Monday, October 24, 2016

Mutant Sweet Potatoes

Where's my gardening experts?  I need some knowledge!  My sweet potatoes all came out looking like bears clawed them in the middle of their growth.  Perhaps they tangled with some zombies?  Could this be from getting too much rain this summer during a key part of the growing season?  Or is it something in my soil balance?


The good news is that once I peel all that mess, they still taste good underneath. I roasted wedges in olive oil and herbs and they were fantastic. The bad news is that they are not storing for very long (maybe two weeks) before getting soft inside.  They aren't staying firm like they should.  So if you have any great ideas for preserving them let me know. 

22 comments:

Buttons Thoughts said...

Yikes. My guess would be too much rain but I am not positive. Too bad. Hug B

Out on the prairie said...

I could see cooking and freezing.I like mine whole, but these won't do that

Anonymous said...

I loved baked sweet potatoes and often freeze them whole after baking them.

Tom said...

This one is easy...they were grown at Two Bears Farm.

Monkeywrangler said...

Too much water too late in the season.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/causes-sweet-potatoes-crack-growing-30353.html

Tina Fariss Barbour said...

I wonder if it's all the rain we got, especially since they are softening so quickly. Can they be canned?

Busy Bee Suz said...

I've never grown sweet taters.....I wish I could help you. Goodness is that one big though??

Ginny Hartzler said...

They are old before their time! Halloween sweet potatoes. At least they are good, but gosh, how WEIRD. Looks like they got super ripe and burst open. If you find out, let us know. In the meantime, I am going to Google it. Be back if I find anything.

Ginny Hartzler said...

I found the same thing all over the web. Here is the likely problem: How disappointing to find them cracked when you dug them. I am pretty sure the splitting can be blamed on our weather pattern of drought followed by a few days of heavy rains. The sweet potatoes most likely developed a hard, mature skin during the dry periods. Then when it rained, the roots and tubers swelled with new growth and ruptured the potatoes lengthwise.

An Apel a Day said...

Yikes! I'm not sure. At least they taste good. We grew white potatoes. I love sweet potatoes, but I can't get the rest of my family to like them.

21 Wits said...

I really like Tom's comment! I had a feeling it was too much water too late, and possibly I thought the temps may have played a part in it too. But lucky for you that you could still eat some of them!

Harry Flashman said...

I'm not much help with sweet potatoes. I hate those things. When I was a kid we had them a lot, because they were cheap and "good for you." My dad felt like my mom worked a full time job teaching and still made a hot supper for us every night. Criticism of the fare, constructive or otherwise, was not tolerated. We had to eat everything mom served, no waste allowed. To this day I still can't face sweet potatoes or chicken and dumplings . 😣

Debby@Just Breathe said...

I've never grown any so I can't help you with that. They kinda look like they overheated and split like they were baked in the ground.

Michelle said...

My initial thought was too much rain. Wow, that thing does look weird!

Lin said...

Bummer that they won't keep. But I sure would enjoy eating them while I could!

Small Kucing said...

Yikes...Did Freddy came early this year :O

Kathy said...

I grow these for my husband and I can them every year. They have to be pressure canned. They work out very well. Taste way better than the canned from the store.

Linda said...

How about slicing them for fries and then freezing?

Sally said...

You know, of course, that I don't have a clue. Love them, though. Glad they're okay on the inside; I'd be eating them every day! :)

Eat To Live said...

I have no idea either... but it is good that you could still use the inside of them.

I am in a gardening club on facebook that people ask each other questions. Lots of knowledge there.
If you want the link... let me know and I will get it for you.

Annette said...

It looks like you received some good ideas for saving your sweet potatoes. How interesting that you had a drought followed by heavy rain. This summer we mostly had drought like conditions the whole year. In fact, in Aug./Sept. the water company asked us to no longer use our hoses for any watering. We've had very little rainfall for about two years now...

Indah Nuria Savitri said...

oh my..it looks like something coming out of the horror movie. I have zero knowledge on gardening..so I don't know what could it be..