If you're a gardener here in the Southern US, you are probably shoving your W-2's in a drawer and ignoring them, but you can't stop drooling over seed catalogs and dreaming of your spring garden. Well I'm here to encourage you to keep procrastinating on those taxes and start planning ahead for other, more important April 15th deadlines. According to my planting chart, April 15th is also the date to transplant tomatoes here in the Piedmont region of SC. And in the coastal plain of SC, April 15th is the date to plant sweet potatoes!
I can live without fried okra or collards, but sweet potatoes are one Southern tradition that I've wholeheartedly embraced. Personally, I think they're are tastier than white potatoes, and they have the added benefit of exceptionally high levels vitamin A. If you are diabetic, it's also interesting to note that sweet potatoes are a little better than white potatoes on blood sugar levels. (If you can resist heaping on the butter and brown sugar!)
If you are thinking of growing sweet potatoes this year in a Southern state, you might want to take a look for disease-resistant options such as the Centennial cultivar. Also keep in mind that they need well-drained soil, so if you live in a region with lots of red clay, it helps to plant them on raised ridges. Also be aware that sweet potatoes need a curing period at high temperatures before cooking or storing them.
For further information, the Clemson Extension has a great fact sheet on growing sweet potatoes.
