November 19, 2015

Good morning, I copied this information about sweet potatoes from foodreference.com . When you read through the data you can see it is a real food powerhouse.

SWEET POTATO NUTRITION

 

According to nutritionists at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the single most important dietary change for most people, including children, would be to replace fatty foods with foods rich in complex carbohydrates, such as sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potato Ranks Number One In Nutrition

CSPI ranked the sweet potato number one in nutrition of all vegetables. With a score of 184, the sweet potato outscored the next highest vegetable by more than 100 points. Points were given for content of dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars and complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. Points were deducted for fat content (especially saturated fat), sodium, cholesterol, added refined sugars and caffeine. The higher the score, the more nutritious the food.

Sweet potato baked 184
Potato, baked 83
Spinach 76
Kale 55
Mixed Vegetables 52
Broccoli 52
Winter Squash, Baked 44
Brussels Sprouts 37
Cabbage, Raw 34
Green Peas 33
Carrot 30
Okra 30
Corn on the Cob 27
Tomato 27
Green Pepper 26
Cauliflower 25
Artichoke 24
Romaine Lettuce 24
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, Washington D.C.

The reasons the sweet potato took first place? Dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. The sweet potato received a score of 184; the vegetable ranked in second place was more than 100 points behind with a score of 83.

Sweet potatoes are high in the following: beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin B6 and vitamin C; fiber, thiamine, niacin, potassium and copper. They are also a good source of protein, calcium, vitamin E.

The numbers for the nutritional sweet potato speak for themselves: almost twice the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, 42 percent of the recommendation for vitamin C, four times the RDA for beta carotene, and, when eaten with the skin, sweet potatoes have more fiber than oatmeal. All these benefits with only about 130 to 160 calories!
 

Sweet Potato Nutrition Facts  (for one medium size sweet potato)

Calories 130
Fat 0.39 g
Protein 2.15 g
Net Carbs 31.56 g
Dietary Fiber 3.9 g
Calcium 28.6 mg
Sodium 16.9 mg
Potassium 265.2 mg
Folate 18.2 mcg
Vitamin C 29.51 mg
Vitamin A 26081.9 IU
Source: US Department of Agriculture

Before I moved to West Texas I had never grown sweets. I thought it was too cold in the places where I lived. Maybe if I had discovered agribon fabric back then, I might have tried.

Besides being a very nutritional crop it is very easy to grow and very productive. This year my four beds of sweets yielded 582 pounds. Two of the beds were infected with root knot nematode (RKN). And were planted early around the middle of April. We had a very cool Spring up into June. Real proof of this was harvesting sugar pod peas up until the middle of May. The middle of March when things usually begin to heat up,brings the peas demise.

The first two beds yielded 2.5 pounds per linear foot. My beds are 4 feet wide. In years past I would not start the harvest until September. This year I started harvesting in August. What with the nematodes that impact the roots of plants and the cool spring, I think of these played into the low production. Sweet potatoes like hot weather. This and also starting to harvest a little early caused the sweets to be a smaller size. Most of the tubers were less than 1 1/2 pounds.

Now he third bed where I used the unrooted cuttings I got a very nice harvest per linear foot. Right about 7.5 to 8 pounds. This is the amount I have come to expect from Sweets. Five to six pounds is a good rate too.

The fourth bed production was back down to 2 pounds. There was signs of RKN but not too bad. Last year this bed was planted to squash and succumbed to RKN late in the year. Winter it was plated to Idaho Gold Mustard., a mustard with nemicide properties. I also use Azaguard on the bed before planting (this is a nemicide) the sweets. This was my last sweet bed planted, about the first of August. I feel the lateness of this beds planting was the main cause for its lower poundage per foot. Like I said sweets like it hot. It is a 90 to a 100 day crop. August was nice and toasty but night times really started to cool off going into fall. Most plants do a good portion of their growing at night and the cool nights slowed this beds growth. The tubers were all nice looking but on the small size from less than a pound to a pound.

As for the third bed it was planted the first of July and was hot for a good solid two months and loved it. Most tubers in this bed were 1 1/2 pounds to 2 pounds with some up to 4.

For the whole harvest here were about 75 pounds with questionable sell-ability. About 45 pounds of these were severely eaten on by ground squirrels. There may be more that were totally eaten. 45 pound is getting into the problem pest range. We are in negotiations with the cat as to what the problem is. Then for the rest of the 75 pounds, the sweets have a russet thing on them. Some sort of infection related to RKN ? I do not know. A Google search is needed.

So Next spring because this winter is expected to be a ditto of last, I am only going to plant one early bed. Grow the greens for sweets and cuttings. Then I will plant the last 3 beds in July. 582 pounds of sweets is a good harvest but it would be interesting if it can be boosted.

Sweets are very easy to grow, quite productive, tasty, very nutritious and store well too. I am out of time but the foliage is also quite nutritious too. So if you haven't grown sweets I would recommend giving them a whirl.. The vines can be really quite sprawling and need plenty of room.