Sweet Tater Success Story

From the country...

Remember these lovers from Valentine's past?

As we head into yet another deep freeze around these parts my thoughts turn to happier (read: warmer) times. I have been meaning to share my sweet potato success story for a while now and as I am currently enjoying a spoonful of baked beans with roast sweet taters, I figure now is as good a time as any.

I plan projects all winter to keep my green thumb busy and to keep us eating some fresh greens. We grow a lot of pea shoots, micro greens and bucket sprouts to enhance our salads and sandwiches, which really seems to get us through the dark days of winter. I am also gearing up for the big onion seeding of 2013, which will go on for a while as I seed tray upon tray of onions seeds for planting out in early spring. I tried my hand at growing sweet potato slips for the first time last year to plant out in the field- just for kicks really to see how and if it would turn out. We normally purchase sweet potato slips but I wanted to try to make them myself and it really wasn't that hard- you just need some patience.

I am happy to report that it was a great success!

The mother sweet potato in water

Sweet potatoes in the field

A beautiful sweet potato flower.

So there you have it sweet potatoes demystified! This can be adapted easily for smaller spaces, garden plots and I have even seen them planted into shopping bags. A quick Google search and you are off to the races! Make sure you find a local sweet potato though that has been acclimatized to your growing region. I prefer the medium size potatoes with lots of little eyes for the slips to sprout from.

Too fun!

Late Spring pictures

From the country...







A virtual garden tour! Vegetables CAN be beautiful too.

Hooray for Seedy Saturday on Sunday

From the City,

Today at the Wychwood Barns, one of my favorite places in Toronto, they had their annual seed sale. This year was much more fun for me than last year because this year, I actually have a place to plant the seeds I buy. Our backyard is small but has plenty of space for a garden which I dug out in the fall (roughly 12 feet by 4 feet) and a large porch just aching for some containers of herbs and tomatoes.

Simon and I decided to divide and conquer at the seed sale, both armed with a list and our seed money, Simon took one side and I took the other. When we met at the end, I quickly realized that we probably should worked together. Let's just say, our garden will be heavy with heirloom tomatoes and peppers.

Here's the Goods:

Matchbox Garden and Seed

Cubit's

The Cottage Gardener

Urban Tomato

Simon and I spending money....

Lastly, a book we picked up from author Gayla Trail. It's pretty perfect for us because it's helpful to find tips specifically for small urban farmers. It's also nice to meet the author of a book and realize how cool and dare I say, down to earth, they really are. Gayla also makes these really great buttons and shirts. Simon picked up one: The Revolution will be Cultivated.

Fingers crossed.

I still don't think we have all of our seeds but we're definitely on our way to food freedom.

Have a good Sunday!