freshly dug
A GARDEN FIRST
This has been a totally new experience for me. The threat of the first frost dictated the digging out of the sweet potatoes. I had NO idea what to expect, fearing the worse...few IF any potatoes. Happy to report, pleased beyond all expectations! This first crop of sweet potatoes was an amazing success.
CURING
Now on the details of it all...not till after the sprouting and planting did I learn that sweet potatoes require curing to convert all their starches into sugars. This curing requires storing the freshly and carefully dug potatoes at 85 degrees and 90 percent humidity for two weeks in the warmest room of one's house. After picking, what seemed like a gillion, I carefully put these unwashed filthy potatoes into laundry 2 baskets lined with bath towels. These will spend the next 2 weeks in my laundry closet.
After this curing process, the potatoes then should be stored in a cool location but not the refrigerator. Sweet potatoes stored under good conditions can last for more than six months.
WILL I TASTE SUCCESS?
Can't wait to eat the first one and share them with my ever tolerant neighbors. Will they taste any different than those from the grocery? Will the curing work before rot sets in? Will they really last up to 6 months? What new recipes await me?
freshly dug, drying in the sun
all shapes and all sizes
looking for a place to store the potatoes
Potatoes should not be scrubbed before curing.
Care is necessary to avoid bruising that can lead
to decay.
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