According to my organic gardening handbook, my sweet potatoes are ready for harvest once the first frost kills off the green foliage. BUT, I decided to go ahead and do it today.

Here's why:

1. I've noticed lots of bugs/caterpillars on the foliage lately. I read that sometimes leaving potatoes in the ground too long can result in insect-damaged roots.

2. I've about decided that frost may never come. Here it is, late October, and we've still got 80 degree weather in our 10-day forecast. My impatience and curiosity are getting the better of me. What's been going on under that soil for the past 4 months?

3. I could take advantage of the warm weather in the forecast and use the garage to cure my potatoes. My book suggests allowing sweet potatoes to sit at 80-85 degrees for 2 weeks to prolong shelf-life. My stifling garage should do just fine.

4. It was just such a beautiful day today. It made me want to just sit in the sun and get my hands dirty (literally).

Here's what the garden bed looked like before I dug in.

Scarf and Milkshake lend a hand.

2 wheelbarrowfuls of foliage, ready for the compost pile

That's a whole-bunch of sweet potatoes! Looks like the blog is going to be full of sweet potato recipes this fall!

The garden bed once I was finished digging