Carol, I am a bit worried about mixing them up when I harvest. Assuming we are not in the middle of a weather crisis or fire crisis or whatever when I harvest in the fall, I'm going to slowly and methodically harvest one variety at a time and store them in labeled bins so I don't mix them up. We'll see a few months from now how that plan works out! I prefer rooting in soil because then when I put them in the ground, I really don't have to pay them any attention for days or weeks, instead of watching and worrying about that initial wilt you often see before they grow enough roots. Really, though, sweet potato slips perform well for me if put directly into the ground unrooted, if rooted in water, or if rooted in soil. They are just a cinch to grow. Growing experimental varieties is interesting because you don't know what to expect (Gary knows, but unless he tells me something special about a variety, I don't know....). We have learned already that the Vardaman USDA stock that Gary obtained from the USDA is not the right color foliage expected for Vardaman, so that's an anomaly to think about. I've been calling it Gary's Faux Vardaman USDA, which Jay, Gary and a few other tomato afficianados will know was inspired by Earl Cadenhead's Faux Brandywine, commonly referred to as "Earl's Faux". So, the world now has "Earl's Faux", but I have "Gary's Faux". I'll call it that until Gary tells me what it is going to be called. Jay, So, now that you've started the garlic fad in SW KS, you're on the road to starting the Sweet Potato fad? What a trendsetter you're becoming. It strikes me as odd that celery grows for you, but I'm glad it does. That WILL be a really special thing to have to sell at the Farmer's Market because of its rarity there. Jay, my plants arrived as unrooted cuttings. Yours may have been different depending on when you received them and also depending if they were some of the regular varieties he is selling this year or if they were experimental ones like mine. I'm Gary's guinea pig this year. Mine were rubber-banded together in groups of three, and each bundle of 3 was in ziplock bag, I think it was, to keep them from drying out. They had name tags on them. He shipped them one day, and I received them the next. They came so quickly and looked so fresh you never would have believed they traveled across the state. I immediately labeled cups and put them into the cups to root. Lynn, Sweet potatoes are really simple. Just remember that they like well-drained soil, are really drought-tolerant and heat-tolerant and need to be fed occasionally. Since they're a root crop, soil is the main factor that determines how they'll perform. In very poor sand, they'll grow and produce low yields of smooth, high-quality roots. (This is sort of a Goldilocks and the Three Bears kind of plant.) In very rich soil, like a rich, humusy, heavy soil, they'll produce high yields of rough-looking, low-quality roots. In sandy loam, they'll be just right, giving you a moderately high yield of smooth, great to excellent-quality roots. How well the soil drains is very important since poorly draining soil of any type tends to give you roots that are stringy, oddly shape and sometimes cracked. For the best yield, your soil pH should be between 5.5 and 6.5, but they do well for me on soil that's been amended well enough to bring it down from about 8.0-8.2 to about 6.8-7.2. Sweet potatoes do not need highly enriched and highly fertile soil...just moderately fertile soil that drains well. You should try to match your fertilizer to the kind of soil you have. For example, if you're growing on heavy and fertile clay, you might want to fertilize with a 1-2-2 ratio fertilizer (like a 10-20-20) at a rate of 1/2 lb. of granular fert for every 35 feet of row. But, if your soil is sandy and less fertile, use the same fertilizer, but apply 3/4 lb. per 35' row. If your soil is highly fertile, skip the fertilizer. To fertilize, scatter the fertilizer in a 2' wide band on either side of the furrow were you'll plant your slips. You also can choose the higher 3/4 lb. amount if you normally have heavy rainfall or if you know you'll be irrigating a lot. Irrigation is not necessary in most place, but it might be necessary in Jay's part of Kansas. Usually, once they're rooted in and established themselves, you don't have to water them unless you are in pretty droughty conditions. They are one of the few crops that REALLY does well when grown dryland with no irrigation. If you're in a heavy rainfall area or irrigate a lot, you may want to sidedress the plants about a month or so after they were planted, using the same fert. at the same rate as you did when planting. If you see them wilt during the heat of the day, that is normal. Their foliage is delicate and tender and does wilt, but normally bounces back as the sun goes down and the air cools a little. Don't panic and water them unless their soil is totally dry. They like moist but not wet soil so don't go overboard with watering once they are established. Towards the end of their growing period, when the roots are starting to enlarge, you shouldn't be irrigating. Too much water at that time can give you cracks in your sweet taters as well as rough, tough and misshapen roots. I mulched mine with alfalfa hay and laid down landscape cloth before I planted, and then planted them in big X's cut into the landscape fabric. I covered the fabric with the hay. This makes them a carefree crop. Weeds won't sprout because of the fabric, the mulch keeps the soil moist and cool, and the combination of landscape fabric and mulch keeps the runners from rooting into the soil. You don't want the runners to root into the soil because they'll form sweet potato roots wherever they root into the ground. What's so bad about that? The more places they root, the more the secondary roots will take nutrition from the primary roots. This can give you large yields of lower quality roots. It is better to have smaller yields of higher quality roots because higher quality roots taste better and store a little longer. You can harvest anytime after they've reached the right size you expect for that variety....normally in about 100-110 or 115 days. Dig gently a foot or two away from the plant and see if the roots have enlarged and are the expected size. If they are, dig 'em when they're dry, or leave them in the soil a while so the can size up more if you want them a little larger. Just be sure to dig them before soil temps drop below 50. At temps below 50, you can see damage. Dig them, brush the dirt off, cure them at about 55-60 degrees for a couple of weeks, and put them into their low-term storage location. Most years they'll last 3 or 4 months in storage and sometimes much longer depending on how wet/dry they were, how they're stored, etc. I've never had an insect problem on sweet potatoes, but some folks have sweet potato weevils which tunnel through them and ruin them. In soils infested with nematodes, you may see damage in the form of surface pitting or cracks. In very heavy soils you may have rot issues. Almost every year I've ever grown them, though, they've been 100% trouble free. You can, literally, plant them and pretty much forget about them. In one very wet year, and I think it was in 2007 when we had a prett wet April and May followed by a foot of rain in June, the ones that were in an area with more clay rotted and died, but the ones in the improved sand (where I am growing them this year) were fine. Dawn

ChickenCoupe, I would say that the orange looking small sweet potatoes were probably the Beauregard, though I am not an expert, I have never seen any white looking ones. Of course I bought the one's that I raised at the grocery store to make slips so do not know what kind they are for sure. I have read post that state they didn't like the Beauregards or that they were not as sweet as other kinds. But I have read that the Beauregards are famous for they're turn out. But if they are not sweet enough a little sugar can help that. A little dark brown sugar or molasses can is fantastic. I believe sometimes the soil has something to do with the way things taste. I know it does with watermelon & cantaloupe, as they will seem to taste sweeter if raised on sandy land than on dirt natured soil. Sweet potatoes may be the same way. I think onions taste different on different types of soil as some are more stronger tasting on some soils than others. But like I said that is just my opinion. And it doesn't count for much.

AUGH! I knew that I was forgetting something. I took the recipe out last night but neglected to put it in my bag. It's sitting right on top of the table. Cloud_swift, if you want to end the suspense & post it today please go ahead, otherwise I'll post it bright & early tomorrow morning, I promise! I even tried to see if I could read the recipe off off the photo from the swap but my handwriting is terrible. My recipe came off of the wrapping from my Chicago Metallic mini popover pans (yes, I checked the chicago metallic website, too). I'm sorry I'm such a scatterbrain! The Joy recipe is very good as well. Maryanne- yorkshire pudding & popovers are one of those things. They're different, but if you make yorkshire pudding in popover pans they look the same. Traditionally you make the Yorkshire pud in the pan that the meat was cooked in as Linda says but in my Harrods Book of Traditional English Cookery they suggest making them individually in popover pans and just using some meat drippings in each pan. I prefer to make them as individuals rather than in the pan that the meat was cooked in. The individuals rise higher and make a nicer presentation IMO even though they may not be as traditional. They also stay warm for a bit longer which is a crucial thing. When I make yorkshire pudding in the pan it deflates once it's cut & just looks sad. The individuals will still have that "puff" of steam when you open them. But once you start spooning the drippings into the cold popover pan they congeal, so the pan goes into the oven until it's hot & the drippings melt. The yorkshire puddings came out so well that I started doing the same thing with the popovers. Maybe it's an unnecessary step but it's what I do. Probably why I can't remember simple things like "bring in the popover recipe so that you can post it". My brain is too full of other things! Nina

My camera memory card died so I can't take pictures right now. But the sweet potato dish was a hit. Here's how I ended up making it. Didn't use an egg, and the vanilla yogurt was moldy so didn't use that., it would have been unnecessary anyway. I scrubbed four sweet potatoes, and put them in a 9 inch metal pan with a little bit of water in the bottom, and baked them at 400 degrees for just under an hour. Then I peeled them and diced them up and mixed them with about a half cup of crushed pineapple, 2 TBLSP of melted butter and 2 TBLSP of brown sugar and a heaping half tsp. of cinnamon and a tiny pinch of salt. Mixed and mashed this all together and put it into a greased 8 inch pyrex baking dish. Topped with mini marshmallows mixed with chopped walnuts, two big hand fulls. Took this to dad's house covered in foil. Baked at 375 covered for about 35 min. and then uncovered for about 10 more. I have to say I kinda liked it and the marshmallows went well with the toasted nuts. They didn't add much other than color and texture to the top, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. It was totally a dessert though, but since I just had ham and rice pilaf and salad to round out the meal, it was fine, not too sweet under those circumstances.