Author Topic: Stokes Purple Sweet Potato from Waitrose  (Read 2910 times)

Digeroo

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Stokes Purple Sweet Potato from Waitrose
« on: April 15, 2017, 18:25:58 »
Has anyone tried growing one?

ancellsfarmer

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Re: Stokes Purple Sweet Potato from Waitrose
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2017, 08:18:15 »
Not personally, but these folk do!
http://www.stokesfoods.com/product.htm
My thought would be that our climate does not match North Carolina, nor California
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

Jayb

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Re: Stokes Purple Sweet Potato from Waitrose
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2017, 10:36:57 »
We don't have a Waitrose down here, but they do look gorgeous.
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Digeroo

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Re: Stokes Purple Sweet Potato from Waitrose
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2017, 12:37:53 »
Actually they are rather dry in comparison to the orange flesh ones. 
The need lots of butter which defeats the object.
They are very similar to the Molokai sweet potato which comes from Hawaii.  There are some posts online which imply they are one and the same.  Seems the Molokai does ok in this country and can be found for sale.  They are expensive but I am tempted.
In the mean time I have two in jars of water hoping for slips.  If nothing happens in a couple of weeks I will simply eat them.
I bought a plastic cloche half price so they might take up residence.
The purple is supposed to be good for you so if you eat them you will live for ever!!!







Hector

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Re: Stokes Purple Sweet Potato from Waitrose
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2017, 12:24:53 »
Digeroo...when you say the Molokai does ok in this country...are folks saying Southern plantingr polytunnel. We eat loads of Sweet potato and would like a stab at this.
Jackie

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Re: Stokes Purple Sweet Potato from Waitrose
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2017, 16:20:51 »
Good luck, I've tried sweet potatoes twice in the greenhouse and the results weren't worth the effort, growing only a few finger sized tubers :(

Vinlander

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Re: Stokes Purple Sweet Potato from Waitrose
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2017, 12:01:29 »
Actually they are rather dry in comparison to the orange flesh ones. 
The need lots of butter which defeats the object.

A) They might be worth roasting (an easier fondant?) - I love roasted white fleshed ones - you get a superior roast potato. I hope they have more flavour than most blue potatoes (there are exceptions like Vitelotte Noire).

For me, the orange ones are pointless - they never taste as good as a carrot in the same recipe, I don't care if they are more healthy (probably not, actually), I'll compensate by eating carrots twice as often.  Squash/pumpkin is the same, though I like it shredded raw because carrots aren't at their best shredded (a bit stringy in coleslaw).

B) What's the object of eating less butter? All the current (& much more scientific) evidence points away from fats as being the real bogey.

It's looking more and more that even junk food (which I hate) does most of it's damage by making you eat less fruit & veg.

It also seems to make a lot of people less active (making poached eggs on toast seems to be more exercise than a lot of people want).

Cheers.

PS. It's not what you eat that kills you*. What's risky is not eating the good stuff:  (only true now that man-made trans fats are outlawed - pure poison).

I should add that to my signature, except there's not enough room.

*And sofas of course... as in the brilliant advert.

I'd also like to add that "Any policy based mainly on puritanism always, always turns out to be wrong".

And before you quibble I'd point out that exercise is FUN, though something of an acquired taste.
With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

Jayb

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Re: Stokes Purple Sweet Potato from Waitrose
« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2017, 09:22:04 »
I spotted some purple sweet potatoes at a greengrocer a little while back, they didn't know the variety. I bought 2, I ate one, with a view of trying to sprout the other to grow on. As it happens I wasn't that fussed on the flavour (roasted mine) so decided not to bother. But I'd already popped the left over tuber in the greenhouse as a reminder to pot it up, it's just been sitting there. But when I was having a tidy in there yesterday I was surprised to spot some little shoots! I've popped it in the propagator where it will hopefully root some cutting. Probably too late to try for this year but might be able to keep some plants going for next year. 
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Digeroo

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Re: Stokes Purple Sweet Potato from Waitrose
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2017, 11:01:27 »
Mine has been sitting on the windowsill in a jar of water I had forgotten about it.  It has a few white roots and a promising looking lump.

Digeroo

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Re: Stokes Purple Sweet Potato from Waitrose
« Reply #9 on: July 20, 2017, 06:57:39 »
Things are going remarkably well.  I found it difficult to know which way up the root goes in the water.  Realised that there is a solution to this, if I cut the root in half and dunk the cut ends, then one must be the right way.

The potato finally put up some shoots and I potted it in compost.  This ended up with four good shoots each with good roots.

Planted these out with soil kept warm with bubble wrap and covered the plants with bottles.  I have some 8 litre ones.  Also bought some beauregard which were 1/2 price.

I cut the little plants from the original root they were about two inches tall.  So now since planting out about 2 1/2 weeks ago, the foliage is totally filling the bottles and the leaves are beginning to pop out of the top.  The stokes purple are looking much better than the beauregard which were plugs and four inches tall and so were twice the size when they went out, so the stokes have grown about four times more in the time. 

Not sure what to do now.  The weather has gone cooler.  I have a plastic table cover which I use like a cloche, so I think I am going to cover the whole patch with it, and let them out of the bottles. 

The problem is that I need to put a circle of posts to support the table cover and the soil is rock solid, so getting them in will be a challenge.  And keeping them watered  will be a challenge as well.   I am  thinking of inserting some bottles of water into the ground with a small hole in the cap to drip.  The water will hopefully get warm in the sun so will be warm when it reaches the roots.

 

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