How Do You Know When a Red Yam Is Ripe?

Red yams, also called sweet potatoes, are a variety of tuber that have a higher vitamin A content than any other yam. Red yams must be harvested regularly to keep them from taking over the whole garden. It's important to be able to recognize the signs of a ripe, ready-to-pick red yam. Out of the ground, yams don't keep for very long, so plan on preparing and eating the yams soon after they are harvested.

Instructions

- 1
  Wait four to six months from the initial time of planting the slips, or newly germinated, red yams. Since yams do best when they are planted in the spring, wait until early autumn before looking for full-grown vegetables.
- 2
  Look at the stalks that have sprouted above the soil. The stalks of ripened red yams should be thick and stiff.
- 3
  Loosen the soil below the stalks and gently lift the red yams out of the soil. If there are about two or three yams at the root of the stalk, they are ready to be harvested. Use a rounded spoon to dig out the yams so as not to damage the vegetables.

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