sweet GEORGIA jets!

It was a muddy day, and I merely wanted to check on these sweet potatoes. If you grow anything that needs to be dug up, you know the excitement can be likened to a pirate finding booty. I found Gold (or red-orange to be more accurate)!!

To fully appreciate my bounty, one has to remember that I'm just a humble little backyard gardener. The first year, I got a few fingerlings. To be honest, they were really more like fat roots than actual sweet potatoes - another crop that my daughter would yell, "Mom! You're wasting it" upon catching me peeling the tiny potatoes. Not this time though. I think there were a few factors that made this year's harvest successful:

• I didn't play around with different varieties and just focused on a variety of sweet potato that has proven to do well in my area (Georgia Jet).
• I dug in lots of compost prior to planting and planted in hills about 18 inches high.
• I kept the area mulched and weeded.
• They were planted in a sunnier location than usual.
• They were planted in my "magic garden". I can't go into the details here, mainly because it's still a mystery to me, but the little side yard garden has special powers and grows perfect lettuce, large garlic bulbs, many luffa gourds, edemame, whatever I put in it.

I really should have dug these sweet potatoes on a drier day. Perhaps I wouldn't have experienced this casualty.

Off to research some recipes!

And speaking of buried treasure, check out this root a farmer in China found...

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/gallery/blog.asp?id=50633