Phew...there's a lot of bad information on that gardening-tips-idea.com site. Clicking around there was "interesting." There's confusion about mega-production/processor information vs. home gardener in some articles. There's some bad info/assumptions in others. As far the sweet potato humidity requirements in the link, that's just ideal and rarely possible. Try to have at least 50-ish+% humidity and you should be fine, but it will take a little while longer. Once you get the important things covered (healing of wounds and a more sturdy skin) the potatoes are okay to start thinking about that storage stage. The article linked has a problem with commercial best production practices vs. what we as home gardeners would shoot for.

That sounds great! I was just lurking on the Winter Gardening forum. OHMIGOD! I am sooo excited about it. There is very little room in my house for seed flats, so the Winter Gardening thing sounds great. That will let me give my limited space over to projects like the sweet potato. smile! I was so worried that having moved up to Canada from Maryland I would have to curtail my outdoor gardening all winter. Instead I'm discovering whole new avenues of gardening! (I'm sure my poor houseplants are breathing sighs of relief. I've been bugging them non-stop since I got my bulbs in.) So how do I do it? I take a sweet potato and... do I cut it up? stick it in a jar like an avacado seed? I don't see "eyes" on the sweets the way I do on the whites. Thanks for your indulgence, Feegle

Dorothy, To the best of my knowledge, Nesco is the only one with the heating elements in the sides which they call circle of heat. So it is really an oven, not a slow cooker, but can be used for that type dish as well. I made a mistake above and told you it was six quart, and that is wrong, it is five quart. The 6 quart is an oval shape and I wanted one that I could put a pan down inside, so the 5 quart worked better for me. There are some very good deals on this site but they don't seem to stay on the special page very long. I bought the little red one on the attached page because I wanted the porcelain cookwell and not the non-stick one. I was excited to find it for $30. Here is a link that might be useful: Nesco

I agree, sweet potatoes store very well, as long as they aren't banged around. I've stored them from September until the following February or March, but I always run out before they ever spoil. As has been mentioned, they do need to be "cured" to toughen the skins, I just lay mine out on a plastic tarp for a week or so and let the sun shine on them, then store them. Mine get spread out in wooden boxes, covered with a layer of straw, then another layer of potatoes. We have a root cellar but they keep very well in my basement, which is much warmer than the root cellar. I don't clean them before storage either, that seems to shorten the storage life. So what do I use them for? Well, I like them just baked with butter, salt and pepper and I often take one to work and put it into the microwave for lunch. I like sweet potato fries and I have this bread recipe that calls works well with squash or sweet potatoes. I use my bread machine to mix, knead and rise, then I shape the rolls and bake them in the oven. Butternut Squash Rolls 1 tablespoon active dry yeast 1/4 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees) 1 teaspoon sugar 2/3 cup warm fat free milk (110 to 115 degrees F) 1 cup mashed, cooked butternut squash 1/3 cup butter, melted 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups whole wheat flour 2 cups all-purpose flour In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar; let stand for 5 minutes Stir in the milk, squash, butter, brown sugar and salt. Add whole wheat flour. beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in enough all-purpose flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in a bowl coated with nonstick cooking spray, turning once to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down and turn onto a floured surface; divide into 20 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Place 2 in. apart on baking sheets coated with nonstick cooking spray. With a sharp knife, make shallow slashes on top of rolls. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees F for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. I make this sweet potato salad: Sweet Potato Salad 3 pounds sweet potato, cooked, peeled and cubed 1 cup chopped sweet red pepper 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce In a large bowl, combine potatoes, red pepper and onion. In a small bowl, blend mayonnaise, salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce. Pour over potato mixture and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. I also use sweet potatoes or squash in place of pumpkin in pumpkin cake rolls and I use a mix of white and sweet potatoes in regular potato salad. I really like sweet potatoes, but I don't care for them topped with a lot of sweet stuff, like brown sugar or marshmallow. My girls do, however, so they always look forward to that sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving, full of brown sugar and topped with miniature marshmallows. I haven't tried it, but I'll bet sweet potatoes could also be used in that butternut squash ravioli recipe that someone posted here... Annie