Orange Sweet Potato

Grows almost anywhere! Although sweet potatoes are a staple in tropical and subtropical regions, we were surprised by how easy they are to grow in Canada. We planted them in grow bags, placed them in a sunny, south-facing spot sheltered from the wind, and by autumn, we harvested a bumper crop of large orange tubers. No digging required -- we simply opened the bags and pulled out the sweet tubers. We were so excited that we immediately washed them, cut them into bite-sized pieces, and roasted them with a bit of seasoning. Absolutely delicious! Sweet potatoes thrive in almost any soil, even poor soil, as long as it drains well. What’s great about grow bags is that, even though sweet potatoes can’t tolerate cold, the bags are easy to move indoors on cooler days and nights. Fun fact: Thousands of years ago, a bacterium inserted its DNA into a non-tuber-bearing ancestor of this plant, ultimately giving rise to the thick, tuber-producing plant we know today. It’s the earliest known example of a naturally transgenic food plant.