This crop thrives in nutrient poor well draining soil, which we have plenty of here in South Florida. A great way to encourage the plant to produce more tubers for you is to regularly prune the vines and bonus: the leaves are edible! The greens are only edible when cooked (not raw) and contain Omega 3 fatty acids, protein, fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, Vitamins A, C, K, and important B vitamins like B1, B2, B3, and B9. The sweet potato itself is a highly nutritious, calorie- filled root crop that packs less of a glycemic hit than grains, cassava or potatoes, and stores excellently.

Commercial growers cure their sweet potatoes in special rooms at 85 degrees Farenheit and 80% to 90% relative humidity for 5 to 10 days. Curing causes the conversion of starch to sugar and helps to heal cuts that could lead to rots. The roots are then stored for 6-8 weeks at 55 to 60 degrees  to further increase the sugar content. Duplicating this process would be very difficult for home gardeners, but you can at least partially cure the roots by leaving them in a garage or sunroom for a week or so (keeping them outdoors would be too humid in the fall). Spreading the roots out on a screen in a single layer is best. 

Sweet potato weevils are the main issue with growing this crop in south florida, as they eat small holes in your potatoes without you knowing. Whitefly on the underside of leaves are also an issue so make sure to check your plant throughout its growing season. 

Sweet potato is a vining plant that will sprawl throughout your garden creating a beautiful dense ground cover, which is one reason why we love growing it in the summer instead of the fall, since it can be quite competitive in a small space where you are trying to grow other annuals. If you don’t have plans for your veggie bed in the summer consider planting a few sweet potatoes and using them as a cover crop, to protect your soil from erosion and weeds. Once you buy one sweet potato plant from us you can use it to make yourself a whole farms worth of new plants if you want to, as the growing tips of the vines can be cut to 6 inch lengths, popped into a jar of water and in 6 days you'll have a fully rooted new plant.

Suyo Long is an Asian burpless cucumber that can grow to 15” long with a sweet flavor and crisp texture. Use for fresh eating, pickling or cooking. The fruits are spiny when young, and become smoother at peak maturity. Fruits tend to curl on one end; so trellis vines for straight fruit. Widely adapted and heat tolerant. If powdery mildew is caught early it can be battled with a diluted milk spray, which changes the pH of the leafs surface making it inhospitable to the powdery mildew.

Loofah
Luffa Aegyptiaca 

days to maturity:
plant spacing: 1 plant staked on a fence or large trellis
sunlight requirements: 8-14 hours
look out for: very aggressive vine - make sure to have plenty of space for it to grow
harvest notes: 150-200 days till harvestable
perennial

“Wait, you mean loofahs aren't creatures from the sea?!” Nope! They are dried out gourds from the loofah vine. Luffas belong to the Cucurbitaceae or gourd family, along with their somewhat distant cousins squashes, watermelons, cucumbers, melons, and the hard-shelled gourds. As the loofah gourds mature, their endocarp transforms into a fibrous network that’s mostly made of cellulose. This network forms the soft and absorbent exfoliator we’re all familiar with. We like to let the loofahs mature and then turn completely brown while still on the vine, then we harvest them, shake the seeds out (save them for giving to friends and replanting), peel the outer layer off and there you have it… a loofah sponge! 

While North American Gardners tend to grow this plant for its showy and useful gourds, in many other parts of the world the flower buds, flowers, and very young fruit (which taste pretty much like summer squash) are eaten. To eat the young fruit harvest it when its the size of a grocery store zucchini and cook it just the same.

Loofah vines are fast growing and get huge, so make sure you have a big piece of fence or arbor to plant on. They are susceptible to all the things that like this family of plants, like vine boring worms and powdery mildew, so you’ll want to plant them in full sun and keep an eye on the growing tips for worm damage.  This plant is a real unique treat in the garden if you have the space, and kids love to grow it because you can see the fruits get bigger every day until you harvest.

Though they’re most commonly used in the shower, luffa sponges are great for scrubbing pots and plates in the kitchen, and they make great gifts for friends. Use a serrated knife to cut slices off of your loofah and use the slice like a sponge. You can also submerge your slice in homemade soap and make super cute biodegradable gifts for friends.

While loofahs origin is unknown (some say African some say Asia) loofah plants are very common throughout Africa, and our herbalist The Garden Jules found multiple medicinal uses for it from different regions. In South Africa and Rwanda the leaf is decocted or simmered for 20-40 minutes in water, to treat stomach pain. The leaves have also been used as a poultice topically on the skin to reduce inflammation and stimulate healing on wounds, cuts or abrasions. In Nigeria, the young fruit pulp is ground into a poultice and applied topically to skin as an emollient to rehydrate and replenish dry, cracked skin and skin lesions. In Guinea the fruit pulp poultice is applied to tumors topically to reduce inflammation. In Uganda, the decoction of the leaves is used to induce labour and assist with postpartum issues which is backed by the discovery of oxytocin levels in this plant. For this reason, use caution, if pregnant, and do not consume this plant.

Seminole Pumpkin Squash
Curcurbis Moschata

Days to Maturity: 95 days
Plant Spacing: 1 per square foot, vining
Sunlight Requirements: 6 - 14 hours
Look Out For: worms in growing tips
Harvest Notes: harvest pumpkins when plant is mostly dead and the fruit has turned pale orange
Annual

Seminole Pumpkins are a South Florida favorite because many other winter squash varieties here have a hard time with all of the humidity of our tropical climate. Seminole pumpkins have a very interesting past, as they were cultivated here by many Indigenous communities before the arrival of the Spanish. Read all about their cultural & historical significance in this article. Seminole Pumpkins can be eaten green or left to mature on the vine into an orangey beige color. They can store unrefrigerated for a year and just like with other storage pumpkins their sweet flavor is concentrated with time curing. Seminole Pumpkins are large vining plants so either plant them as a sprawling ground cover in your food forest or consider allowing them to grow up a bare tree in your yard, with their fruits dangling like ornaments. Seminole Pumpkins are a Slow Food Arc of Taste variety.