Oh. My. Goodness. Now I need a sweet potato farm! LOL Thank you so much for the link. After reviewing the bush varieties, I think I'm going to try Vardaman, though I've made a few additions to my wishlist and hope to try some of these other varieties when space allows.

I've grown Cordner's Red in Tulsa with success. Some background: "This is a very compact bush type plant with red skin and orange moist flesh. Excellent for people with smaller gardens. From the breeding material of Dr. H. B. Cordner of Oklahoma."

You can buy slips from Sandhill linked above.

The only reason I hesitate on that one is the comment that it's a poor keeper. I'm still working on using last season's crop, so I do need a variety that will keep. Based on your experience, am I prematurely ruling them out?

We used ours up in about five-six months. They were fine at that point. Harvested late October and ate the last one in the March/April timeframe, as memory serves. We kept them in a dark cupboard in the laundry room, so nothing special there. Of course your mileage may vary.... :)

I have room for a few of both, so I may have to try and compare. Thanks for the input.

Cordners Red is also a prodigious producer.

Ginseng Orange was first recommended to me by Gary Schaum of Duck Creek Farms. It is more or less a bush variety and a very heavy producer. The roots are of superb quality and flavor and keep quite well.

Sandhill Preservation Center carries all of these as well. It's great to see how our best providers of sweet potato slips actually work together to ensure their preservation and availability.

Note on storing sweet potatoes: They store best in a warm location, not a root cellar or unheated garage. The one which have kept best for me have been stored only about 15' from our wood stove!

Gary Schaum is the only private breeder of sweet potatoes that I have ever heard about. This deserves attention!

Gary Schaum used to post here occasionally, but I guess the farm keeps him too busy nowadays. He was maintaining a lot of genetic lines of sweet potatoes a few years ago. I assume he still is, but I don't know for sure.

Here's the webpage for his farm, Duck Creek Farms.

Duck Creek Farms

Sadly Duck Creek, according to its website, requires a $17.99 minimum purchase plus $12.50 shipping. So, not an option for someone who only wants a few sweet potato sets.