Sweet Potato

(Ipomoea batatas)

Sweet potatoes grow super easily in the subtropics. They are a fantastic ground cover, so enthusiastic that you might need to keep them in check! That’s pretty easy to do though, because not only are the root tubers edible, so are the leaves. They are one of my favourite greens. Stir fry them with garlic and some soy and ketjap manis and a bit of chilli - delicious!

There are a lot of different varieties, I have the more common orange fleshed/red skinned (also known as kumara), a white fleshed purple skinned (Hawaiian or Okinawan sweet potato), and a purple fleshed white skinned! They are all subtly different in flavour and texture, and the foliage is varied as well, but they all enjoy the same growing conditions.

Sweet potatoes are easy to start growing from either a tuber, or a piece of the vine (called a slip). I plant tubers straight in the ground and wait for them to sprout. The slips can either be poked into damp soil, or put into a jar of water until roots form and then planted out.

When harvesting your sweet potato tubers, try to track the vines back to a spot in the ground and dig gently with a fork to avoid damaging them. I like to give them a good brush and leave them in the sun for a bit to cure and then store them in a cool dark airy spot.

full sun - part shade, well drained soil