Now that construction has ended on the front yard garden I can finally get my sweet potatoes in. I am a little late, as this wonderful tropical root needs at least 4 months of good hot weather to produce well. Better late than never though. This time of year the heat can be oppressive so it is good to remind ourselves that as a veggie gardener there are a few veggies that LOVE the heat; okra, sweet potatoes, eggplant and Egyptian spinach. If you have any to add to that, shout it out in the comments. I think I can speak for everyone when I say, gardeners here in the south love to hear about something that really puts on during the hot summer months.

This year I wanted to add a little height to my sweet potato pit. Here in Dallas, Texas where everything is hard clay,a deep raised bed is essential. I bought cement cinder blocks to make a circle on one side of my front yard. Topping it off with a more decorative brick made it look much nicer. A friend of mine gave me as much composted horse manure as I could fit in my truck and I picked up a couple of bags of sand.

Buy organic sweet potatoes(it is important to use organic because they spray most potatoes with a chemical that inhibits sprouting) Put them in a pot covered thinly with good loose compost and dirt. This is something I do every spring. When you see lots of vine starts coming up out of the soil you can dig out the potatoes, break off the vines and plant in your pit. You can also start your sweet potatoes in a jar of water with toothpicks to hold it at the top of the jar.

We are hoping you have sweet potatoes for dinner this year!

Blessings, Dash & family