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With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, we’re gearing up for all things sweet potato. Sea to Sky Farm is back at the South Berkeley Farmers’ Market, so we thought it was the perfect time to check in with farm owner Chris Laughlin to learn a little more about them and the crop their best known for:
What’s your favorite variety of sweet potato that you grow and why? Orange Covingtons are my favorite sweet potato variety. They're creamy and sweet, beautifully colored, and durable. They can be stored at home for up to six months and retain the same good quality.
Is there something you wish folks knew about farming sweet potatoes specifically? It doesn’t seem to be a crop most small farmers grow. Farming sweet potatoes is a commodity that our family has grown for generations in the central valley. At Sea to Sky Farm in Santa Cruz, it's a bit of an anomaly since sweet potatoes typically are not grown on the coast. They require a very hot climate and specific soil, utilizing special growing conditions to produce well. It's a crop that my dad spent countless hours teaching me how to grow, and now that he's passed on, it's a special way of remembering him and his farming legacy.
What's your favorite way to prep them? Scalloped sweet potatoes are my favorite! It's a wonderful combination of sweet and savory, plus it’s a great way to use all three varieties of sweet potatoes that we grow: orange Covington, red Garnet, and purple Murasaki.
Check out Chris’s recipe below! You can find their sweet potatoes every Tuesday at the South Berkeley Farmers’ Market. Solano Mushroom also sells white-fleshed Japanese sweet potatoes at the South and Downtown Berkeley Farmers’ Markets.
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