Vegetables

Sweet Potato vs Yam

The terms sweet potato vs yam are used interchangeably on canned ingredients in cooking and at the grocery stores. But they are totally different roots. The sweet potato is in the morning glory family and the yam is in the lily family.

Georgia Jet Sweet Potato

Sweet potatoes can be grown in our gardens (along with some patience). There are two kinds: one being a yellow and light orange flesh with a dry texture. The other is the darker varieties of deeper orange and red color which are sweet and moist. Varieties you can plant are Georgia Jet, Centennial, and Puerto Rico.

Centennial Sweet Potato

The basic sweet potato comes from Central and South America imported to the southern United States. The African slaves grew them because of the high productivity from small gardens. Being cheap to grow, they incorporated sweet potatoes in most dishes including my favorite sweet potato pie. So, they substituted sweet potatoes for the African yams they knew about.

Yam

Yams grow in the tropics of Africa and later grown in the Caribbean and Asia. Yam is a vining plant producing white or light-yellow flesh. Some yams can weigh over 150 pounds.

The African culture began calling the sweet potato a yam because that is what reminded them of. That is where the confusion comes from.

Home Decor

Design Trends 2021

Design trends come and go over time. They often reflect the “times” of how we feel and think. Since this year has been unpredictable and rather depressing, we tend to seek comfort in our homes. So, design trends 2021 are going back to comfort and predictably as in our grandparents’ home.

So, think “old school” making space more inviting and comfortable. Overstuffed traditional sofas and chairs in your home. A chair you can curl up and read a book or watch television.

Light-colored wood is replacing darker colors. Light-colored wood like dining room chairs and table gives the space a feeling of a larger room. These lighter woods give way to more paint colors whether light or dark.

As for the wallpaper, it is grandma chic. Floral prints, heavy curtains, and lace throw. Make to more modern by adding contemporary prints.

The older color trend has been neutral colors with a bold accent wall. Now the trend is going to a bold, natural color for all the walls and ceiling. These go back to mid-century color styles.

Remember the two words describing 2021 trends: comfort and minimal.

Vegetables

Vegetables a Beginning Gardener should not Plant

I was asked what vegetables a beginning gardener should not plant. One of the harder plants to grow is cauliflower. It has a longer growing season, however, head in cooler weather. Most plant varieties like to be blanched, tying of leaves to keep the sunlight away from the flowerhead so it stays white and non-bitter. Cabbage worms will be a nuisance.

Celery requires a lot of moisture with a long growing season up to 120 from seed. So, you need to start plants indoors or buy transplants. As the plant matures it requires cooler temperatures to prevent bitterness.

Head lettuces make sure you have the correct varieties like iceberg that will not bolt (seed) during hotter weather. Start early from transplants.

Carrots and parsnips grow good in loamy or sandy soils. If you have clay soils, plant the shorter varieties. Otherwise, the roots will be stunted or misshapen. Also, keep watch out for the root weevil that burrows channels in the roots.

Sweet potatoes need to be planted from slips in warmer temperatures being a tropical plant. They also average 100 days to produce potatoes. Best grown in raised beds.

Artichoke is a flower bud from a large thistle. As an annual in our climate, it needs 120 days to produce. Aphids are a frequent problem.

Eggplant because they taste like an old sock.