Sweet Potato Salad

I pulled up the next 20 sqft of sweet potatoes.  From this garden, I pulled out 10 pounds of sweet potatoes.

Wow!

All from that one package of Florida sweets I started around the new year.

I'm not sure how this one got so big, but I'm proud!  This particular variety is a bush variety and is the only variety that regularly bloomed.  Also the only bush variety (I think).

The ivory/white skin sweet potato was a late season that produced more vines than potatoes.

The umber skin/orange flesh variety was also a runner, and more prolific than the white.  Also the most susceptible to whatever bugs.  I found this Sweet Potato and Irish Potato pest guide, but I'm still not sure what I had.

The last variety is an orange skin/orange flesh that produced a lot of fingerling type potatoes.  Maybe they would get bigger if left in the ground longer.  Dunno.  Did I mention a lot?  Sometimes 3 and 4 tubers off one node.

4' x 5' 6" raised bed.  Before:

After:

And the next bed.  This one is Amish Porto Rico Bush.

Hopefully I will get it harvested some time this week.  That ever illusive thing called 'time'.

One of the dishes Silvia made for the garden party was a sweet potato salad.  She loosely followed this recipe.   She doubled the amount of sweet potatoes and roasted them.  And left out the fish.

Today I needed a side dish for pan grilled fish, and decided to try to make the sweet potato salad.  I didn't know the recipe at the time, was just guessing.  I thought it would be a good way to carve up the buggy potatoes.  The bug holes were only surface deep.  They didn't really tunnel into the potato.  Though, some of the potatoes were pretty wiped out.  Which is all the more reason to get the next garden harvested.  I saw some kind of potato beetle looking thing in there today.

I boiled my cubed sweet potatoes.  Made the dressing out of  orange juice, rice vinegar, red onion, bell pepper, paprika, cumin, 5 spice, Florida Sorrel and olive oil.  Not quite as good as Silvia's but good.  When the folks are here I am going to make Silvia's recipe.  I just know Mom-BJ is going to love it.

It was a beautiful day.  I putzed around in the garden.  Watered, spruced up, tied up.  Prepped the 4'x5' bed for winter greens.  Watched the goldfish.  Listened to the birds singing.  Surprised the neighborhood hawk perched on our fountain.

Tumbled on the steps from the kitchen when my knee buckled on me.  Sigh.  That was not part of the beautiful day.

Tomorrow is another day!  Another beautiful day in the forecast.  At least it has cooled down enough to wear the dang brace full-time.  And to plant lettuce in the garden.