After last night’s cold weather, if you have not already harvested the sweet potatoes from your garden, you probably will soon. And such a special treat!  Homegrown sweet potatoes, just like other homegrown veggies, are a cut above what you typically find at the grocery store, produce stand or even the farmer’s market.

Those of us who did not grow our own sweet potatoes this year will have to get by with what we can find for sale. Fortunately, there are a lot of sweet potato farmers within a day’s drive from here and you can find the new local crop arriving in area stores.

Beauregard sweet potatoes
harvested from my front-yard
garden in Niceville  in 2007.

You can tell when a sweet potato is fresh by its appearance and weight. A fresh sweet potato looks, well, fresh. As the sweet potato ages, its skin will appear older and more dry. A fresh sweet potato will feel heavy – they dry out and lose weight as they age.

Fresh sweet potatoes are extra tasty.

Yesterday my wife, Kathleen, brought home several pounds of fresh Beauregard sweet potatoes, or “Mississippi Reds,” from Kelley’s SuperValu in Niceville. They are the sweet potatoes with the red skins – the same as I grew in my garden last year. If, like me, you must buy sweet potatoes this year, store-bought won’t get any better than this.

Sweet potatoes are usually planted in north Florida gardens in May or June and harvested in late October through November. The plants thrive in the heat and love our sandy soil. Plan now to make space for some in your garden next year or consider growing a few in containers for your 2009 Thanksgiving dinner.