By Kathleen Phillips

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Families can be snippy about their personal recipe for sweet potatoes, but the orange, fleshy vegetable usually shows up in some form at every Thanksgiving meal.

At a time of year when people tend to toss aside any notion of dieting, the sweet potato - depending on what's added to it for the feast - is among the healthiest holiday dishes, being almost fat free, low calorie, high fiber and packed with vitamin A, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Sweet potatoes have more than the required daily dose of vitamin A, which form and maintain healthy skin, teeth, skeletal and soft tissue, mucousmembranes and eyes, according to the National Institute of Health. They are rich in a carotenoid called beta-carotene, which gives them the dark-colored pigments and protects human cells from damage caused by "free radicals" that cause certain chronic diseases and cancer, and speed up the aging process.

If a Texas-grown sweet potato finds its way to your table, all the better, though the sweet potato industry has been peeling back in recent years in the Lone Star State, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures.

Texas growers planted 1,000 acres of sweet potatoes in 2014, the USDA reports. While Texas is ninth among states with the most harvested acres, production has steadily declined from 16,000 acres in 1960 to 1,000 for the past 5 years.

North Carolina is far and away the top producer, with 65,000 acres harvested this year. Mississippi and California run close at second and third place with 24,000 and 19,000 harvested acres, respectively.

Brian Cummins, who retired in 2010 after 19 years as the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension agent in Van Zandt County, said a combination of situations caused the decline of sweet potato production in Texas.

Aging farmers and lack of labor weighed in as causes, but chief among the impacts was the drought of 2011-12, because the Texas production was historically grown without irrigation in the eastern part of the state where rainfall had been plentiful.

"Plus, the price of sweet potatoes hasn't increased," Cummins said. "They're still bringing what they did 20 years ago."

Cummings said sweet potatoes are labor intensive from planting - where the slips are hand cut and transplanted - to harvest where up to eight people ride a machine to field grade potatoes that are dug two rows at a time.

And perhaps the biggest challenge for the Texas sweet potato came from Mississippi as farmers there converted irrigated cotton and soybean fields to sweet potatoes, he noted.

"We could make 300-400 bushels per acre here on dryland farms, but in Mississippi with irrigation, they yield 600-800 bushels," Cummins said.

Nevertheless, the 1,000 Texas acres churned up at least 15 million pounds of the orange-colored tubers this year, mostly headed for fresh, local markets.

Perhaps the highest concentration of sweet potatoes grown in Texasis in Van Zandt County, according to Dr. Joe Masabni, AgriLife Extension vegetable specialist in College Station.

"We had about 1,500 acres when I moved here in 1996," said Tommy Phillips, AgriLife Extension agent for Van Zandt County. "Sadly, last year it was less than 400 acres."

Phillips has a how-to publication ready for anyone interested in raising the crop. It starts with the transplant of seed potatoes, from five to 30 bushels per acre, depending on the variety, in early May or June. Three to four months later, depending on the variety and use of fertilization, irrigation and pest control, a Texas farmer can harvest about 15,000 pounds of sweet potatoes per acre, according to the USDA.

"Sweet potatoes sold soon after harvest are 'green' potatoes and are not sweet if baked," Phillips explained. "Those held in storage for seven or eight weeks are sold as 'cured' or 'kiln dried' and that indicates they will be sweet and moist when baked."

He said harvested sweet potatoes are moved quickly out of the field to prevent sun scald and are placed in a curing room at 85-90 degrees with 85-95 percent humidity for up to a week.

"Curing heals cuts and bruises on the roots, which makes them look better and be less susceptible to disease in storage," Phillips added. "Once cured, they can be stored for several months at 55-60 degrees."

If a commercial operation is not in the plans, Masabni offers a publication, Easy Gardening: Sweet Potato, to help people who want to grow their own sweet potatoes for next Thanksgiving. It can be downloaded for free at http://www.agrilifebookstore.org/Texas-Sweet-Potato-p/eht-026.htm.

"Hot days and warm nights are ideal for sweet potato production," Masabni said. "Sweet potatoes are extremely heat tolerant but can also tolerate light frosts as long as the soil temperature remains above 55 degrees."

Masabni's publication describes how to grow "slips" from healthy sweet potatoes and then transplant outside. It also details pest control, fertilization, watering needs and harvesting methods.

"For home growers, the best time to harvest is immediately before or after the first fall frost, when the leaves turn yellow," he said.  

Bonnie Plants 

Kids across America are growing, and some are earning, a lot of "green" participating in the National Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program. This year, more than 1.5 million third graders in 48 states had hands-on gardening experience growing colossal cabbages with high hopes to win "best in state" and receive a $1,000 scholarship towards education from Bonnie Plants.

Each year Bonnie Plants, the largest producer of vegetable and herb plants in North America, with 72 stations across the country, trucks free OS Cross, or "oversized," cabbage plants to third-grade classrooms whose teachers have signed up for the program online at www.bonnieplants.com. If nurtured and cared for, kids can cultivate, nurture and grow giant cabbages, some bigger than a basketball, tipping the scales, often at more than 40 pounds!

Launched nationally in 2002, the program awards a $1,000 scholarship to one student in each participating state. At the end of the season, teachers from each class select the student who has grown the "best" cabbage, based on size and appearance. A digital image of the cabbage and student is submitted online at www.bonnieplants.com. That student's name is then entered in a statewide drawing. State winners are randomly selected by the Commission of Agriculture, in each of 48 participating states.

"The Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program is a wonderful way to engage children's interest in agriculture, while teaching them not only the basics of gardening, but the importance of our food systems and growing our own," said Stan Cope, President of Bonnie Plants. This unique, innovative program exposes children to agriculture and demonstrates, through hands-on experience, where food comes from. The program also affords our youth with some valuable life lessons in nurture, nature, responsibility, self-confidence and accomplishment".

"Over the course of the past 12 years, the Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program has proved to be an exciting, worthwhile experience that children, teachers, parents and grandparents across the country have embraced. We're certainly very proud of Ryan, our Texas State Winner! We are grateful to have the opportunity to provide our youth with this enjoyable and enriching opportunity and engage their interest in the art and joy of gardening," said Cope.

Getting It Growing

Growing a colossal cabbage may seem like a giant undertaking for young kids, but it's easier than you think. All you need to do is:

Let the Sunshine In. Cabbages need at least six hours of full sunlight, more if possible.

Survey Your Space. Bonnie O.S. cabbages need at least three feet on each side to spread out. If you don't have that much space, use a large container.

Supplement Soil. Work some compost into the soil because cabbages love nutrient-rich soil.

Feed Your Food Plant. Start your cabbage off right with an all-purpose vegetable fertilizer, then fertilize it every 10 days to keep it growing strong.

Water Wisely. Your cabbage needs at least one inch of rainfall each week. If it doesn't rain, use a watering can or garden hose to gently water your plant at soil level.

Tend To Trouble. Keep weeds out of the cabbage patch because they compete for the food and water your cabbage needs. Be on the lookout for brown or white moths. These come from worms that love to munch on cabbage. If you see any, get rid of them right away. Cold weather can damage your cabbage. If the weather gets below 32� F, cover your cabbage with a bucket or cloth covering.

Hefty Harvest. In just 10 to 12 weeks, you should have a huge head of cabbage you can be proud of.

Green thumbs and perseverance can pay off, providing participating children with a great sense of pride and accomplishment, a humongous cabbage, and, for the lucky state winner, the beginning of an educational fund for college.

A great way to get kids started in the garden is the National Bonnie Plants Third Grade Cabbage Program, it's free to any third grade classroom in the country, and teachers can register NOW at http://bonniecabbageprogram.com/ for the 2015 program. Bonnie Plants will truck 2" cabbage plants to every registered third grade classroom in the country, and delivery will be scheduled based on geographic region.

To see the 2014 winners as they come in, and learn more about the 2015 contest, visit www.bonnieplants.com.

Why a cabbage? Cabbages were the first plant sold by Bonnie Plants in 1918. The cabbages used for the 3rd grade program are OS Cross (over-sized), which is known for producing giant, oversized heads, making the process even more exciting for kids.

La Marque: The Texas Upper Gulf Coast Citrus Show will be held 6:30-8 p.m., Thursday, December 4. Awarding of the Rosettes, 7:00 p.m.: Citrus grown by local gardeners will be on display for the general public. Rosettes and ribbons will be awarded to the best quality entries. Home citrus growers are encouraged to enter any type of citrus fruit for judging. Details, including dates and times for entry submission will be available at http://aggiehorticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/. Educational Program (Citrus Greening, Production and Pest Problems), 7:15-8 p.m. As a continuation of the Citrus show, a presentation by Monte L. Nesbitt, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Program Specialist, will give an update on the Citrus Greening issues in Galveston County and surrounding counties. He will also cover the topics of citrus variety selection and establishment, production, and pest problems. (Pre-registration for this program is not necessary.) Galveston County AgriLife Extension Office in Carbide Park, 4102 Main Street (FM 519), La Marque. For additional information: call 281-534-3413, ext. 12 or email [email protected].

Round Rock: The Round Rock Public Library, 216 E. Main St., Round Rock, presents "Seed Starting for Those with a Brown Thumb," from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 4. Many people are intimidated by the thought of having to start their own seeds for the garden or the landscape. Learn why starting your own seeds is easier, less costly and provides you with a wider choice of plants. The program will be conducted by Jeff Ferris, a gardener in Austin for more than 25 years, staff horticulturist and diagnostician at The Natural Gardener, certified Permaculturist, and instructor in the ACC Landscape and Horticulture program since 2008. Through Neighborhood Harvest Project, he co-founded the first public community garden in Round Rock - Unity Park Community Garden. Jeff is a frequent guest and occasional host of "John Dromgoole's Gardening Naturally" program on KLBJ radio, the longest running organic gardening show in the country. For more information, please contact Julie Chapa, 512-218-7014.

La Marque: "Growing Tomatoes from Seed" will be presented Saturday, December 6, 9-11:30 a.m. at the Galveston County AgriLife Extension Office in Carbide Park, 4102 Main Street (FM 519), La Marque.Do you want to learn how to grow great tomatoes? The first in a series of programs on growing tomatoes by Galveston County Master Gardener Ira Gervais on learning all about how to grow great tomatoes here in Galveston County. This first part will cover learning how to grow tomatoes from seed and where to obtain seeds and supplies needed to start and grow your seedlings. Discussion topics include how to pick the best varieties for Galveston County, seed starting methods and growing techniques and preparing your starter plants for garden planting. For additional information: call 281-534-3413, ext. 12 or email [email protected].

La Marque: "Herbs in the Garden" will be presented Saturday, December 6, 1-3 p.m. at the Galveston County AgriLife Extension Office in Carbide Park, 4102 Main Street (FM 519), La Marque. Master Gardener Cindy Croft will present a program on herbs that work well for the Gulf Coast Garden. The program will include growing tips, lore, propagation and the various uses of the herbs. The audience is encouraged to bring their experiences to share and participate in the discussion. For additional information: call 281-534-3413, ext. 12 or email [email protected].

Nacogdoches: The SFA Gardens will host a garden seminar, "Deck the Halls - Using Evergreens to Decorate for the Holidays," on December 6 from 9 a.m.-noon in the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the SFA Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet Street, Nacogdoches.Evergreen branches and garlands once served as symbols of enduring life and a fruitful year to come. Join Dawn Stover, Research Associate at the SFA Mast Arboretum, to learn how to create elegant wreaths and garlands using materials from the garden. Participants will learn principles of wreath, garland, and centerpiece construction and make a wreath to enjoy at home for the holidays. In addition to the traditional wreaths and garlands, Dawn will be introducing new crafts using natural items from the garden and forest. All materials will be provided. Class size is limited, so please register in advance for this wonderful holiday seminar. To register or for more information, call 936-468-1832 or email [email protected]. Cost is $25 for SFA Garden members and $30 for non-members.

Bryan: Future use of water and its impact on agriculture will be the focus of the 2014 Texas Plant Protection Association conference scheduled Dec. 10-11 at the Brazos Center, 3232 Briarcrest Drive, Bryan. Dr. Travis Miller, interim director for state operations with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, will be one of the featured speakers during the opening general session Dec. 10. Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas state climatologist, and Carlos Rubinstein, chairman of the Texas Water Development Board, will also be general session featured speakers. Nielsen-Gammon will discuss climate variability and Rubinstein will give a Texas water outlook. Other presentations during the general session will focus on water conservation, comparative irrigation methods, agricultural innovations from industry in dealing with climate change, and a Texas farmer's perspective on dealing with water management. Afternoon sessions on Dec. 10 will include a look at the Texas drought's impact on wildlife, unmanned aerial vehicles in agriculture, and decision and precision applications of nitrogen. The second day of the conference will feature sessions on grain, cotton, horticulture/turf, and pasture and rangeland. A student poster contest will be held as well as an awards luncheon. For registration information, visit http://bit.ly/ZwpjOD.

La Marque: "What is a Galveston County Master Gardener? ... It takes a village!" will be presented Thursday, December 10, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. at the Galveston County AgriLife Extension Office in Carbide Park, 4102 Main Street (FM 519), La Marque. Interested in learning more about the Galveston County Master Gardener Program? ... Interested in becoming a Master Gardener? Are you interested in the various programs offered by the Galveston County Master Gardeners? Then the following program is for you. Galveston County Master Gardener Coordinator and County Agent, Dr. William Johnson, along with a panel of Galveston County Master Gardeners will give a forum-style presentation discussing the many facets of this MG volunteer program. For additional information: call 281-534-3413, ext. 12 or email [email protected].

La Marque: Galveston County AgriLife Extension Office Open House will be held Thursday, December 11, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Galveston County AgriLife Extension Office in Carbide Park, 4102 Main Street (FM 519), La Marque. Meet all the County Extension Agents and administrative staff in Galveston County; learn about the many programs offered through this office. Displays of the volunteer projects and program information will be available. Master Gardener Volunteers will be on hand to answer questions and will provide tours of the Horticulture Demonstration Garden. For additional information: call 281-534-3413, ext. 12 or email [email protected].

Houston: Monday, December 15, is Open Garden Day, with Harris County Master Gardeners at Precinct 2. 8:30-11 am, Genoa Friendship Garden,1202 Genoa Red Bluff Rd., Houston.  Master Gardeners will be available to answer gardening questions. Free. Children welcome. Details: https://hcmga.tamu.edu. 

Humble: Succulentarriums will be presented Wednesday, December 10, noon-2 p.m.

at the Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Gardens, 22306 Aldine Westfield Road, Humble.

Learn how to combine remarkable succulents, moss, and cacti with recycled glassware to create fun and fanciful display items for your home or office. These unique items also make great holiday gifts! For additional information or to make reservations, call Mercer Botanic Gardens at 281-443-8731.

Pearland: Ed Barrios will present "Gardening & Insects" at 7 p.m., Thursday, December 11 at Busy Bee Caf�, 4009 W. Broadway, Pearland. Free. Brazoria County Master Gardeners. For more details, call John at 713-818-8806.

• Many, many practical and timely garden tips that are for Texas - not Maine or California!
• Organic, earth friendly tips to make your garden grow and prosper
• Lots of space to record your own activities for future reference
• Planting dates and tips for vegetables, flowers, herbs, fruit and lawns

The Vegetable Book

By Dr. Sam Cotner

Finally, back by popular demand and in its fourth printing, the most informative and comprehensive "how-to" book on vegetable gardening in Texas (also, suitable for most other areas of the South) written by the late, great Dr. Sam Cotner, former head of horticulture at Texas A&M University and lifelong gardener. This interesting read has over 370 pages of detailed information on every crop, from Asparagus to Watermelon including problem/solving sections for each vegetable. If you want to maximize your enjoyment and success growing vegetables in Texas, this book is a "must have," whether you are a beginner or a seasoned gardener. Price $34.02

By William D. Adams

The best thing for tomato enthusiasts since the tomato itself! Adams draws on more than thirty years of experience to provide a complete, step-by-step guide to success in the tomato patch. Learn everything from soil preparation, planting, feeding, caging and watering. Liberally sprinkled with the author's easy humor and illustrated with his own excellent photographs, this must-have book has everything you'll need to assure a bumper crop! 189 pages. Lots of color photographs! Price: $31.94

($15.82 if ordered separately)

Remit payment to:

TG Books * PO Box 9005 * Waco, TX 76714

or call Toll-Free 1-800-727-9020

American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover Accepted