How To Harvest and Store Sweet Potatoes

There’s something wonderful about harvesting root crops on a crisp fall afternoon. Pushing a spade into the loose ground to reveal hidden treasures connects us with our ancestors who stayed nourished through long New England winters thanks to the storability of crops such as potatoes and parsnips. A full root cellar assured the family would be well fed. While you can now drive to a supermarket and purchase just about any vegetable even in January, it’s still tremendously satisfying to store away a few baskets of food grown from your own land. Plus, there’s nothing like the taste of homegrown organic food and you can rest assured knowing it was grown in nutrient rich soil without chemicals.

Check out the video below for information on how to harvest and store sweet potatoes. Though not a significant storage crop in Colonial New England (it’s challenging to grow in cooler climates), it has become a popular food, one loved even by many picky eaters. Sweet potato fries anyone?