Hubby's record breaker!

Hubby's still talking about that 4 1/4 lb sweet potato. Tonight he got curious... "I wonder what the biggest sweet potato on record is?" He had a glint in his eye. I could even read his mind: "It's gotta be close. Wouldn't that be great if I got in THE record book! If it's not big enough, maybe net year."

So I asked him, "You want me to look it up?"

"Can you do that?"

I'm sitting here, with my laptop at the ends of my fingers... So, in a few seconds, I found this:

Heaviest sweet potato
The world's heaviest sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) weighed 37 kg (81 lb 9 oz) on 8 March 2004 and was grown by Manuel Pérez Pérez (Spain) in Güime, Lanzarote, Spain.

Yeah, maybe next year...

A bit of this, a bit of that...

Hmm... Is it bigger than a toaster?

Almost...
These potatoes grew so large they burst open!

OK, this is the last you'll hear about the sweet potatoes... (that is, until my Farmer's Market Challenge post.) I wanted to show you the storage rack Hubby built for them, using wood from skids. You know we love to re-purpose. This room in the basement is behind the stairway. It is dark and cool. We will have to expand the rack next year, as Hubby is already talking about 3 rows instead of 1.

Speaking of re-purposing... notice the Christmas candy bag? Makes a nice way to keep garlic.
Being confined to the AC put me way behind on the stairway garden project. Hubby finally took over for me and stained the new steps the other day. Don't they look great? Since the red crushed brick flows down from above to the stone steps below, the wood color adds to the continuity. (Note the chives I planted next to the wall.)

I wasn't out there to harvest the chives when they were small. Better late than never!

This bad boy is huge!
It reaches all the way across the sink!

They still taste great. I'll be chopping and freezing some for use over the winter. They don't keep their flavor when dried. These are onion chives. I will add garlic chives next spring to the other side of the steps. I'm thinking about putting some in a flower pot to see how they do inside over winter.

My dining room table is really wide.

This shows better how huge this thing is...

Of course, I couldn't resist posting a picture of Sadie.

Here is her happy face...

Harvest Smiles

Hubby was born to be a farmer. He loves growing things, and takes such pride in his harvest. This year, I suggested he grow sweet potatoes. They are so expensive at the stores, and my MIL and I eat them often throughout the winter.

It seems that as he digs up the mounds, the potatoes keep getting bigger and bigger! Here are two that he brought in today...

The one on the right weighs about three pounds.
The one on the left weighs over four and a quarter!

I not much of a potato eater in the summer,
but I might have to make an exception...

Swweeet!

I love sweet potatoes! This is the first year we've grown
them in the garden. According to the seed catalog, you can
leave them in the ground much later than this, but my FIL
was anxious to dig a mound and see what they had.They got quite a lot out of each mound!

Some were long and skinny, some short and fat.

Some got so big they broke open!

When you look at this one, keep in mind that Hubby is 6'5" and wears a size 14 ring! Yep, it's a big potato!

Of course, anytime something's going on, Nekoda is nearby watching... and Buddy's never far from her.

The garden looks like a jungle now. The morning glory vines have staked their territory. There are a few tomatoes struggling to turn red. FIL has turnips left to harvest, too.

The rest will have to wait until tomorrow...