Today I planted sweet potatoes. Nine plants, one plant for each of the nine potatoes Mr. Edwards brought the Ingalls family for Christmas in Little House on the Prairie. I’ve never grown sweet potatoes before, so we’ll see how they do. Of course I read after I had already planted them that they grow just fine in nothing but sand. I did mix a lot of sand with the soil (I knew that much), so, again, we’ll see.
George Washington Carver published this recipe for baking sweet potatoes in ashes: In this method the sweetness and piquancy of the potato is brought out in a manner hardly obtainable in any other way. Select the same kind of potatoes as described above for baking; cover them with warm ashes to a depth of 4 inches, upon this place live coals and hot cinders; let bake slowly for at least two hours. Remove the ashes with a soft brush and serve while hot with butter.
