Yams – like potatoes – are a tuber.

Sweet potatoes are roots and part of the Morning Glory family that grow on trailing vines and root at the nodes.

Yams have less sugar and more starch than sweet potatoes. They’re native to Africa and Asia. And… Louisiana decided to call the orange-fleshed sweet potatoes they grow yams to distinguish them from white-fleshed variety grown elsewhere.

Sweet potatoes are native to the more tropical areas of South America. They were favored by the French and Spanish who brought them Louisiana.

Sweet potatoes are grown from “slips” or sprouts. Plant them about an inch apart and two inches deep. Maturation time is 90-120 days. They need warmth – preferring soil temperature between 70 and 80 degrees F.

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We’ve had rain 5 days going – a very good thing in this state (California) after a few drought years.

The garden is benefiting and especially the potatoes. I didn’t plant many but some green has bursted through.

This is the International year of the potato, so anointed by the United Nations.

The humble potato is a rather amazing food:

• Originally grown near the border of Peru and Bolivia 8,000 years ago
• Brought from Latin America to Europe in the 1500’s by Spaniards
• Grown all over the world in many different climates
• China is the largest grower, followed by India, the Russian Federation and the United States
• The worlds #4 food crop and #1 non-grain food
• Unlike the better known grains (wheat, corn/maise, rice) it’s NOT a globally traded commodity. Potatoes are not widely exported.

Potatoes don’t actually need dirt. Strange at that seems. You can grow them in virtually any pile of mulching type materials. Of course you can also grow them in dirt. Additionally, potatoes grow similarly to a (upside down) tree… vertical and horizontal. So you can continue to put material on top of the stem and leaves as they grow… leaving about 6″ visible.

I planted my potatoes in a small no dig bed and a recycle bin we weren’t using. I throw straw on top them as they sprout up. If I had planted them in dirt, I would mound the dirt up around them.

You’ll know the potatoes are ready when the above ground green plant turns brown.

Potatoes prefer cooler – but not cold – weather. Plan to harvest yours before frost. Germination takes 1-3 weeks. Depending on the variety, they take 3-4 months to mature. You can grow a spring and a fall crop.

potato eyes

A potato seed is an “eye” from a potato. The eye sprouts to form the tubor. You can buy “potato starts” or take a potato and cut it into pieces, each piece having 1-3 eyes. Plant each one about 6″ deep.

Keep them well moist until they sprout, then back off some on the water.

Potatoes have always been relatively inexpensive so folks tend to not grow them… the “cheaper to buy than grow” argument. However, potatoes are a fairly heavily sprayed crop and organic potatoes aren’t so inexpensive. As well, regular potatoes have seen a hefty price increase this year. Go for fresh, go for organic, grow your own.

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All this from a few sprouted potatoes

Today I harvested a basket full of potatoes. It’s so much fun to reach into the dirt and pull out these little jewels. All of these potatoes are offspring of potatoes I had in my pantry that started to sprout. I use to think – oh these have gone bad and tossed them.

Now I just plant them.

From today’s little harvest we enjoyed some roasted potatoes – before roasting in a 400F oven I tossed them with extra virgin olive oil, chopped garlic, spanish smoked paprika, sea salt and black pepper. Done in about 20 minutes. Yum.

I also made a Garden Chowder.

First I sauteed half a diced onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic chives, 1 sliced stalk of celery and 1 sliced carrot in 2 tablespoons of butter.

Then I poured in about a 1/3 c of white wine, 4 cups of water, 2 bay leaves, a bunch of chopped kale, 1 1/2 cups of sliced potatoes, a very generous pinch of sea salt and little pinch of black pepper. But wait! I remembered we had a bag of artichoke hearts in the freezer so I tossed those in too.

I simmered until the kale and potatoes were soft then added a 1/2 cup of heavy cream, a squeeze of lemon juice and salt & pepper to taste.

That was good eating with enough leftover for lunch tomorrow.

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