Post by macmex on Oct 20, 2021 14:37:11 GMT
This was a new one for me in 2021. I purchased some roots, while visiting my daughter in Anchorage, Alaska. We cooked some up and found them to be superb, so... I brought some home with me, starting some slips from two roots. You can find a thread on the varieties I brought back from Anchorage, here. In that thread you can see that I was kind of in process, as to what to call them. They were labeled "Japanese White" and they had "Satsume Aimo" on the box. Some months later, I was chatting with a friend of mine who is Japanese American and has maintained his cultural and language roots, visiting in Japan. I mentioned this sweet potato to him and he commented that "Satsume" is the name of a city in Japan and "aimo" is Japanese for "sweet potato." Looking on the internet, I read that "Satsuma" is a region and that apparently the most common "Japanese imo (sweet potato) has pale orange flesh." So, I may yet evolve in my concept cocerning what to call this one. For now, I'm going to call it "Japanese White."
I put in 6 slips of this sweet potato in one row, on June 12 and 7 in the other row, on June 21. The other night I was harvesting. I had my eye on Makatea (light green foliage ornamental/edible variety) and forgot that I first had to dig these 6 plants of Japanese White. I wasn't expecting to dig up a red/purple skinned sweet potato and yet... surprise! I found these!
My first thoughts were: 1) Oh my! Grand Asia must have snuck over here and planted a sucker in this area. and 2) That's really blocky looking for Grand Asia. As I proceeded down the row I kept finding more and more of these. Not even the pictures capture the full impact of the blocky impression I got from them. I had simply forgotten that I'd planted Japanese White there, and didn't notice it in my garden notes. Still, I felt kind of happy about finding these. If they were like Grand Asia, I knew we were in for a treat!
Eventually I noticed that I had 6 Japanese Whites before I'd hit Makatea. I got almost 5 gallons of really beautiful Japanese White sweet potatoes from those 6 plants. I am very pleased and plan to keep this one.
Back in March we got to taste these. This variety has a somewhat moist texture. It's dense, like varieties I've seen in Hawaii; more dense than Grand Asia. It's definitely sweet, but not a carmelly sweet like Red Wine Velvet. Anyway, I'd encourage anyone who sees "Satsume," "Satsumeaimo," "Satsuma Imo," or "Japanes White" sweet potatoes in the store to purchase and try some! It would be wonderful if there were regularly sold in our stores. Gardeners wouldn't go wrong to try growing them either!
Normally I'm more cautious, when growing a new variety, but I'm glad I put in 13 plants of Japanese White!
Here are a couple of informative links:
Hawaii Food Map on Sweet Potatoes
Japanese Food (101) Satsumeaimo
I put in 6 slips of this sweet potato in one row, on June 12 and 7 in the other row, on June 21. The other night I was harvesting. I had my eye on Makatea (light green foliage ornamental/edible variety) and forgot that I first had to dig these 6 plants of Japanese White. I wasn't expecting to dig up a red/purple skinned sweet potato and yet... surprise! I found these!
My first thoughts were: 1) Oh my! Grand Asia must have snuck over here and planted a sucker in this area. and 2) That's really blocky looking for Grand Asia. As I proceeded down the row I kept finding more and more of these. Not even the pictures capture the full impact of the blocky impression I got from them. I had simply forgotten that I'd planted Japanese White there, and didn't notice it in my garden notes. Still, I felt kind of happy about finding these. If they were like Grand Asia, I knew we were in for a treat!
Eventually I noticed that I had 6 Japanese Whites before I'd hit Makatea. I got almost 5 gallons of really beautiful Japanese White sweet potatoes from those 6 plants. I am very pleased and plan to keep this one.
Back in March we got to taste these. This variety has a somewhat moist texture. It's dense, like varieties I've seen in Hawaii; more dense than Grand Asia. It's definitely sweet, but not a carmelly sweet like Red Wine Velvet. Anyway, I'd encourage anyone who sees "Satsume," "Satsumeaimo," "Satsuma Imo," or "Japanes White" sweet potatoes in the store to purchase and try some! It would be wonderful if there were regularly sold in our stores. Gardeners wouldn't go wrong to try growing them either!
Normally I'm more cautious, when growing a new variety, but I'm glad I put in 13 plants of Japanese White!
Here are a couple of informative links:
Hawaii Food Map on Sweet Potatoes
Japanese Food (101) Satsumeaimo
