You have to wait until well AFTER the frost date.
Really.
You have to wait.
Trust me.
And then wait some more.
And by then, everything else has been planted and there's a lot of other work to do and I've forgotten to keep my eyes open for slips. And then they're gone!
So I've been thinking for a long time about growing my own. But I heard somewhere that it was hard. So I kept putting it off.
Then, one day last week, Lily brought me a few sweet potatoes out of the pantry [which stays around 50 degrees all winter] and said - 'Look at these. They're sprouting!'
So I guess it's not so hard to sprout them after all. I mean, they did it all by themselves. In a dark box in a cold pantry.
Which is just as nature intended. Duh.
I found a couple of sites with descriptions on what to do next. There are a few different approaches. Check them out:
http://www.outlawgarden.com/2012/04/25/grow-your-own-sweet-potatoes/http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-plant-and-grow-sweet-potatoes/index.html
http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/how-to-grow-sweet-potatoes
http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Growing_sweet_potato_slips_in_gravel/
I think I'm going to do mine the way Outlaw Garden does hers [first link above]. I'll keep you posted.