes in the pantry that were canned in a heavy syrup (again too sweet!) as a back up vegetable. But fresh sweet potatoes did not make many appearances in my childhood home, except those fried potatoes on a Saturday a couple of times a year. 

We buy sweet potatoes weekly once our garden crop is gone. 

We enjoy them baked for dinner especially when serving chicken or pork. Simply baked, they are naturally quite sweet and so moist that they don't really need any butter! But I have to confess, sweet potatoes are not the first ingredient I think of when looking for new recipes. But like all things going on in a kitchen, a change in cooking often comes with the changes in what is harvested or purchased at the market or just a cook's curiosity!  

New sweet potato recipes for 2025: 

Well we did it! 

I made Quinoa with Sautéed Potato Leaves, Garlic, and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, then topped with Feta. And while I loved the texture, of the sautéed leaves and the crunch of the pan toasted pumpkin seeds, I did not care for the perfume-y background flavor of the sweet potato leaves. While this was fun to experiment with, I think all future weekly trimmings will go straight to the hens!

How about some family favorites?

Here are our all time family favorites, they are all delicious. They might even be reason enough for you to put a sweet potato patch in your garden!

Swiss Chard White Bean and Sweet Potato Gratin. Swiss Chard and sweet potatoes are a delicious pairing of flavors. This needs to be made each year the swiss chard bundles hit the marketplace, or maybe your own first harvest...

Skillet Braised Sweet Potatoes and Peas.  Sweet potatoes and peas are different but quite delicious together! 

Super Fruit and Vegetable Breakfast Squares This delicious breakfast treat is filled to the top with fruit and vegetables, including shredded sweet potatoes!

 

Sweet Potato Gratin with Fresh Sage. More delicious than you could ever imagine, plus the fresh sage is a true flavor delight.

Ham Bone Soup with White Beans, Sweet Potato and Kale. The salty ham and the sweet of the sweet potatoes makes for one of the best soups ever! I hope you give this a try...

Sweet Potato Cornbread, is moist, delicious and goes with just about everything!

Black Beans and Sweet Potato Chili with Charred Beef. This is company fare, but so easy and delicious you will love making it for the family also!

You may also enjoy: 

Cucumbers From the Garden, growing cycles and recipes. 

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#eatmorevegetables!

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