Another Spur of the Moment Fall Harvest

Over the last month or so I have raided the smaller section of sweet potatoes (Vardaman) three separate times to “sample” the crop. On a whim I decided I would pull the remaining tubers and get the bed ready for an early fall garlic planting.

Everything I have read suggests harvesting early in the day and when it is relatively dry.

Ooops.

So far each harvest sample has been in the evening and we’ve been getting plenty of rain lately. Since these potatoes won’t make it to long term winter storage in the basement (Mrs cohutt has assured me of this), I’m not that worried about “perfect” harvest conditions. In fact, I’ve mauled a couple of the potatoes previously harvested and they seem to heal over just fine for during the 2 week curing period. I leave them, dirt, mud and everything still attached, on the back porch in a tray in front of a fan for 24 hours. The dirt crumbles off after that and 2 weeks later the skin is tough enough to brush clean for cooking with minimal damage.

As you can see, I am still learning and managed to break a couple of nice sized ones turning the soil with a spade. (Note to self: plant in wider beds or in hills next year for better 360 degree harvest access.) The “wrong time to harvest”, on a damp evening:

In front of the fan for a day or so to dry:

My original intent for the evening was just to lighten the load on the jalapeno plants after losing a couple of branches to “shear” caused by excessive weight (and of course to do the daily okra snipping lest monster pods be formed).

Ooops again. Gotta find room for these until I can cut and freeze for “poppers”. 😉