October 1, 2023
Let's Harvest Sweet Potatoes!
by Farmer Derek

Thank goodness for a break in the weather! I do enjoy cool, cloudy, and wet days once in a while, but almost a solid week of the same dreary weather is tough on farmers and crops alike. Us farm creatures really need the soil to dry out this week so we can smoothly retrieve the sweet potatoes. This harvest goes a lot quicker in dry friable soil and our bed lifter/undercutter tool bar is also much more effective. Once the ground is loosened, we should be able to pull the tubers up by their vines, which were planted at the crown of highly raised beds. There's somewhat of a race against time on this project because sweet potatoes don't tolerate cold weather well and very soon we'll experience some cold nights, even a frost. Sitting in soggy ground is not ideal either, and there's an approaching cold front on Friday that will trigger another rain event. So, the clock ticks. Once they're out of the ground they'll go in an insulated rodent proof room where they'll cure for a couple of weeks, slowly converting starch to sugar and healing any wounds they may have from the harvesting process.

All the other crops would also benefit from drying out. Perpetual wet feet does not benefit any of them and there definitely are signs of stress out in the fields. Right now there's an abundance of crops so a loss here and there isn't too detrimental but we always hate to see it. Some loss in farming is certainly unavoidable due to the weather factor but we've been through worse during our 15 year spell here and will get through this minor setback with most crops surviving unscathed. This is exactly where/when crop diversity is of the utmost importance.

Consider joining us to harvest sweet potatoes this week - we could use your help!

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Lets-Harvest-Sweet-Potatoes-3022/