I intended to eat this sweet potato.
But then I didn’t.
Then it started to sprout and thrive and I would have felt guilty eating it.
And I didn’t really want to eat it anyway.
So, recalling that in the past I had purchased a purple, leafy vine called sweet potato vine for my planters, and that when I dug it up out of my planters at the end of the season the root looked very much like a sweet potato, I decided I was going to re-purpose this sweet potato for my garden.
Brilliant. I know.
About 2 weeks ago, I chopped up the potato, leaving a few sprouts in each chunk, and planted it in a planter on my deck.
And then I waited.
A week had gone by and there was no indication that my experiment worked.
In talking with Uncle Brian and Papa about my craftiness when I was back in Kentucky this weekend, they weren’t so sure my plan would work because I had cut up the potato. Apparently, the sweet potato needs to remain whole to act as an energy source for the plant.
Oops.
Oh well. It wasn’t a major investment.
Imagine my delight when I saw these little suckers sprouting up out of the soil on Sunday evening.
Here they are 1 day later, Monday.
This is what they looked like today, 3 days later.
I’ll have a nice trailing vine in no time!
Judging by my level of vegetable gardening prowess, I would call this pure luck.
Good thing I didn’t eat that sweet potato. The universe had bigger plans for it.
While we’re on the topic of my deck container garden, I would like to take this opportunity to share an update on my pea plants.
This is day 13.
Time to stick ‘em!
In parting, I would like to suggest that you chop up any sprouting vegetables in your kitchen and then promptly plant them in some soil and see what happens. While I may have lost out on some serious Vitamin A in neglecting to eat this sweet potato, I sure have learned some valuable gardening lessons and kept my kitchen from smelling funky.
Happy adventurous gardening.
Y’all come back,
Sugarlump
Love it! and Sweet Potatoes.
thanks!
Looking good! I might have to come down and sample all of these veggies you are growing.
please do!
OH…now I know what I can try in that tree stump hubby just hollowed out for me! Uhm…do you know if sweet potatoes can handle pine tree stumps???
(btw…just stuck a celery stub in the ground today that was sprouting. hope it grows!!! LOL)
I would say it’s worth a shot!
My mother almost always had a sweet potato sprouting in a jar of water on a windowsill when I was a child. I’ve done it off and on too–but had forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder–and the little trip through memory land. Gotta go–have to put a sweet potato in some water to get it started… MM
Isn’t it amazing? Several people have told me that was their houseplant growing up!
I remember my grandmother stuck toothpicks in the sweet potatoes to ‘hang’ them from the rim of the jar, half in and half out of the water
Yes! That’s exactly how Mom did it. Amazing.
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Your sweet potato plants look very healthy too. You for sure have a green thumb.
Thank you! It’s starting to take over my deck!
Great blog. Going to find something to plant
Thanks! Happy gardening
Imagine a world were everyone helps life flourish.
I love this post. I’m happy for you…it’s a great feeling.
I love experimenting with plants. I have been growing avocados from pits; I’m on my second one now.
http://sued51.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/as-the-avocado-grows/
Neat! I would love to learn how to do that. I will check out your post. Thanks for stopping by!
Cool!
Thanks! I have another one ready to launch so my deck may soon be covered completely in sweet potato plants!
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