Did you know that there are two kinds of sweet potatoes? Here, in the Mid-Atlantic area, we are accustomed to the orange sweet. But there is another variety, for years considered more adaptable to our climate. The white sweet potato lacks its cousin’s beta-carotene hue. But for those of us lucky enough to taste this heirloom, the white sweet is a favorite for its rich flavor and creamy texture.
For unknown reasons, the white sweet fell out of popularity. Finding one now takes a bit of persistence. But the search is worth the effort. The white sweet potato that you will hold in you hand will have been grown from slips from the best of the previous year’s harvest. Those potatoes will have been sprouted off the potatoes from the year before that. Each year takes the sweet potato farther back in time. Each sweet potato that you touch has been touched by hundreds of generations of families. And each sweet potato that you cultivate will continue forward into time, as long as there are hands willing to keep it safe.
Here at the No Acre Homestead, we were lucky to have four White Hamon Sweets as part of our winter CSA box. They had been handed down as slips, for generations, by families in Pennsylvania.
We ate one.
It was good.
We ate two more.
Then I immediately set up the last White Hamon to grow. I didn’t want to risk forfeiting our chance to take part in preserving this treasure for the future.
Starting a white sweet potato is ridiculously easy (like most things, once you know the guidelines, I’ve found). Skewer the potato with 3 or 4 evenly-spaced toothpicks. Balance it in a wide-mouth jar, pointy side down. That is the root side. The rounder end it the stem end, and you still may see a scar where the white sweet was once connected to the vine. New plants, called ‘slips’ will grow from here.
Fill the jar almost to the top with water. The less chemicals, the better, in both the water and the potato. Then place it in a sunny window. Or as in our case, here in the north-facing Homestead, give it the best daylight you can manage. This actually works. Can you see in the picture above, in the middle of the jar, a faint horizontal line? That is the new root growing, after just one day in the jar.
Life really wants to continue.
From this point on, I’m sharing photos from Food Skills for Self-Sufficiency. I have not advanced my sweet potato to the photogenic stage quite yet.
This is what the white sweet potato will look like in a few weeks. The gorgeous foliage is entirely edible. And, yes, it’s the same sweet potato vine that you see in hanging baskets all summer. (photo courtesy of Skills for Self-Sufficiency)
Just keep the water topped off, and be gentle in handling the mother plant. When the slips are about 5 or 6 inches long, they will easily break off. That’s when you can plant them, about 18 inches apart into loose soil, if your garden is ready. Or into pots until the time is right. Perhaps you’d just prefer to keep them in containers? A secret weapon for front-yard gardeners, sweet potato vines are gorgeous in their own right. The same potato can be used to sprout again, if you would like more plants.
How awesome is that?
This wheelbarrow-full came from the slips from just one sweet potato. One of these will be the mother for the next year’s harvest. (photo courtesy of Skills for Self-Sufficiency)
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These sound wonderful, and just the type of thing my son would love. He’s getting very into gardening with me and had a wonderful container garden on our deck last year (though tubers would fare better in the ground of course.)
We are familiar with starting plants this way as we’ve grown them just for the vines before on our windowsill, as we like the decorative ones outside during the summer and it’s fun to experiment and see what kind of vine will sprout from the different varieties of sweet potato at the store (they don’t all look the same!)
I am determined to have a sweet potato crop this year. Last year’s white potato crop was a last minute idea, and it exceeded all my expectations. Since we don’t have a lot of space here, I’m always looking for container gardening success stories like yours!
me too Melanie. I so want to have a patio garden this year. I blogged about it and got all sorts of ideas on where to seek help, but I wanted a blogger who actually does it to tell me plastic or clay trays, what kind of soil, what does good, etc
Terry – I used felt sided bags for growing my tomatoes last year and they were great! I used regular soil (not container soil). The great thing about the bags was that they stayed moist even in the lethal heat of Virginia. There’s a picture about halfway down the page.
http://livingtheseasons.com/2012/07/28/my-burpee-dream-garden/
I got them from Gardener’s Supply. Search for grow bags.
Nancy
I was looking at those the other day, Nancy. I love Gardener’s Supply, as you might guess from my sidebar. If you’re going to order from them anyway, please consider the link through my site. I’ll get credit for it. More garden tools, yay!
thank you so much Virginia. I used to have gardens and now that I am older I no longer have the space but miss them.
I definitely agree with using real soil, it retains moisture so much better. The first year we tried containers a lot of stuff got fried, wilted, leaves turned yellow- it was a big learning process in figuring out how to keep up with watering vs overwatering, feeding, etc! I want to try some composting this year and really have no idea where to start.
To start seedlings in early spring (veggie or flower) I use plain 3oz paper cups with plant starter mix, kept on cookie sheets so water doesn’t make a mess. The cups hold up ok the 4-6wks that they need to last. Then when they are ready to plant it’s easy to pop them out or peel the paper away, and no plastic waste. I’ve used peat pots but some plants still get a bit root bound in them and they are pricy when you need a lot!
I’m soooo looking forward to spring!
I have never heard of the white sweet potato. Wow, I learned something new. I now usually buy canned sweet potatoes and rinse them to death getting all the sugars off. I can barely peel the real thing from my fingers being so bad
Did you know potatoes are better for you if they’re NOT peeled? Most of the nutrients are just under the skin. But organic, or at least chemical-free, is important, because the chemicals get stored under the skin, too. So go get some organic sweets, stick one in a jar, and eat the rest…skins on:)
I didn’t know that, so thank you very much for the excellent information!
Hey thanks for listing my online colouring book’s first entry into the Weekly Photo Challenge, and for your encouraging comment on my blog. I have a sweet potato sprouting on my fridge top right now… we call it a kumara. Reckon I’ll be browsing your blog too, lots of interesting experiences here. I love the thought that each sweet potato has been touched by many generations of families. ~WilderSoul
Do you call all sweet potatoes Kumara, or just a certain kind? Neat that you have one growing right now. Are you in NZ?
Yes and yes. ; )
It’s harvest season there now, right? Coincidentally, I’m meeting someone from NZ tonite for book club. But I have no idea what part. So I’m not even going to ask if you know her
thanks for the pingback – I live in Singapore and there are so many types of sweet potatoes here, some japanese, Chines and Vietnamesse ones. SOme of them are deep purple inside and taste a little like roasted chestnuts. Tasty!
I love doing pingbacks! They seem so friendly.
I would so enjoy trying all those different sweet potatoes. There are mainly the orange Beauregard around here. Nice, but variety is more fun.
Thanks for coming by!
Those white sweet potatoes sound interesting. I haven’t decided if I’m keeping the garden or not. Every year has had a significant failure and I don’t feel like fighting with it anymore even with having replaced the dirt in the beds every year since starting this.
And thanks for visiting my blog!
Nancy
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I didn’t know that there was such a thing as white sweet potatoes. Interesting post.
I had no idea until this year, either. Once I tasted it, I was hooked! And when I researched the history, I got so frustrated. They used to be grown around here, and then lost popularity to the prettier, and more sturdy, orange sweet. But they store wonderfully if cured. They just don’t ship as well.
Ummm… I fancy some sweet potatoe now!
I’ve been making sure to enjoy sweet potatoes as much as possible in the last few weeks, too ! Eat them while they are still here. In a few weeks, they’ll be gone until next fall.
White Hamon Sweet is beyond amazing. How one beautiful mother plant can make a wheel burrow full of these delicious sweet potatoes is truly phenomenal. This would be a fun adventure for me and my son to try at home. Thanks.
That would be a great family project! And I am also amazed at how prolific these plants can be. The whole cycle of seed ( or tuber) to nourishment seems completely miraculous to me!
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