You might want to think about adding sweet potatoes to your garden center shopping list.
Sweet potatoes are a nutritious change of pace from regular white potatoes. They are easy to grow since hardly any pests bother them but, you do have to do your part to help them along.
In order to produce a good crop, sweet potatoes require a long growing season. Also, the soil has to be warm and well-drained or else the roots are liable to rot in the ground. Raised beds are the best solution to cold soil and poor drainage.
An economical way to start sweet potatoes is to use small plant cuttings called sweet potato “slips”. The alternative is to use higher priced potted plants.
Sweet potato slips are usually sold bare root tied in bundles.
I planted my sweet potatoes this past week and posted a discussion about it online. The days right around Memorial Day weekend are a good time to plant sweet potatoes in southern Michigan since any chance of frost is behind us and the soil has warmed up.
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