Definitely Purple

Last week I was walking by the garden, giving it my normal quick glance as I went to feed animals when I noticed something purple sticking out of the ground. My first thought was that the kids had stuck some toy into the ground and forgotten about it. I went for a closer inspection.


As I got closer, I realized it wasn't a toy. In fact, it was connected to my sweet potato vine. I'll admit to being a bit confused momentarily. What can I say? My mind was a bit occupied this summer, but after a second I remembered that I did buy purple sweet potatoes back in the spring.

This is our second year growing sweet potatoes. They have earned a spot near the top of my list of favorite garden plants. They require less work to plant than white potatoes, and once they are in and mulched they are virtually care free. The only maintence they needed this year was a bit of hoeing, and that was only because the neighbors' dog kept digging up the hill. There is quite a bit of labor involved with the harvest. We harvested on Saturday.

Even though I knew I bought purple sweet potatoes, I never expected them to be such a deep and beautiful color. We roasted them with some onion, potato, eggplant, and fresh herbs tossed in olive oil and salt and pepper. It made a delicious side dish.

I'm not sure what color my sweet potatoes will be next year, but I do know that there will be sweet potatoes in the ground here again!