Where do you find Sweet Potatoes this time of year

[Bkworm]

Just wondering if anyone else has problems finding sweet potatoes during the summer? We are in Central Florida and the sweet potatoes this time of year are tasteless and about the size of my fist - which isn't very big. Have had the cookbooks out looking for new recipes and so many of them call for sweet potatoes whether it is veggie burgers or soups and stews or salads.

Have looked for frozen sweet potatoes that have been mentioned on this forum but have never found any at the stores we frequent. I can get to a Whole Foods Market occasionally but don't like to shop there as it is so expensive. We have a Trader Joe's but the parking is such as issue there I have never even been to ours. The first day it opened, they had to have police there to monitor the parking lot, which went on for months. Police are no longer there, but traffic backs up on the main thoroughfare all the time with people waiting to get into their parking lot. It is just a nightmare trying to get past their location much less trying to turn into the lot.

Is it because we are in Florida that it is so difficult to find good sweet potatoes? Growing up, sweet potatoes were considered a winter crop.

[Plumerias]

You don't find good sweet potatoes this time of the year in our country. You find what's left of the harvest from last fall.

One of the pleasures of traveling across our country for years was/is learning where what grows and when. North Carolina produces the highest percentage of our sweet potatoes. It's a longer season crop, taking 120 days from planting to harvest. Harvest will begin in late August and continue through November. http://www.ncagr.gov/agscool/teacher/co ... swtpot.htm

When the weather harms the harvest/crop in NC, the nation's sweet potato supply is greatly reduced. An example: https://www.growingproduce.com/vegetabl ... n-sharply/

Not to mention that personally I don't think produce is kept at optimum conditions in Florida grocery warehouses.

So it's not just you, it's your timing. Think about how inexpensive they are at Publix for Thanksgiving, when they're delightfully fresh and new, and Christmas as well. Now they're just underwhelming.

I've never looked for frozen. There are canned ones (aaahhhhh, ghosts from my childhood Thanksgivings!!!!), but as an adult I've never had them. But, hmmm, maybe for the veggie burgers the canned ones might actually work??

[kirkj]

I'm in Michigan and don't notice any difference in size or taste throughout the year. I'm sure they're not grown locally. Gardeners I know occasionally grow them here, so it can be done, but maybe not profitable to grow them on a large scale.

[Bkworm]

Agreed, the sweet potatoes that are available seem to be very old and very small from last year's crop. Between the tasteless, small sweet potatoes as well as all varieties of white potatoes full of huge, gross black spots, I hate to even bring potatoes home any more. I also agree about the Florida grocery warehouses. We are just expected to accept and put up with whatever they put out. So tired of it. And it does not matter which market you go to either. I shop Publix, Winn Dixie, Alidi, Fresh Market, etc., looking for what we want. Been purchasing fresh greens at a small health food store and usually get wonderful greens from there but they were out this week. Went to Winn Dixie and found some wonderful looking kale and collards. Just cooked up a batch and the greens are totally tasteless. Will eat them anyway but would prefer some that tastes great particularly after going through all the prep and clean up.

Love your idea of canned sweet potatoes for veggie burgers. Going to give that a try. Would be perfect for burgers.

Having always lived in Florida, kirkj, really have no idea how veggie are managed in other state throughout the year. Would make sense they would grow longer and stay fresher in a cooler state. We have experienced 100+ temps this week in our area.

Have you ever watched any of the programs on PBS with all the luscious farmer's markets with row after row of beautiful fruits and veggies, with so many choices? Don't bother going to a Florida farmer's market. There is practically no choice and everything looks terrible. Used to get up early to go to our local farmer's market but gave up when some of the vendors admitted they went to the same warehouse as the grocery stores to get their produce.

Almost 46 years ago on our honeymoon, my DH and I went to a huge Amish farmer's market in PA. WOW! I did not want to leave. Everything was so luscious looking and tasted wonderful - and so many choices. I guess I keep expecting a miracle. My dad always had a huge veggie garden, at least a half acre, so guess we were really spoiled. He always had a spring and fall garden. Used to load our car down with so much fresh produce when we headed home, I ended sharing with lots of friends. Had to give cooking lessons on how to prepare and season fresh veggies as most had no idea where to start.

Thanks for your responses. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

[Vanilla Orchid]

In CA, sweet potatoes are available year round. Several types. I bout some last week.

[Plumerias]

I did think of one other potential option. Sprouts farmers market is a grocery chain from the western portion of the country. They have been opening some stores in Florida recently. Last winter we met some friends at the Altamonte Springs Sweet Tomatoes, a drive that was equidistant for us. We stopped at the new Sprouts store near there. I remember seeing other locations opening in the greater Orlando area, perhaps there's one near you?

Also, curiously at the flea market we occasionally shopped at south of where we stay (accessed from I-4 exit 41), there were vendors who sold sweet potatoes. They were decent, but this was also winter season, so...... Don't know if there are any of those up on your side of town, or if they're just mostly near the tourists/snowbirds.

Being a veteran of farmers markets, DH proudly says I have a black belt, I can say for certain that no such think really exists in Florida. We tried some Orlando area ones, and yes, they're just what we call truck farm markets. You take your truck to the produce terminal and that's what you sell at your stand. Okay, sometimes it's actually better than at Publix, but I suspect that that's just a function of transit time.

If you'd like to be truly wowed by sweet potatoes, go up to the state farmers market in Raleigh, NC during the harvest. Positively jaw dropping! I got what I remember as a forty pound box for ten bucks once. Filled all the potato space in my RV cupboards!

Should I be mean and tell you that I'll think of you when we get up to Ohio (our former home town) and arrive at the local markets first thing on Saturday mornings? I'm decidedly allergic to morning, but I will make exceptions for that!

[VeggieSue]

Just wondering if anyone else has problems finding sweet potatoes during the summer?

I haven't been able to get decent sweet potatoes here in NJ for over a year now. They're all small, mealy, and many just look puckered and dehydrated even as they come out of the storeroom of the grocery stores. And it's not just one store - I've been to every chain grocery store in about a 15 mile radius (and in crowded urban NJ, that's a lot of stores) and many mom & pop produce stores, and they all look this way. Sometimes one of the Asian markets will get in their Japanese sweet potatoes and a few of the orange ones, and they won't look too bad, but still those tiny ones, about the size of a deck of cards.

But no matter where or what size, any sweet potato I bought in any store is pretty much tasteless.

Have looked for frozen sweet potatoes that have been mentioned on this forum but have never found any at the stores we frequent.

One of our local chain grocery stores (Stop and Shop) carries them in the frozen food department near the frozen specialty veggies, like organics, Kosher, and non-major brands, off to the side of the big name and store brand frozen veggies. The brand is Pict Sweet. The year we lived in FL (almost 20 years ago now), that was a big brand on the shelves in Publix, the store we used to shop in. But they're $3.99 a bag for the equivalent of maybe 1 decent sized sweet potato, and even more tasteless than what's in the produce section.

I can get to a Whole Foods Market occasionally but don't like to shop there as it is so expensive. We have a Trader Joe's but the parking is such as issue there I have never even been to ours.

The closest of those stores to me is at least an hour away in normal traffic, longer during rush hours. We have to drive near both the Holland and Lincoln tunnels to get there, and traffic can sometimes be a horror show, so we rarely travel out that way. It's been over a year since we last went. Even at $4.99/lb, their sweet potatoes looked horrible. The times before that when we went I would buy about 3 grocery bags full of assorted sweet potatoes that they had - hang the cost! - because they were a nice size, looked good, and tasted great. They not only had plain old orange ones (that I didn't bother buying there) but the Hannah yams, the white yams, even purple sweet potatoes. I've never seen those locally, except an occasional Hannah yam sent by mistake and my favorite produce guy was surprised I even knew what it was. It had to be a mistake because they would be mixed in with the orange ones.

The first day it opened, they had to have police there to monitor the parking lot, which went on for months.

The WF I mentioned still occasionally needs a cop for traffic duty. The store is about 2 miles from the Washington Bridge and when that traffic backs up it can block all the strip malls along that road.

Is it because we are in Florida that it is so difficult to find good sweet potatoes? Growing up, sweet potatoes were considered a winter crop.

I remember back in 2017 people were already complaining on-line about the difficulty in finding decent sweet potatoes, and they even vanished completely from some areas. Things haven't been the same since, not even the height of sweet potato season - the month of November.