The Manitoba Sweet Potato Experiment

So, they said it couldn't be done, but the proof is in the picture! We grew sweet potatoes in Manitoba! Now, we didn't grow monster sweet potatoes, or even the sizes that you can buy at the super market. Our three, nice big ones are about five to six inches long and an inch and a half in diameter. More like a fingerling potato, really. We also got about ten that are pencil thin and five inches long, and about ten more even smaller. But, they grew! And we've got a stock to get planted next year. We're going to try really hard not to eat any this winter and save all for re-planting.

Now, I must confess to having nothing to do with harvesting. I'm feeling a little like a cold is coming on and went for a nap. In the meantime, Farmer Man got busy. If you remember from a previous post, we received rooted cuttings, late, in June. We planted them in large containers of garden soil and compost, and put them in a protected spot by the willow windbreak. Apparently, the hardest thing about harvest was breaking the containers away from the willow roots that had grown up through the drainage holes in the pots! Can you imagine: those pesky willows had grown right up into the pots in just four months! I didn't think I was over-watering the pots in such a big way that water would be draining into the ground and attracting the willows! I didn't have high hopes for a big harvest: we weren't as hot as usual this summer (something sweet potatoes like) and we received the cuttings quite late. So we're please with what we got, and we'll get them planted early next year!