Beginner Gardening: Running Down the Sweet Potato Truck, 1 by Xeramtheum

Xeramtheum wrote:
The first plant I remember having in my room as a child was a sweet potato plant. Every time my Grandmother made something out of sweet potatoes she’d cut the top off the tuber, stick toothpicks in it and sit the bottom in a little bit of water. Within a few weeks there would be pretty green foliage. Within a couple of months there would be this beautiful vined plant that sprawled it’s way across a table or down a bookcase.

Many years ago I bought some sweet potatoes and tried to grow them like my Grandmother did. All they would do is rot. I finally gave up after failing for over a year. It wasn’t until last year that I found out why they failed. Pretty much all potatoes you buy now in stores have been irradiated, even organic stores.

A few days before Thanksgiving I was driving down Main Street in Summerville and happened to glance down a side street. At first what I saw didn’t register. It wasn’t until a quarter of a mile later that I realized that the truck had “just dug” sweet potatoes!!!! I immediately made the first turn I could find and zipped my way back to the street I saw the truck on and it wasn’t there! I spent the next 15 minutes zigzagging my way down side streets looking for the truck. I finally spotted it and started honking my horn and waving my hand out side the window. The guy in the truck looked startled when he finally stopped I guess he though I was a cop or something .. he was relieved when I didn’t get out of my car flashing any badges. I can just imagine what was going through his head .. this is going to be a good sale .. this lady really wants some sweet potatoes … He whipped back the tarp covering the sweet potatoes and cheerfully pulled out a basket for me to put my potatoes in. I carefully picked out three and said “how much? He shook his head and scratched his head and with a laugh said a dollar fifty.

Anyway .. these sweet potatoes have sprouted and some are at the stage where they change their looks everyday. They still have a ways to go before they match the splendor of the ones I remember, but I’ve got a good start.

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