Sometimes people call sweet potatoes yams, but
yams and sweet potatoes are different vegetables!
Yams are large, starchy roots native to Africa and Asia.

Sweet potatoes are considered root vegetables because they are the part of the plant that grows into the earth and anchors the plant to the ground.

Nutrition and Seasonality

Key Nutrients

Vitamin A – Keeps skin and bones healthy, resists and fights infection, and maintains good eyesight.
Vitamin C – Helps wounds heal, is important for the immune system, and is an antioxidant, which protects cells from damage.
Vitamin B6 – Important for immune system and brain function and helps you get energy from your food.

Seasonality

Fresh sweet potatoes grown in Wisconsin are available from July through October.

Try New Foods

Your child is most hungry at the beginning of a meal.

Try roasted sweet potato fries or cook and mash them with a little milk. Try using coconut milk for a new flavor!

Select: Choose sweet potatoes that are firm and smooth.
Store: Store in a cool, dark place for 3-5 weeks.
Prepare: Rinse under cool, running water and scrub to remove dirt.

Add Sweet Potatoes to Your Favorite Family Meals

Slice, toss with oil and seasonings, and bake to make sweet potato fries.
Mash with butter and cinnamon for a sweet side dish.
Bake whole and top with black beans & salsa or maple syrup & toasted pecans.

Books

Little Sweet Potato by Amy Beth Bloom
Sweet Potato Pie by Kathleen Lindsey
Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
Gigantic Sweet Potato by Dianne De Las Casas

Family Fun: Grow Your Own Sweet Potato Vine

Stick 3-4 toothpicks around the middle of the sweet potato. Support the toothpicks on the rim of a clear glass cup or jar with the plumper or rounded side facing up. Fill the jar with water so that the bottom of the potato is in water. Place the jar in moderate to full sunlight at room temperature. Change the water weekly and replenish what evaporates. The roots will develop on the bottom end of the potato while the stem and leaf buds develop at the top.

Garden Connection

Planting

Sweet potatoes are started from plants called “slips’’ that grow from the eyes on the sweet potato. Transplant slips in the garden as soon as the soil warms and all danger of frost has passed. Sweet potatoes grow on trailing vines that quickly cover the soil, rooting at the nodes along the way.

Harvesting

Dig the main crop of sweet potatoes around the time of the first frost in the fall. Sweet potato tubers will keep getting larger as long as the weather is warm enough. Cut back the top growth and carefully dig out the sweet potatoes to avoid bruising or damaging them.