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Part of the fun of gardening is that you can try new things every year. If what you planted doesn't grow, you can try something else the following year.
This is my year to try growing sweet potatoes, which are very good for you plus they're one of my all-time favorite vegetables. To be honest, I didn't even know we could grow them in our area until I had dinner at my friend Tracy Castelli's house. Tracy grows a huge variety of vegetables in her Wilton, Conn. garden, including the most delicious sweet potatoes, which she served up in a soup.
I scoured the Internet and found a friendly-sounding site (The Maine Potato Lady) that offered seed potatoes, which I also ordered, as well as sweet potato slips. I'm not sure why they're called slips, but I ordered a bunch of the Beauregard variety, which seems to be the most popular.
My bunch of 12 slips arrived by mail during the first week of June with instructions to plant them immediately in rich, well-turned soil. Since I've run out of space in my raised beds, I dug up one of the front flowerbeds, added a bag of lobster compost, also from Maine, and planted my slips. They need lots of water to get them going, according to the planting instructions, and then I have to wait 90 days.
I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. Sweet potatoes grow as vines so I may have to rig a trellis up the wall, or I'll just let them run wild over the flower (-less) bed. If we get a good crop that will be great. If we don't, never mind. I'll try something else in 2012. Either way, I'll keep you posted.
Do you enjoy experimenting in your garden? Have you planted anything exotic this year? I'd love to hear. Drop me a line at fpearson@mainstreetconnect.us.
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