Somers Farm Sweet Potatoes!
"The longer you wait for something, the more you will appreciate it when you get it."
SWEET POTATOES!
They are my favorite, and it seems like such a long wait before they are exactly the way I love to eat them!
It is all in the curing process! (A bit more about that later.)
The sweet potato journey here on Somers Family Farm starts in May when the slips arrive. They can look pretty rough, and immediately, my mind drifts to “What if they don’t grow this year?” Well, I am learning a few tricks to ensure a good crop. The first thing we do is bank them right into warm, moist Potting mix for a good week or more. It gets the growth and green starting in the protected greenhouse environment. When the weather warms into the ground they go. For those who don’t know, sweet potato slips look pretty much like dead sticks with a few leaves, in not-so-great condition. It always amazes me how they grow to be such huge viney plants!
Sweet potatoes require a lot of water, warmth, sunshine, good nutrients, and most importantly, time! In the Northeast, gardening time for long-day crops is not always in our favor. Right before the first frost, when the days are cooler and the nights are getting colder and inching their way down into the 40s, it is time for harvest. We harvest by hand. The tubers (potatoes) are all hooked to the vine, resembling a bunch of Bananas. If the soil is loosened just right, they will come out of the ground in one large cluster! So fun!!
Fresh out of the earth sweet potatoes!
Sweet - Nutrient Packed
The next step… most important of all is a trip to our basement plant room for their initial curing. We turn the heaters on to a good 85 degrees for 2 solid weeks. This heals up any scars, allows the skin to toughen, and begins the development of the sugars naturally occurring in the potato. You could technically eat them at this point, and they would have some sweetness, but truly, we have found allowing them to hang out in 50-degree temps for an extended time, only sweetens them and makes them over-the-top delicious! We do so enjoy eating them all winter!
Sweet Potato Nutrition: Did you know?
Calories: 162
Fat: 0.1g
Sodium: 71mg
Carbohydrates: 37g
Fiber: 3.9g
Sugars: 5.4g
Protein: 3.6g
Vitamin A: 1730mcg
Vitamin C: 35.3mg
Potassium: 855mg
Other nutrients: Magnesium, calcium, and other essential vitamins and minerals
The nutrition packed in 1 medium sweet potato is phenomenal!
One of my favorite recipes: (Click on link for recipe)
Kathy’s Sweet Potato Taco Bake is fun and quick to make after a long day of work or a busy weekend. The mixture of sweet, meaty, and spicy is perfect. I think it would be good on warmed corn tortillas as well, with a bit of avocado and maybe a dash of sour cream.
Not the fanciest looking of dishes, but a very delicious quick skillet meal for a busy weekday evening!
One other very quick money-saving way to use sweet potatoes is Homemade Sweet Potato Fries! They make such a great addition to Burger Night!
Let me know if you try the taco bake and or the fries, and how you liked it! You can message me here: somersfarm@gmail.com - I love hearing from you!
Here is to power-packed sweet potato nutrition! They are so worth the wait!
See you at the Farm Stand!
Kathy
