Okiehobo,

The sweet potatoes have very thin skins when dug. You have to let them cure for a while before you brush off the dirt, or--as you have discovered--you can brush off the skin with the dirt.

The way to harvest sweet potatoes is to dig them while the soil is fairly dry and before soil temperatures drop below 50 degrees.

While digging, gently lift them from the soil and place them in a container. Once your container is full, remove them from the container and lay them out on several layers of newspaper and let them do the first round of curing that way for 3 or 4 hours. Do not wash them or brush off the dirt at this point. I usually put several layers of paper on a table on my patio and cure them there in the shade where they are sheltered from rain, dew, etc.

After 3 or 4 hours, you can move them to a more permanent curing location like a garage, sunporch, etc. Lay them on several layers of newspaper, and if you want to make it easier to move them around, lay the newspaper in plant flats or shallow cardboard boxes. Lay the potatoes in a single layer in a location that is somewhat sheltered and it should be a warm, somewhat humid, and definitely well-ventilated place. Cure them there for a couple of weeks. During this time the skin will toughen up quite a bit. You then can brush off the dirt gently or you can leave the dirt on them until you bring them inside to eat. At this point, you can put them in their permanent storage location. An unheated basement or tornado shelter works great, but so does an unheated pantry or closet. They store best right around 55 degrees and can incur cold damage if exposed to air temperatures below 50 degrees.

Sweet potatoes normally don't store for a really long time--just a couple of months in general, and sometimes up to 4 to 6 months if they're really well-cured, and have high humdity and perfect temperatures around 55.

The ornamental sweet potato you're thinking of is likely Marguerite. I've linked an image of it below. The ornamental sweet potatoes are normally available in nurseries around April or so. At the end of the season, you can dig up the 'potatoes' of the ornamental ones and store them for next year.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Marguerite Ornamental Sweet Potato

I did the same last year, Okiehobo. I had three sweet potatoes left over from Thanksgiving that started developing eyes, so I just planted pieces of them. For a long time nothing came up and I thought they hadn't made it so I planted some bush beans along the edge of the bed. By the time the bush beans were up and beginning to bloom, the sweet potato had emerged and before long, took over the entire bed. Like you, I was amazed how big they were when I dug them. Some were pretty deep in the ground, but let's just say that raised bed got a real intensive turning over that year! I got quite a few, which I held for awhile. I was also amazed at how much better flavor the sweet potatoes that I grew had than the grocery store ones that they actually came from! Even though it was coolish in the room where I kept my sweet potatoes, I examined them every few days. Some I ate, some I gave away. What was left I ended up baking, removing the skin, and slicing into a container for the freezer. I dehydrated a few.

Apparently, since I compost everything, one or two of the little long skinny roots wintered over and I have two sweet potato plants growing in a different raised bed. I don't think there will be many sweet potatoes there because the vine didn't take over the bed like last year, but maybe there will be a few to enjoy as a bonus. I love the little bonuses and surprises that turn up in the garden. Kind of a cookie from God to make you feel better for some things that didn't turn out the way they were supposed to be.

Have you ever made your own potato chips? I got a recipe off the kitchen table forum a couple years ago. Last week, my daughter and I tried it with a sweet potato. YUMMY!

A long thing sp works best, and we didn't bother with peeling it first either.

Try it.

"Make your own potato chips using your microwave. A tasty and easy alternative to store-bought potato chips (not to mention economical)! A mandoline (I just sliced very thin with a sharp knife) would make slicing the potato into paper thin slices a breeze." Original recipe yield: 4 servings.
INGREDIENTS:

* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 potato, sliced paper thin (peel optional)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pour the vegetable oil into a plastic bag (a produce bag works well). Add the potato slices, and shake to coat. (I poured some in a shallow little bowl, and dipped the tator slices in, dredging both sides, and didn't bother with cooking spray on the plate either)
2. Coat a large dinner plate lightly with oil or cooking spray. Arrange potato slices in a single layer on the dish.
3. Cook in the microwave for 3 to 5 minutes, or until lightly browned (if not browned, they will not become crisp). Times will vary depending on the power of your microwave. Remove chips from plate, and toss with salt (or other seasonings). Let cool. Repeat process with the remaining potato slices. You will not need to keep oiling the plate.

Moni

Great idea! I've read of sweet potato chips but never tried them before.

Since it's only me that eats anything like that, I don't need to grow big humongous winter squash or pumpkins, so next year, I think I'll devote most of the squash and pumpkin space to sweet potatos.

I've been digging a few that I started from an unknown North Carolina cultivar, but boy are they good. Really orange, fine textured and sweet, just the way I like them.

I have to finish digging the whole batch in the next day or so. It's really a lot of fun, pulling them out of the ground, and seeing what you got after all your labors and growing time devoted to these jewels of the garden!

Barbara

sweet potato fries are also quite yummy. if you sprinkle a little bit of chili powder over them, it makes the flavor pop. :)

also, there's this place called sand hill preservation that has a really extensive selection of sweet potatoes from all over the world. all shapes and colors, too! the link is below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sand Hill Preservation