Re: [gardeners] Getting ready already
olin (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 22 Nov 2002 14:49:00 -0700
----- Original Message ----- From: <pennyx1@juno.com>
To: <gardeners@globalgarden.com>
Sent: Friday, November 22, 2002 2:20 PM
Subject: Re: [gardeners] Getting ready already
> Olin, yes we've always used supermarket produce without any
> repercussions. But a sweet potato 17 inches long...? What we can find
> are quite uniformly shaped, and measure no longer than 6 inches,
> whether sweets or yams. Wonder why...?
Probably small due to harvesting earlier before getting a chance to grow
more or become dry and fibery. And I think they will cull out and can any
that are not uniformly shaped and look like sweet potatoes. As to yams vs
sweet potatoes, there are often newspaper and magazine aricles this time of
year that tell us what we call yams are really sweet potatoes - or is it
vice versa?
> When you say 'weighing 1 1/2 lb after curing for 2 weeks' -- does
> this mean that some of the moisture evaporates after harvesting?
The skin is now very dry. Our relative humidity has been less than 10 % and
is often reported as "trace" which is <1%. Evaporation is only skin deep
but noticeable on my scales which measures in tenths of ounces.