Who wants to have fun? Then, grow Orange Sweet Potatoes in your garden this Spring and Summer.
Orange Sweet Potatoes are the largest, juiciest variety of sweet potatoes. They include Beauregard, Covington, and Jewel. However, also, Vardaman. Centennial, Southern Hernandez, Evangeline, Delite, Travis, Regal, etc. These are cultivated varieties.
I sell my own permaculture variety in my shop. You the Orange Sweet Potato slips or starts here: /shop/
They are similar to Beauregards developed by Louisiana State University to increase yield and resist disease. You can read about their work here: Sweet Potato Research. You can also explore the genetic collections the Department of Agriculture has for research. They collect hundreds of varieties many from Peru, that are not commercially available.
- My sweet potatoes are ones I have been cross-pollinating and working on for several years, that I think have better results.
Rich in Antioxidants – Eating Sweet Potatoes is a good proxy for taking antioxidants as they are rich in phytonutrients and carotenoids. We juice them and add Turmeric and greens.
Babies love them as baby food – low on the glycemic index, hence better than carrots or potatoes that are high on the glycemic index. But only grow your own or buy USDA certified organic, because the sprout inhibitors they spay on all the others can not be washed off. ChloroIsopropyl-N PhenylCarbamate (CIPC) is some nasty stuff. You can research this on your own.
Dogs love them – Our Miniature Dalmatian loves it more than bones. They are vegetarian meat for dogs. Since dalmatians (and other dogs) cannot eat corn and often have kidney issues sweet potatoes are a natural substitute.
The ones above are short days to maturity. I have some that as large as small melons.