Dig my sweet potatoes - Claire's allotment part 89

[Daisypie101]

hi your the only person that i watch in gardening so i want to ask you a few questions please reply.

1. can you grow sweet potatoes right now?

2. can you grow radishes now?

3. can you grow potatoes now?

4. can you grow sweet potatoes by just putting on sweet potato in the soil without getting slips?

please anwer these questions your the best!!!

[clairesallotment]

@Daisypie101 Thank you, I'm so glad you find my videos helpful. Qu 1: they need to be planted about the middle of May, now is too late, they won't get going before the frost arrive. Qu 2: You can sow up til the end of September. Qu 3: You can start to grow potatoes that you can harvest for Christmas day. Start them in a large container and when it starts to get cold move them inside. Qu 4: You can buy a Sweet potato from the shop which will produce slips. Visit tropical permaculture. com

[Daisypie101]

hello have you done your sweet potato plant this year?

[clairesallotment]

@Daisypie101 No I haven't done any this year. I'll try a different type next year, and see how they get on. I'm still trying to find some that perform well enough.

[sd14jstme]

wishing you have a lovely large crop of fine editable tubers/ lovely to see a lady getting excited about growing things we cannot get allotments over here all local land is built on,

[clairesallotment]

@sd14jstme That's terrible that you don't have any spare land to have allotments. I'm very excited about harvesting my sweet potatoes this year. I'll make a video to show how they turn out.

[sd14jstme]

very goodclaire & you deserve to be chuffed congrats

[clairesallotment]

@sd14jstme I'll be digging up this year's ones soon. I planted a different variety. Can't wait to see how they've turned out.

[CarmxFromMalta]

Hello Claire - I am new to allotments, have had the plot for just over a year. I love your videos and can see I will learn a lot from them. Can I go through them chronologically so that I use them as a guide over the months? So far I have not easily been able to find the right video for the right month, if you see what I mean. Thank you, Carmen Bham UK

[clairesallotment]

@CarmxFromMalta The first ones are in order, but I've been filming for nearly 3 years, so they're not in order now. What I suggest is you decide what you want to grow and then find the video. If the time has passed for planting, then watch video 57 "Sorting your seeds". Then you can start a list for next year.

[CarmxFromMalta]

@clairesallotment Thank you, I have a nice little "Claire's Allotment" reference system going for me now.

CarmxFromMalta 1 second ago

[clairesallotment]

@CarmxFromMalta The first few are in order, but then I planted different stuff the following years. Best thing to do would be to decide what you want to plant and them find the video.

[monicasutubeaccount]

Love these Claires' Allotment videos - they have played a huge part in my successful veggie garden - thanks claire

[clairesallotment]

@monicasutubeaccount You're very welcome. I'm so glad you find them useful.

[mombol39]

Wanted you to know that I got the same result with my sweet potatoes and I grew them in a bucket about the size you described. I was told that my bucket was too deep and that I should try one more shallow. Since you grew yours in the ground and got the same result, I am not sure what to do now...Hmmmm, I have a greenhouse as well but not sure that will make a difference but will try it too. Thanks for your vids and info. Happy Spring to you.

[clairesallotment]

@mombol39 They like the humid air, so I'll grow half in the greenhouse and half outside to see which is better. I've ordered different ones this year, so I'll have to wait and see how they grow. They haven't arrived yet, shouldn't be long, I'm sure they should come in April.

[kokonutbaby1]

Im wondering since sweet potatoes are a root crop that perhaps they need lime? Lime is suppose to help with roots and leaves..anyway I think I will try that this coming year & see what happens..I did get a couple of fat ones but most were long, twisted, & spindly looking..and I did use the orangy shop type sweet potatoe (only planted one, in fact, it came from the grocery store and I had rooted it out in a jar in the window prior to placing it in the ground/container outside. Good Luck in 2010!

[clairesallotment]

The sweet potatoes now tend not to be too fussy about what soil they grow in. The only element the seem to want more than anything else is heat, which hopefully I can give them by growing them in the greenhouse this year.

[Billybunter32]

Oh Claire I am so happy that you try to grow veggies that you are not supposed to grow inthe UK

Dont know if you saw the results of my attempts to grow water chest nuts? It was a failure. I thought i had done a better video but never got much in the way of reviews, no stars at all actually. What is your secret. Love all your posts, keep up the good growering. Roy and Benda

[clairesallotment]

Try them again next year. Sometimes just a little change in temperature does the trick. When making the videos, I just point and shoot, my husband does all the hard work of putting it together with titles and music. How he does it so fast I'll never know. He says I do the hard bit. Hope you have a great season and let me know how you get on. Claire

[ShushLorraine]

Our first sweet potatoes - zone 7 in the U.S. - had mounds beautiful green leaves that dominated the garden space, and one potato. We learned that our soil was too rich (too much nitrogen, that is) for sw. potatoes. I thought from the looks of your leaves, you would dig up more potatoes than you did. Still, maybe the soil was still too rich. You had more than we did, even though our one was fatter.

[clairesallotment]

It wouldn't surprise me if the soil was too rich, I've put a fair bit of manure in the over the last 2 years. In my catalogue it doesn't say anything about them being fussy plants, just reliable all over the UK. I'll try a different approach next year to see which works better.

[jihadacadien]

Those are weir looking =).....but i think they grow better in warmer climat.

[clairesallotment]

They do need heat, but I was pleased. Next year I'm growing the ones that are orange inside, that you buy in the supermarkets, I'll see how they turn out.

[mukwah1111]

Tiddlers in the toilet roll hahahah. So cute. They look like parsnips? Oh well, at least you got something for your hard work. Enjoy !

[clairesallotment]

Looking forward to eating them, and trying a different approach next year. More humidity is needed, will try in the greenhouse.

[richardpeej]

The potatoes look OK and they will roast a treat I expect Claire :-)

[clairesallotment]

They were lovely. Bulk up a casserole in the cold weather also.

[kokonutbaby1]

Sorry 4 the disappointment, Claire..I did my one plant in a large round storage container w/holes in the bottom & some good compost & from that one plant I got 1 huge one, one nice sized one like the store kind & the rest looked like gnarly carrots which I sauteed in chunks & tasted quite nice actually, put cinnamon/sugar on them and they were good, the rest spindly ones I stuck back in the ground & will see what happens come frost..I will plant more next yr..btw my spud came from the store! lol

[clairesallotment]

I've chosen different ones for next year, see how they grow. Even though they were small, they tasted great. I love cinnamon sugar on "Churros". They're mediterranean dough fried. Try them they're lovely.

[kokonutbaby1]

Hi Claire, not sure what a "churro" is..can u email me the recipe? Thanks! Angie

[clairesallotment]

Churros:

7oz plain flour, 0.25tsp salt, 8fl oz boiling water, 2 tbsp sugar, 4tbsp olive oil, 1 egg.

1. Mix together flour, salt, sugar.

2. Boil water and add flour, salt and sugar to it, mix together, forms a stiff paste. Leave to cool 5 mins.

3. Beat in egg until smooth.

4. Heat oil in wok or frying pan. Oil 2 inches deep.

5. Use a large tip piping bag and pipe 3 inch s shapes into oil. Cook until golden.

6. Drain and roll in cinnamon sugar.

Serve hot. Yum!!

[sadia102]

I can't get seeds or seedlings here so chucked some shop bought ones in the compost heap so I will see. Hope they were yummy.

[clairesallotment]

How are they growing?

[MadBadVoodo]

Kind of small but I bet they will taste great!

5/5

[clairesallotment]

They were bigger than I expected. I ordered different ones for this year, "Georgia Jet" from Thompson and Morgan. Looking forward to seeing how they grow. The others tasted great.

[tonyscot1]

Hi Claire,

Just wanted to say hello and thanks for a great year, i am searching for an allotment here where i am and hopefully by next spring ill be ready to get planting, here in Germany for about €3000 you can get an allotment with a lovely little bungalow on it in a garden colony with running water and electricity, a real home from home.

Greetings

Tony

[clairesallotment]

Hi Tony,

That sounds wonderful. If I had one of those I'd never go home.