SKIN – Deep purple. They’re now grown commercially in the perfectly sandy soil of central California. Exclusive to Frieda’s, these unique Stokes Purple ® sweet potatoes have a somewhat moist, moderately starchy texture and are mildly sweet with slight floral notes. USDA Zones 8 through 11 meet the requirements best. Find a store to see pricing. “We have some loyal customers already for our Beauregards and O'Henry's,” says Sizemore. I looked up who I bought it through and he’s sold out . It takes longer to bake than most other varieties and has less sugar, although many home chefs say they prefer this. It can be grown like other sweet potatoes and needs a long, hot growing season. Place wrapped potato or potatoes on a baking tray and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until soft. You can usually harvest Okinawan sweet potatoes after 120 to 180 days. Scrub skin of one large or two medium sweet potatoes and wrap in foil. The patented name “Stokes” came out in 2006 and has been sold commercially since. Sweet potatoes became the crop of choice because it was discovered that the farmers could use the same equipment and farming techniques as tobacco. Okinawan sweet potato history is a funny one. Can I expect a good harvest in zone 5? Named after their birthplace, Stokes County, North Carolina, Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes are now grown in the sandy soil of central California. Stokes "purple/purple" sweet potatoes only grow on a bit more than 500 acres of California land at the moment. Use toothpicks to hold the potato in place (Image 1). Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes, botanically classified as Ipomoea batatas ‘Stokes Purple®,’ are members of the Convolvulaceae or morning glory family. After retiring from a state job, Mike Sizemore of Walnut Cove decided to farm some land he owned. The Stokes purple sweet potato as the name suggests has purple skin and a dark purple flesh color. Use 2 fingers to drag & zoom. Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes are most commonly used in culinary applications for their unusual hue and as a natural food dye. Of those, if you are growing outside count on about 80 days or less where the untouched soil is warm enough for roots. STOKES PURPLE SWEET POTATOES This is a specific variety that was originally cultivated in North Carolina by a farmer who was gifted some purple potatoes and apparently liked them so much that he decided to grow his own. Suncore Foods – Organic Purple Sweet Potato Supercolor Powder, 5oz – Natural Purple Sweet Potato Food Coloring Powder, Plant Based, Vegan, Gluten Free, … The skin is semi-smooth and brown with many medium-set eyes scattered across the surface. Hey, Liz! Products > Produce > Fresh Vegetables > Organic Stokes Purple Sweet Potatoes, 1 lb. Not sure what I’m doing but going to give it a shot! Happy holidays from all of us at Gardening Know How. Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes are best suited for cooked applications such as baking, steaming, or roasting. To make the cup of mashed Stokes Purple sweet potato, preheat oven to 350. I just ordered from eBay Okinawan sweet potatoes are also sometimes called Okinawan yams. As it grows, add more soil to the hill – this will give the plant extra room to grow underground and protect it from weevils. ... ** Purple Sweet Potatoes, a sodium free food. My current stems sprouted from leaving my potatoes out on the counter for a while. Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes are medium to large in size and are long, cylindrical, and oblong with a somewhat uniform shape. Rinse & wrap Stokes Purple® sweet potato in aluminum foil and place in... Microwave: Rinse and wrap Stokes Purple® sweet potato in wet paper towel. The produce company is Frieda’s and they are … Instructions. Today, they are widely grown in Hawaii and exported to the United States mainland where they are popular with Asian and Latin… Keep reading to broaden your sweet potato horizons. Not sure how long it takes for roots to show! do you know where I can purchase them. That's its official name, the Stokes Purple, and it has an interesting story. Rumor has it that he received potatoes of an unknown origin from a lady at the county fair. Whether you decide to plant in beds or in grow bags, choose a spot that provides full-sunlight for most of the day. Each sweet potato can produce up to 50 slip sprouts. I look for free shipping lol! Another farmer who wanted to retire approached him about … Your email address will not be published. Even though it gets its name from a prefecture in Japan where it’s extremely popular, it’s actually native to the Americas. Required fields are marked *. Purple sweet potatoes contain a little vitamin A, but are loaded with antioxidants. In colder climates, gardeners must use season-extending techniques. When using baking soda, caution should be taken because it can turn Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes dishes from bold purple to green. Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes were first developed in Stokes Country, North Carolina, which was traditionally a tobacco growing region. It was picked up by European explorers sometime between 1492 and 1605 and carried to Asia. It especially took hold in Japan, and from there it travelled to Hawaii. With our brand new eBook, featuring our favorite DIY projects for the whole family, we really wanted to create a way to not only show our appreciation for the growing Gardening Know How community, but also unite our community to help every one of our neighbors in need during these unprecedented times. I’m nervous/anxious hoping they will root! In an article for the LA Times, it is believed that Stokes Purple is possibly a variety that was introduced by Japanese sweet potato breeders who had a number of purple varieties already in the marketplace. It can be grown like other sweet potatoes and needs a long, hot growing season. They are a good source of … Ingredients. Several years ago, growers in Stokes County, N.C., selected a particularly beautiful and tasty cultivar, naming it the Stokes Sweet Potato and marketing nationwide with Frieda's Specialty Produce. With the influx of health information and a decline in tobacco cultivation, farmers were searching for an alternative item to produce. The sweet potato is suitable for growing in zones 3-11 as an annual, and zones 8-11 as a perennial. Hope your out there!. Growing an Okinawan sweet potato vine is rewarding as long as you have the right climate. Each package contains carefully bundled slips and a copy of our Sweet Potato Growing Guide.. You could eat them as is, or … Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. These beautiful tubers are native to the Andes mountains..TAP TO SEE.. Look for the Okinawan sweet potato in your grocery store in the fall and winter seasons. Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes are available in the late fall through early spring. Stokes Purple ® Sweet Potato Oven (preferred method): Preheat oven to 350°F. This is due to a long history of confusion and conflicting opinions about what constitutes a yam or a sweet potato. Plants tend to come as live cuttings that … Can we grow sweet potatoes here? Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes are extremely high in antioxidants, similar to other purple superfoods like acai, blueberries, and purple corn. Then hopefully have enough warm weather to have harvest by November. In all possibility, Stokes Purple could be ‘Okinawan’, but without genetic testing it is truly impossible to know. Stokes Purple Sweet Potatoes. I bought these cuttings from Etsy. Growing sweet potatoes in water is easier than you think. Soil Requirements. Hopefully, it’ll help make your holiday season as special as possible. Important Shipping Information: We ship sweet potato slips from Mid-May to early June, beginning with southernmost areas (but may be pre-ordered starting in December). I’m in zone 5 also. Leave in a sunny spot and watch it grow roots and leaves. After Columbus' discoveries, they were brought to Asia, and varieties with white skin and speckled pale purple flesh were developed on the Japanese island of Okinawa. Today Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes can be found growing in the valley east of San Francisco, California and in North Carolina and are available at farmers markets and specialty grocers across the United States. The flesh is vibrant purple with white and violet striations and is firm with a low moisture content that allows for a drier consistency than most sweet potato varieties. To start your slips, you need several healthy, clean sweet potatoes. Climate may be the biggest factor when it comes to how much sweet potatoes will yield. Place them into your steamer basket (see notes if you don’t have one) and steam them until fork tender. The sweet potato propagation process takes a couple of weeks but your yam plant will make a spectacular centrepiece in your home. Even short-season sweet potatoes need a frost-free growing season of well over 100 days. 1 cup mashed Stokes purple sweet potato* 1/2 tsp nutmeg Pinch cream of tartar; Instructions. The sweet potatoes you grow for tubers in the north will not be the same ones you grow in the southern climates. “It’s a gorgeous sweet potato,” says Landis. The bag you see pictured was purchased at Trader Joe’s in Manhattan Beach, CA (Los Angeles). While there’s nothing wrong with those, they’re far from the only sweet potatoes out there. TASTE – Not very sweet, and pretty dry inside. Heat does start to degrade anthocyanins (it's known to when heating blueberries, for example heating to 70C/158F over 20 minutes degrades 21% of the anthocyanin content), so picking purple sweet potato over other varieties doesn't seem like it should be prioritised when there are other options. I heard from the person I bought these cuttings from is he can’t ever get slips from the actual OPSP. FLESH – Deep purple. My question is in researching I can’t find anyone who can tell me if you can start growing slips from the actual OPSP. The potato in question has a pretty bland light brown skin, but the meat inside is a beautiful vivid purple sometimes streaked with white. Place each section in a jar or glass of water with half of the potato below the water and half above. STOKES PURPLE. “And the antioxidants don’t cook out. Sweet potatoes that have brown, red-orange, or white skin with orange or white flesh are native to Colombia and southern Central America. CM Beef Chuck Flat (8oz) 2pk Certified Sterling, CM Beef Filet Steak (8oz) 2pk Certified Sterling No Hook, CM Beef Flat Iron Steak (8oz) 2pk Certified Sterling, CM Beef Skirt Steak (8oz) 2pk Certified Sterling, CM Chicken Doubles BnlsSknls Random 3 CRYO, Dairy Yogurt Whole Milk Vanilla Organic Straus, Groc Container Lids Deli Clear (Polypropylene), Pepper Chile Scotch Bonnet Orange Freeport, Tom Heirloom Cherry Mixed - JK Thille Ranches. But that's more purple tubers than you think—15 million pounds and growing… These tubers were propagated, then patented, and grown commercially in 2006 under the name Stokes Purple®. It’s very rich in vitamins and has been called a superfood. How many slips can I expect from each tuber? I never heard of Okinawan Purple Sweet Potatoes so thanks for this information. For these reasons, the purple sweet potato growing season only runs during the summer months in most of the country. what they call cuttings from a OPSP (Okinawan purple sweet potato). It maintains its purple color very well through the cooking process. Thank you for sharing this post! Mike Sizemore, a sweet potato farmer in North Carolina cultivated the sweet potatoes and later obtained a patent for them in 2006. Serve these purple vegetables steamed and mashed, roasted, or shredded for potato pancakes. They are an American made potato, originated in Stoke County, NC, but are now grown mainly in central California. When you think sweet potatoes, chances are you think of those orange fleshed things at Thanksgiving, maybe with marshmallows on top. I have also in the past got sprouts by putting the sweet potato in a jar with water with the rooting end down and the other end in the air. Stokes Purple Sweet Potato – this variety has purple skin and a deep purple flesh. The flesh is drier than most varieties, so adding one or two tablespoons of liquid to the recipe will achieve a more desirable consistency. Copyright © 1996-2020, Specialty Produce, All Rights Reserved | 1929 Hancock St., Suite 150, San Diego, CA 92110 | 800.221.9730 |, Mashed Purple Yams with Sesame Brown Butter. The key to getting maximum flavor and color from a Stokes Purple® is to bake it longer than you would a regular sweet potato and at moderate heat, about 90 to 120 minutes at 350 degrees, at which point it becomes pleasingly moist. These were 10 stems that were not rooting yet. Plants tend to come as live cuttings that are transplanted directly into the ground. Your email address will not be published. I’m a first time attempting to grow Okinawan purple sweet potato! YouTubed and can’t find anything on specific OPSP! Molokai Purple Sweet Potato – these are purple on the outside and purple on the inside and were developed on the island of Hawaii. Sweet potatoes need a loamy soil with a pH between 5.0-6.5. That's how I have grown my okinawan sweet potatoes. I’m sharing some dos and don’ts of growing sweet potatoes from my personal experience so you can grow yours successfully. As a thank you for joining our campaign, we’ll gift you our brand new eBook,. If you’re planting your crop in a warm climate, then start your slips … To this day it’s an important staple in both places. Peel your sweet potatoes, then cube them. I have to put them in a jar of water placed on a sunny windowsill! I’ve never tried them but it sounds like they are very similar in shape and taste to the Stokes potato. Stokes Purple Sweet Potato – this variety has purple skin and a deep purple … These tubers were propagated, then patented, and grown commercially in 2006 under the name Stokes Purple®. Looking for someone whose actually experienced in growing OPSP! Use 2 fingers to drag & zoom. The greater density of the Stokes Purple® sweet potato requires a longer cooking time than other varieties of sweet potato, but when cooked properly the potato will be tender and moist. Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are the most popular. Organic Stokes Purple Sweet Potatoes, 1 lb. Today North Carolina is one of the top states to produce sweet potatoes in the United States. Suncore Foods – Organic Purple Sweet Potato Supercolor Powder, 5oz – Natural Purple Sweet Potato Food Coloring Powder, Plant Based, Vegan, Gluten Free, … Sign up for our newsletter. So, this holiday season, we created a giving campaign for two of our favorite non-profits who are working to help put food on the tables of hungry families across the U.S. and around the world. After growing 3 different purple sweet potato varieties this year, plus an experimental stint with a Stokes Purple sweet potato, I am happy to give a description of each of the purple sweet potato varieties I have grown, along with their growing characteristics. Stokes “purple/purple” sweet potatoes only grow on a bit more than 500 acres of California land at the moment. It’s color comes from anthocyanins also found in fruits like blueberries making it very high in nutrition content. The vibrant color also makes a striking pie, smoothies, or gnocchi. “If you buy a sweet potato anywhere west of the Rocky Mountains, you’re buying a sweet potato most likely grown in or around Merced County,” Stoddard says. Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes are native to Stokes County, North Carolina and were discovered by Mike Sizemore in 2003. Once your sweet potatoes have sprouted, you have to separate them … The flavor is sweet and pleasant, and the texture is creamy. Thomas Produce, told Landis they’d planted a trial of a North Carolina sweet potato that had rich, nearly black-purple skin and flesh that turned brilliant violet in the oven. So if successful I have to keep and grow stems from the vine? Then I just cut off the stems when they are 4 or more inches long and either sprout it in water or directly put it in the ground. Plant your cutting in a hill of rich soil. You may also like. I want to buy 4 or 5 small plants to grow in my garden. Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes are known for their deep purple color, which intensifies when cooked and the vibrant coloring comes from the phytochemical anthocyanin, which is an antioxidant that has immune boosting properties. I got curious so I will definitely try planting this very soon! Rumor has it that he received potatoes of an unknown origin from a lady at the county fair. Especially in Zone 3-2b, our growing season is extremely short, with 90-100 frost-free days. To create sprouts, carefully wash your potatoes and cut them either in half or in large sections. Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes are native to Stokes County, North Carolina and were discovered by Mike Sizemore in 2003. When cooked, Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes offer a dense texture with a well-balanced sweetness as they are less sweet than their orange counterparts. Growing Okinawan Purple Sweet Potatoes Growing an Okinawan sweet potato vine is rewarding as long as you have the right climate. Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes will keep for a couple of weeks when stored in a cool and dark place. At the same time the company has been developing Stokes Purple, it has been growing marketable quantities of the Beauregard variety of orange sweet potatoes and the O'Henry variety of white sweet potatoes. We’re All In This Together – Passing On Gratitude In The Garden, Recipes From The Garden: Pressure Cooking Root Vegetables, Gratitude For The Garden – Being Grateful For Each Growing Season. They are dense, a little dry, very very healthy, and a little less sweet than the orange potato we know. Available year-round, these sweet potatoes have purple-tinted skin with a deep purple flesh that intensifies when cooked. In 2010, a sweet potato supplier of Frieda’s, A.V. We don’t need to get into that here – all you need to know is that both names deal with the same potato. Ipomoea batatas Slips are vine cuttings from sprouted sweet potatoes for transplanting to your garden in the spring. Planting Your Sweet Potato Crop. NUTRITION – Data from Whole Foods. Yes you can grow them from the actual potato. Simply buy a small organic sweet potato from your local grocer and place the tip in water.