Botanical Name: Ipomoea batatas
Some other names: Kumara, Yam, Kamote
How to grow it:
Sweet Potato is a sprawling perennial vine that will spread over a large area if left unchecked. For best tuber production, it’s probably best treated as an annual where the soil can be prepared with fresh manure each season – otherwise the crops in the second year of production will be much smaller.
Prefers full sun, but will happily ramble into part shade areas and still produce tubers.
Essentially Sweet potato is a sub-tropical/tropical crop, but is worth trying in cooler areas after all chance of frost has passed.
For best results, a well drained deep soil is preferred and plenty of water in it’s growing season, but in my climate (summer rain/winter drought) it grows in just about any soil conditions – the tubers will be smaller in inferior soils, but leaf production is still good.
Propogation is usually by tubers, which can be cut into pieces with at least one eye for growing. It also can be propogated by tip cuttings which strike well in warmer weather.
Not really suited well to pots, unless you’re growing just for the leaves and tips, in which case they’d grow quite well I’d think.
Nutrition:
Leaves and shoots are a good source of vitamins A, B & C and protein.
Tubers are high in carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A & C, iron and calcium. Considered amongst the most nutritious vegetables available to us.
Using it in the kitchen:
There’s many different varieties of sweet potato and even more methods of cooking them from around the world.
In my home we mostly bake them in small chunks, and eat them hot, or add them to salads after they’ve cooled. We also add them to soups, curries, and casseroles. They don’t take as long to cook as most root vegetables. They can also be steamed/boiled or mashed with other root vegetables.
In western culture, it’s often overlooked that the growing tips and young leaves make a tasty & nutritious spinach. Delicious added to stir fries, soups or even omelettes. Would be one of the most reliable sources of greens outside the coldest part of winter.
Sweet potato is a terrific survival food if it grows well in your area just by allowing it to perennialise – it’s actually hard to get rid of once it’s established.
Other uses:
All parts of sweet potato make nutritious animal fodder.
Above ground parts can be used as mulch, and the plant serves very well as a living mulch around and under fruit trees or any orchard.
