6 SWEET POTATOES – 6.87 - LOVE THE SUMMER HEAT

 
ORGANIC FARMING CURSE AGRO-ECONOMY
6 SWEET POTATOES – 6.87 - LOVE THE SUMMER HEAT

 
Sweet Potatoes are different from your normal Potato, as they love the hot summer heat. Most Potatoes die off in the summer heat, but that is when your Sweet Potatoes will thrive. Sweet potato flesh is classified as moist or dry. Moist, deep orange types are sometimes called yams; the most popular varieties for home gardens are moist types, including Centennial and Georgia Jet.
Sweet potatoes are grown worldwide, from tropical regions to temperate climates. This warm-weather crop is remarkably nutritious and versatile. Each fleshy root is rich in vitamins A and C, along with many important minerals. Use them raw, boiled, or baked, in soups, casseroles, desserts, breads, or stir-fries—and don't forget to try some homemade sweet potato fries!
 
PLANTING
Sweet potatoes will grow in poor soil, but roots may be deformed in heavy clay or long
and stringy in sandy soil. To create the perfect environment, build long, wide, 10-inch-high ridges spaced 3½ feet apart. (A 10-foot row will produce 8 to 10 pounds of potatoes.) Work in plenty of organic compost, avoiding nitrogen-rich fertilizers that produce lush vines and stunted tubes. In the North, cover the raised rows with black plastic to keep the soil warm and promote strong growth.
It's best to plant root sprouts, called slips, which are available from nurseries and mail-order suppliers. Or you can grow your own, by saving a few roots from your previous crop or by buying untreated roots (store-bought sweet potatoes are often waxed to prevent sprouting).
About six weeks before it's time to plant sweet potatoes outdoors in your area, place the roots in a box of moist sand, sawdust, or chopped leaves in a warm spot 21 to 25 degree. Shoots will sprout, and when they reach 6 to 9 inches long, cut them off the root. Remove and dispose of the bottom inch from each slip, as that portion sometimes harbours disease organisms.
 
Sweet potatoes mature in 90 to 170 days and are extremely frost sensitive. Plant in full sun 3 to 4 weeks after the last frost when the soil has warmed. Make holes 6 inches deep and 12 inches apart. Bury slips up to the top leaves, press the soil down gently but firmly, and water well.
If you're not using black plastic, mulch the vines 2 weeks after planting to smother weeds, conserve moisture, and keep the soil loose for root development. Occasionally lift longer vines to keep them from rooting at the joints, or they will put their energy into forming many undersized tubers at each rooted area rather than ripening the main crop at the base of the plant. Otherwise, handle plants as little as possible to prevent wounds that might be invaded by disease spores.
If the weather is dry, provide 1 inch of water a week until 2 weeks before harvesting, then let the soil dry out a bit. Don't over water, or the plants—which can withstand dry spells better than rainy ones—may rot.
 
HARVESTING
You can harvest as soon as leaves start to yellow, but the longer a crop is left in the ground, the higher the yield and vitamin content. Once frost blackens the vines, however, tubers can quickly rot.
Use a spading fork to dig tubers on a sunny day when the soil is dry. Remember that tubers can grow a foot or more from the plant, and that any nicks on their tender skins will encourage spoilage. Dry tubers in the sun for several hours, then move them to a well-ventilated spot and keep at -5 C. to 0 degrees C.  for 10 to 15 days.
After they are cured, store at around 13 degrees C., with a humidity of 75 to 80 percent.
 

 
KILIMO HAI CHALAANI KILIMO-UCHUMI VIAZI
6 VITAMU – 6.87 - PENDA JOTO LA MAJIRA
 
Viazi vitamu ni tofauti na Viazi vyako vya kawaida, kwa vile vinapenda joto kali la kiangazi. Viazi nyingi hufa kwenye joto la kiangazi, lakini hapo ndipo Viazi vyako vitamu vitastawi. Nyama ya viazi vitamu imeainishwa kama unyevu au kavu. Aina ya machungwa yenye unyevunyevu wakati mwingine huitwa viazi vikuu; aina maarufu zaidi kwa bustani za nyumbani ni aina za unyevu, ikiwa ni pamoja na Centennial na Georgia Jet.
Viazi vitamu hupandwa ulimwenguni pote, kutoka mikoa ya tropiki hadi hali ya hewa ya joto. Zao hili la hali ya hewa ya joto ni la lishe na lina uwezo wa kutosha. Kila mizizi yenye nyama ina vitamini A na C nyingi, pamoja na madini mengi muhimu. Zitumie zikiwa mbichi, zilizochemshwa, au kuokwa, katika supu, bakuli, vipodozi, mikate, au kukaanga—na usisahau kujaribu viazi vitamu vilivyotengenezwa nyumbani!
 
KUPANDA
Viazi vitamu vitakua kwenye udongo duni, lakini mizizi inaweza kuharibika kwenye udongo mzito au mirefu
na stringy katika udongo wa mchanga. Ili kuunda mazingira bora, jenga matuta marefu, mapana, na urefu wa inchi 10 yaliyotenganishwa kwa futi 3½. (Safu ya futi 10 itazalisha pauni 8 hadi 10 za viazi.) Fanya kazi katika mbolea ya kikaboni kwa wingi, ukiepuka mbolea zenye nitrojeni nyingi zinazozalisha mizabibu nyororo na mirija iliyodumaa. Upande wa Kaskazini, funika safu zilizoinuliwa kwa plastiki nyeusi ili kuweka udongo joto na kukuza ukuaji wa nguvu.
Ni bora kupanda miche ya mizizi, inayoitwa slips, ambayo inapatikana kutoka kwa vitalu na wauzaji wa kuagiza barua. Au unaweza kukua mwenyewe, kwa kuokoa mizizi michache kutoka kwa mazao yako ya awali au kwa kununua mizizi ambayo haijatibiwa (viazi vitamu vya duka mara nyingi hutiwa nta ili kuzuia kuchipua).
Takriban wiki sita kabla ya wakati wa kupanda viazi vitamu nje katika eneo lako, weka mizizi kwenye sanduku la mchanga wenye unyevunyevu, vumbi la mbao au majani yaliyokatwakatwa katika sehemu yenye joto nyuzi 21 hadi 25. Shina zitachipuka, na zikifikia urefu wa inchi 6 hadi 9, zikate mzizi. Ondoa na uondoe inchi ya chini kutoka kwa kila kipande, kwani sehemu hiyo wakati mwingine huhifadhi viumbe vya magonjwa.
 
Viazi vitamu hukomaa baada ya siku 90 hadi 170 na ni nyeti sana kwa theluji. Panda kwenye jua kali wiki 3 hadi 4 baada ya baridi ya mwisho wakati udongo umepata joto. Tengeneza mashimo yenye kina cha inchi 6 na inchi 12 kutoka kwa kila mmoja. Zika huteleza hadi kwenye majani ya juu, bonyeza udongo chini kwa upole lakini kwa uthabiti, na maji vizuri.
Ikiwa hutumii plastiki nyeusi, tandaza mizabibu wiki 2 baada ya kupanda ili kuzuia magugu, kuhifadhi unyevu, na kuweka udongo kuwa huru kwa ukuaji wa mizizi. Mara kwa mara inua mizabibu mirefu ili kuzuia mizizi kwenye viungio, au itaweka nguvu zake katika kutengeneza mizizi mingi isiyo na ukubwa katika kila eneo lenye mizizi badala ya kuiva zao kuu kwenye msingi wa mmea. Vinginevyo, shughulikia mimea kidogo iwezekanavyo ili kuzuia majeraha ambayo yanaweza kuvamiwa na spores za ugonjwa.
Ikiwa hali ya hewa ni kavu, toa inchi 1 ya maji kwa wiki hadi wiki 2 kabla ya kuvuna, kisha acha udongo ukauke kidogo. Usinywe maji kupita kiasi, au mimea—ambayo inaweza kustahimili vipindi vya ukame bora kuliko mvua—inaweza kuoza.
 
KUVUNA
Unaweza kuvuna mara tu majani yanapoanza kuwa ya manjano, lakini kadiri mazao yanavyoachwa ardhini, ndivyo mavuno yanavyoongezeka na maudhui ya vitamini. Mara tu baridi inapofanya mizabibu kuwa nyeusi, hata hivyo, mizizi inaweza kuoza haraka.
Tumia uma kuchimba mizizi siku ya jua wakati udongo umekauka. Kumbuka kwamba mizizi inaweza kukua kwa futi moja au zaidi kutoka kwa mmea, na kwamba nick yoyote kwenye ngozi zao laini itachochea kuharibika. Kausha mizizi kwenye jua kwa saa kadhaa, kisha uisogeze hadi mahali penye hewa ya kutosha na uihifadhi kwa nyuzi joto -5 C. hadi 0 kwa siku 10 hadi 15. Baada ya kuponywa, hifadhi kwa karibu 14 ° C. digrii, na unyevu wa asilimia 75 hadi 80.