The Garden Doctor
Fruit of a different vine
True yams - not the kind served at holiday meals - are nutritious, appealing and easy to grow.
By JOHN A. STARNES JR.
Published October 18, 2003
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[Photo by John A. Starnes Jr.]
The violet yam, available at Asian markets, should be a hit with the kids. You can use them to make purple mashed potatoes or purple french fries.
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Say "yam" to most people and they think of the sweet potato that is so popular on Thanksgiving Day, but those "sweet potatoes" are neither yams nor potatoes: They are the tuberous roots of an edible Morning Glory (Convolvulus family).
So why should you care?
Because true yams are not sweet but are packed with nutrients and fiber, and taste better than any potato; they also make beautiful fence-covering vines and grow like a weed with no care . . . no kidding. These members of the Dioscorea family hail from the tropics and thrive here, but are rarely seen in landscapes. Many gardeners of Asian and Hispanic descent, however, know that these hassle-free tubers are delicious fried, baked, or boiled 20 minutes in salt water and served with a pat of butter. How do they taste? Like a firm, slightly nutty baked Idaho potato . . . ummmm!
We Floridians have seen trees and fences covered with the vines of a true yam commonly called "air potato" (Dioscorea bulbifera). They have little tubers that form all along the vines, then drop to the ground in winter. It can become a weed, but a lovely one. It should be noted that the "air potato" is an invasive plant and should not be planted, but there's nothing wrong with enjoying its beautiful leaves.
Here something's I bet you didn't know: Air potato tubers contain so much estrogen that their extracts can be used to treat hot flashes and other discomforts of menopause. And another species that grows wild in Mexico, Dioscorea sasparilla, contains so much testosterone that it has long been used an as herbal Viagra.
The one we see most often in markets is the white yam or Chinese yam, known botanically as Dioscorea alata. Buy one, cut off the top to where you see sprouts, plant the top 4 inches deep by a sunny fence and cook and eat the rest.
Enjoy the lovely vines that will soon emerge; and when they die back each winter, you'll dig many new yams half the size of a football. The ones you miss will sprout in spring and do it all over again, a truly perennial food crop you buy and plant just once. And they keep indefinitely if left in the ground to be dug up when needed for supper.
Keep your eyes peeled at Asian markets for a variety called violet yam (Dioscorea violacae). The stems are tinged a lovely magenta when they first emerge. The graceful foliage is a bit more tapered, the vines just as vigorously beautiful, but the yams are an amazing purple-violet inside, and they remain that way whether raw or cooked.
Want to get your kids' attention at the dinner table? Try serving them purple "mashed potatoes" or purple French fries.
I got my starter tuber from a generous Thai gardener. Less than a year later that little bit of tuber top has yielded more than 10 pounds of violet yams. This spring I then planted maybe eight tops all along my chain link fence, for what will be a huge harvest next spring for me and friends.
So why do we mistakenly call sweet potatoes "yams"?
It was a marketing move by the sweet potato trade about 70 years ago, to try to boost sales, because back then true yams were more widely known and highly esteemed. So treat your landscape and yourself to something long overdue for a comeback, and each time you sink your teeth into a yummy yam you'll yammer for more.
- John A. Starnes Jr., born in Key West, is an avid organic gardener and rosarian who studies, collects, cultivates and hybridizes roses for the diverse regions of Florida. He can be reached at his new e-mail address: JohnAStarnes@aol.com
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