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I don't have much time right now quid to post, maybe more later...
6' x 6' is pretty tiny, if yams grow anything like sweet potatoes (big sprawly vines), then you won't have room for yams.
Raised beds... how much rain do you get during non-monsoon months? I assume you're wanting raised beds for improved drainage during the monsoon months... but if it doesn't rain too much during the non-monsoon months, then you may want to NOT have raised beds during those months, so that you don't have to water so much (raised beds lose moisture faster... which is good in wet conditions, but not good in dry conditions).
What do folks there do to protect the soil during the monsoon months -- is there some sort of really thick mulch that you can put on?
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I don't know what people here do. I haven't picked brains here yet. I'm planning to - assuming I remember - at church on Sunday.
During monsoon, we can get rain for 12 hours straight, like a foot of it, I imagine. When it's a really good pour, anyone who's outside for about five seconds is completely soaked through. During non-monsoon, it might not rain for a month or longer at a time.
Most people water their plants every day when it's not raining. It seems to be pretty much of a ritual - first thing in the morning. A lot of people in my neighborhood have a lot of potted plants. Granted, the pots might be a foot in diamter, perhaps bigger for the really big plants.
Actually, as I think about it, the garden area at the new place is, I believe, raised anyway. Well, having seen it for only a few seconds, that's a best guess based on a somewhat hazily bad memory.
I'll see what I can find out. And yeah, I know I have really limited space. It might be bigger, I just don't remember and I didn't take measurements, anyway.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Where did I post that? Was it last night during my insomnia?
I've been reading about Square Foot Gardening, which advertizes itself to being the most efficient method of gardening, and I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. A guy on another forum recommended it (after I found the website on my own somehow???), and it seems logical enough to me that that's the method I'm going with.
Anyone here have any experience with it?
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Picking brains. As in asking questions. As in gathering information. Talking to people. It's a common enough phrase.
*squints at rivka* Or has all this talk about skinning a boy got you worried that I meant it literally?
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Yeah, sorry. Bad night. Got next to no sleep. Instead of feeding the cat, I brought the cat food into the bathroom. If I drank coffee, I'd be downing a gallon right now. I am not awake.
You just described my day today. And yesterday. And I think the day before, but I'm too tired to remember. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Yeah. I haven't slept well in weeks. I'm at the point of hallucinating again. I'm at the point of putting gel on my toothbrush and toothpaste in my hair. Don't let me near any sharp objects, that's fer sher.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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We grew chayote once. It was awesome. And they grew just fine in Southern CA, although they do better in Mexico. I love that stuff.
I got you a present today, quid. I was in the grocery store and saw seed packets, and noticed the radish seeds. I went, "Oooh! Oooh! Can we get some radish seeds for quidscribis?" Ketchup Prince Consort graciously assented, and we will send them in your package. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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My parents used to have a neighbor who grew chayote (as well as all sorts of other things) in his backyard. The vines climbed our wall, and we had lots of chayote every year for a long time.
Sadly, when he moved out, the new neighbors tore out the entire garden. Except some vine that keeps trying to invade my parents' garage (through the roof! ).
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You have to peel off a thin layer of skin, which is tough and has some (not many) prickles. Then you steam the inside. Texture is sort of like that of zucchini. It is meltingly tender, but very slightly chewy, and somewhat sweet. As this site mentions, they have a mildly citrus-like flavor.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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The chayote we grew had no prickles, and we steamed it with the skin on, cut into chunks. It's really good, though; mildly squashy, slightly citrusy, firmer than zucchini, kind of... creamy.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I can't believe I forgot avocadoes. I'm definitely growing them. I'll have to learn how, but I can live with that.
Yams versus sweet potatoes. I am now officially confused. I no longer know if what I ate in Canada was yams or sweet potatoes considering that everywhere I looked on the internet, it said that yams are virtually unknown in America (which Canada isn't, but I admit that sometimes, there are similarities between the two), and that yams in the US are usually sweet potatoes that were misnamed by people who don't know the difference.
I've been reading a lot about them, and I still don't know. I hate the sweet potatoes called sweet potatoes. They're ucky to me. But I love the things we always called yams. And the pictures I found were all too small for me to be able to tell the difference.
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In the US, there are no true yams. They grow in South America (and are the original source of artificial estrogens, but I digress) and some parts of Mexico, IIRC.
That means both what are sold as "yams" (as in, the things that are candied and sold in cans) in the States and those sold as "sweet potatoes" are the same species.
However. Just as potatoes come in various breeds, so do sweet potatoes/yams. Generally speaking (but not always), the term "sweet potatoes" is used for those tubers which have a somewhat thick light-to-medium brown skin and yellow flesh. "Yams" is more commonly used to refer to those varieties which have thin red skin, and orange flesh. (Except when people refer to both as sweet potatoes, which is actually more accurate.)
I would guess the same is true in Canada, but don't know.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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See, and that's what I've been reading. But then I check out the websites that talk about yams and what they're like, and what I've been eating can easily fit that description. And that's why I no longer know. And I want to grow whatever it is that I love.
What I love comes about six inches long and about four inches in diamter, a reddish brown rough skin, with a dark orange interior that, when cooked, is really sweet. If roasted after marinading in olive oil, it will caramalezie. It needs no sugar added to it to qualify as a sweet.
So is that a variety of sweet potato, or is that a yam?
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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*twinkle* That is the variety of sweet potato that Americans call yams.
True yams are BIG -- many pounds apiece. More starchy than sweet, and lacking the vitamin A than "yams" and sweet potatoes are rich in.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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You want Ipomoea batatas that produce sweet, orange-fleshed tubers.
Seed catalogs probably call them jewel yams. At hough my last link says that they're usually grown from cuttings . . .
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Okay, so that clears that up, then. I've been calling sweet potatoes yams for my whole life. I hang my head in shame.
I know the difference, but I call them yams -- and feel no shame. It's what the stores call them, and it's not like I'm going to end up with a true yam by mistake.
quote:Rivka, I love your sense of humour. I just had to tell you that. You are absolutely joyful!
Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it. I checked through all the links you provided (I was looking last night when I was really tired - haven't slept well for weeks, so that's my excuse for low Google-fu) and what you linked to cleared it all up for me. Yes, I want the American Yams with the orange interior! You've got it bang on, sistah!
The sweet potatoes that are grown here are the skinnier variety that I really detest. I've never seen the variety that I prefer, so I don't even know if I'll be able to find the seedstock/cutting/whatever I need to grow the thang from. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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If you get a hold of a sweet potato tuber that you like, you can use it to sprout slips for planting. (Never actually done that myself, but I know folks who have done it -- for myself it's just always been easier to buy the slips).
Sweet potatoes are really sprawly plants -- the vines will spread out at least 5' in every direction.
I grew ~1,000 lbs. of sweet potatoes a year when I was out in Missouri, so if you do decide to grow some, I'll be happy to offer advice Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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plaid, how do you sprout slips from a sweet potato? Is it like sprouting an avocado seed -- toothpicks in the sides and dangling an end in a jar of water?
And if I successfully sprouted one, do you know if US customs would let me ship 'em to Sri Lanka?
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I'd think that would almost certainly get flagged by Customs. Although they're probably more careful about things coming IN.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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It would likely be flagged by Sri Lanka Customs. Almost definitely. And with good reason. It may have bugs or germs or something that could destroy the local ecosystem or some such thing. Right?
quote: A new pest, after arrival and establishment, can rapidly develop into destructive proportions in the absence of natural enemies in the new environment. Plant pest epidemics could result in the loss of agricultural produce. This may adversely affects the food production or an existing export trade. Therefore, the main aim of plant quarantine is to prevent the entry of exotic pests into the country by enforcing laws without which it is hard to obtain compliance.
And I have no problem with that. I don't want a yam (or onions or potatoes) mailed to me (although I surely do appreciate the thought, rivka, my dear) because we don't know what kind of harm might be caused.
Seeds are a whole other ballgame. Those tend to be fine. Chemically treated somehow to prevent pests, I believe. So those, I have no problem receiving.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Yeah, sounds like Sri Lankan customs is about as paranoid as California customs -- and probably with good cause. You probably don't get *shudder* medflies, though.
I don't think seeds are treated. Rather, seeds (especially dry ones) are only barely alive -- not enough for any parasite to live on, I'd think.
So, no (inadvertent) ecoterrorism. Check. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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But darn, I already thought of about four ways to sneak a sweet potato through customs! Being law-abiding is no fun. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I'll see if there's a local source of what I want. I haven't even begun looking, so there's no point in giving up yet.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Oh my. I guess that means I should be warned. Um, perhaps we shouldn't put "seeds" on the outside of the package? My sister brought me seeds, but they were in her luggage, and the Sri Lankan government didn't even dip a hand into any of that.
I'm said for you, Dana. Were they seeds not available locally? Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Yeah, in some cases, carrying any plant over the border can be big time trouble.
It is because there are so many plants that can be deadly to certain ecosystems.
That's why, Quid, I would really check your Dept. of Agriculture(or its equivalent) and see which plants are forbidden to come onto the island.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Yep, I agree. I've tried locating on the internet, and haven't yet found. OTOH, my head has been so compromised lately with sleep deprivation & headache that I didn't even bother putting in "department agriculture" in the search parameters. Of course, now that I do, imagine that! It comes up! *sigh*
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote: Coconut, Tea, Rubber, Rice and Cacao- planting materials are some examples (refer to the Plant Protection Act).
I found the Plant Protection Act - no list of restricted materials. They really don't want us to know. On the other hand, finding the restricted export list was easy.
So*, I'm going with seeds are fine, yams are not.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I can get the same plant locally, but I haven't found seeds anywhere. And, of course, it's way more expensive to buy plants (If you want lots. I had 2 pakets of 100 seeds each.)
Apparently seeds have to come from a pre-approved company, labeled that they're safe for US import. Even though this plant is available here and is not invasive or likely to choke out native species, the customs people can't be expected to be familiar with every species of flower seed. Hence the preapproval requirement.
They thanked us several times for being honest and declaring the seeds. Otherwise they'd never have known we had them.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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In California customs they have trained dogs who sniff out stowaway produce. Seeds probably haven't enough scent, though.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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They have beagles at the airport here for fruit and vegies, and drugs.
There was an article in last weekend's paper about how a group of the drug dogs have to be retrained: apparently a sample packet of talcolm powder used in school visits by police marked "cocaine" had been accidentally taken for the real stuff and used in the training.
The dogs have been sniffing out talc on airport passengers for a month.
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Back in 2000 when I was in Europe I visited a farm that had white borage flowers. That was a neat thing -- white borage flowers hadn't been introduced over here in the US yet (they finally were a couple years later) and so I collected a few seeds and mailed them back to myself in the US.
(About half of the seeds got crushed in their envelope -- I should've included them in a package.)
I didn't have any problem with doing that -- I've got enough of a farming background to have felt like I knew what I was doing -- borage is an obscure enough flower not to be a potentially dangerous plant disease vector. (Of course, if this had been in a Michael Crichton novel, I'd have inadvertantly doomed North American agriculture through my actions...)
But, in the vase of Sri Lanka and live plants such as sweet potato slips, yeah, getting approved plants through customs is the smart thing to do.
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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The SMART thing to do would be to not travel down that route. The smart thing to do would be to either not try to bring them into the country, or to make sure they're all disinfected and perfectly safe, and then smuggle them in.
But trying to deal with government beaurocracy here? No, that would be the decidedly NOT smart thing to do. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Yep, believe me, I've been thinking about that.
I've already warned her that I'll probably have another list of seeds to bring with her. She's cool with that. Of course, it helps that I let her, her husband, and her two kids stay with us for a month or longer at a time. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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You didn't mention growing THOSE!
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If I drank coffee, I'd be downing a gallon right now. I am not awake.![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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I was in the grocery store and saw seed packets, and noticed the radish seeds. I went, "Oooh! Oooh! Can we get some radish seeds for quidscribis?" Ketchup Prince Consort graciously assented, and we will send them in your package. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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The chayote we grew had no prickles, and we steamed it with the skin on, cut into chunks. It's really good, though; mildly squashy, slightly citrusy, firmer than zucchini, kind of... creamy.
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Thank you.
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Of course, now that I do, imagine that! It comes up! *sigh*
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