Sweet Potatoes From The Compost Pile
Last fall, after Tropical Storm Fay left my back yard flooded with 14 inches of rain, I decided it was time for some serious re-landscaping. This would begin by raising the soil in some areas and working for better drainage and runoff in others.
I shredded a substantial amount of plant trimmings to compost. Among the items shredded were the roots and stems of the sweet potato plants just harvested.
With one distraction after another last spring I didn’t get around to redoing the back yard. So the big pile of compost just kept getting bigger. Then one day I noticed a sweet potato plant growing in the center of the pile. I guess one shred of root established and sprouted. I decided to leave it alone and see what happened.
Over the summer the plant thrived and grew enormous. Now, finally ready to redo the area, I uprooted the plant last Thursday. The photo doesn’t give a good perspective on the size of the tubers. This is because they grew so long. I am not sure why. The photo was taken immediately after I dug them up. This was from that one plant, which had been completely ignored all summer, left to grow with absolutely no help from anyone.
Sweet Potatoes From The Compost Pile
The fresh sweet potatoes looked so good I went ahead and baked them Friday. The texture and flavor was absolutely perfect. Since we were having a neighborhood garage sale yesterday I reserved a cup of cooked, mashed sweet potatoes for Sweet Potato & Pecan cookies.
Sweet Potato & Pecan Cookies
¾ c butter
¾ c light brown sugar
½ c sugar
1 egg
1 c sweet potato, cooked & mashed
1 ½ c flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¾ c quick cooking oatmeal
1 c pecans
1 c golden raisins
Cream butter and sugar. Blend in egg and cooked, mashed sweet potato. Mix in dry ingredients and then sir in pecans and raisins. Drop by teaspoonfuls. Bake at 350 degrees 14-16 minutes.
This made about 52 cookies and were they ever delicious!
The more I grow sweet potatoes, the more I am impressed. They grow in a wide variety of soils and once established need very little attention. I have some more plants to dig up soon that came up from last year’s bed. Again, no help from me. I think they actually look better than the ones I started from slips. I am beginning to think that if you grow these thins once, you will have them always. They are just that easy to root.
I think they would have filled out more if left in the ground longer. The recipe sounds good.
Where’s my cookies?
My sweet taters grew really good this year. This has got to be one of the best edible plants for preparedness.
I’m pulling up some of mine today.
GREAT plants for preparedness! Seriously. One of the best!
1. Most people would walk right by without realizing what they were.
2. The bunching varieties are pretty and can be grown in flower borders, planters, pretty much wherever you have a little space.
3. They are very easy to start from slips.
4. Easy to preserve. I left some I wanted to use to start a new crop on my back porch all winter. They looked as firm after a few months as when I first uprooted them. To have ready for recipes I cook and mash, then freeze in 1 cup portions. This way I’m all set for biscuits, cookies, casseroles and pies. Freezing cooked and mashed sweet potatoes works well with no loss of flavor, texture or color.
Yum How much sun do they need
Mine taste so good!!!
They do need sun. It doesn’t have to be full, blazing sun, but sun. I had some come up from bits of root where I didn’t even plant them this year, but some root remained from last year. They were somewhat shaded by a guava and still grew just fine. They are amazing.