Brooding On

Holy Sweet Potato!

According to my organic gardening handbook, my sweet potatoes are ready for harvest once the first frost kills off the green foliage.  BUT,  I decided to go ahead and do it today. 

Here's why:
1.  I've noticed lots of bugs/caterpillars on the foliage lately.   I read that sometimes leaving potatoes in the ground too long can result in insect-damaged roots. 
2.  I've about decided that frost may never come.  Here it is, late October, and we've still got 80 degree weather in our 10-day forecast.  My impatience and curiosity are getting the better of me.  What's been going on under that soil for the past 4 months?
3.  I could take advantage of the warm weather in the forecast and use the garage to cure my potatoes.  My book suggests allowing sweet potatoes to sit at 80-85 degrees for 2 weeks to prolong shelf-life.  My stifling garage should do just fine.
4.  It was just such a beautiful day today.  It made me want to just sit in the sun and get my hands dirty (literally).
Here's what the garden bed looked like before I dug in.

Scarf and Milkshake lend a hand.

2 wheelbarrowfuls of foliage, ready for the compost pile

That's a whole-bunch of sweet potatoes!  Looks like the blog is going to be full of sweet potato recipes this fall!

The garden bed once I was finished digging