Have you ever eaten magic sweet potatoes? Taste like water pear meat white and crisp, after walking the water to become the perfect partner of black round balls!

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There is a crop you may not have heard of, but you may have eaten it; it has white flesh, crisp taste, no fear of the sun, edible parts growing in the ground, and can be kept for another year without ice after harvest. Such a magical crop is "sweet potato"! Fresh sweet potatoes taste like water pears, while those with water will become black wheels and balls that are often eaten in supermarket night markets!

Bean potato farmers in Pingtung New Garden harvest beans in the field in March (photo source _ Xinyuan Peasants' Association) is actually beans, the largest producing area is in Pingtung New Garden.

Sweet potato is also called mowing potato, and its aliases are sweet potato, field potato, ground radish, groundwater pear, and so on. Although the name has a potato, it is actually a perennial leguminous plant. The edible part is the root of the underground part, with a yellowish brownish outer skin and white flesh underneath. The aboveground stems and leaves of sweet potato will blossom and bear pods, and the seeds in the pods look like beans.

The main producing areas of sweet potatoes in Taiwan are located in Gaoping area. According to the statistics of the Council of Agriculture, the planting area of sweet potatoes in China in 107 was 204.72 hectares, with an annual output of 4002.7 metric tons, of which the top three producing areas were Daliao District, Kaohsiung City, Xinyuan Township, Pingtung County, and Pingtung City.

The Daliao District Farmers' Association says that in fact, most of the sweet potatoes in Daliao District are also planted across counties and cities by farmers in Hsinyuan Township, Pingtung County. "Sweet potatoes need sandy soil. Daliao and Hsinyuan near both sides of the Gaoping River are very suitable. Many farmers in the new garden will come to Daliao to plant, and occasionally ask us to help deliver the auction market!"

The sweet potato field returned from Pingtung (photo courtesy of Chen Rongde) the son of the uncle went home to pick up the sticks, planted after the Mid-Autumn Festival and mined before the Spring Festival.

Chen Tianzan, a sweet potato farmer who returned from Pingtung, began to grow sweet potatoes at the age of 17 and has been growing them for more than 60 years. He is known as "uncle bean potato." in recent years, because of his old age, he is now handing over the stick to his retired son Chen Jung-teh. This year is the 12th year that Chen Jung-teh has returned home.

Pingtung sweet potatoes were once exported to Hong Kong. "there used to be more varieties, but now there are two or three left, all in Xinyuan." Chen Jung-teh says that in the past, his father's sweet potato fields had been planted to Jiuru, and he had experienced the glorious time of growing sweet potatoes. At that time, people even planted sweet potatoes in the three places. But later, after the export decreased, the planting area also declined, and in recent years, his father's physical strength was not as strong as before. So I went home to help.

"you can get an average of 8000 to 9000 jin per cent of land." Chen Jung-teh says that sweet potatoes in Pingtung are usually planted after the Mid-Autumn Festival, mined before and after the Spring Festival, and harvested all the way until the end of April. Even if bad weather causes a bad harvest, there will still be 6000 jin per cent of the land, and 15000 jin can be received at a bumper harvest.

Chen Tianzan, father of Chen Rongde, known as Bean Potato (photo courtesy of Chen Rongde), can be kept for a year without ice, sprouting can still be eaten, and it is mostly used to make black wheels, balls and other processed products.

"unlike potatoes, sweet potatoes can still be eaten when they sprout." Chen Rongde said that the harvested sweet potatoes do not need ice and can be stored for a year at room temperature. Even if you see the sweet potatoes sprouting during storage, the sprouts can still be eaten.

At present, Chen Jung-te's sweet potatoes are sold one box at a time for wholesale. "people in the central and northern regions may not know sweet potatoes, but we often see them in Pingtung." He said that growing up, he often saw sweet potatoes on the dinner table, and now he sells them to processing plants or shops that make black wheels and balls by hand.

"the crisp taste of black wheels and meatballs comes from sweet potatoes!" Chen Jung-teh explains that sweet potatoes that have been in the water for a while should be selected for processing, and different stores will have their own recipes. For example, chicken rolls will be made from a mixture of fish milk, sweet potatoes or minced pork.

In addition to processing, sweet potatoes are also often found in restaurants. Chen Jung-teh says that many noodle shops and restaurants in the south will peel and chop them up, then cold or pickle them into side dishes, or use them as ingredients. "when we encounter pneumonia this year, many restaurants and snack bars are affected, and the order volume is reduced, and it is not easy to sell sweet potatoes."

Sweet potato can replace white radish to make food: sweet potato spareribs soup (photo source _ Xinyuan Farmers' Association) likes sweet potatoes in sandy soil, which are found near Gaoping Creek.

Yen Kuo-sheng, a potato farmer in Pingtung New Garden, is also the second generation of farmers who went home to take over their father's sweet potato field. "my father has been planting it for decades, and now it's my turn!" After seven years as a construction worker, he has grown several sweet potatoes, most of which are planted in rivers. "Sweet potatoes are afraid of stagnant water. There is no rain before harvest this year, and the harvest is good."

Yen Kuo-sheng had no experience in growing sweet potatoes at first. when he first returned home, he paid a lot of "tuition fees." later, he bought the better quality ones to watch and studied the differences between his own planting results and those of others.

Sweet potatoes are suitable for growing at a temperature of 25 to 30 degrees Celsius. Yan Guosheng says that sweet potatoes need sandy soil with good drainage. There is rich sandy soil on both sides of the Gaoping River, which is very suitable for growing sweet potatoes. In addition, the soil should not be too hard so as not to affect the meat quality of sweet potatoes.

Yen Kuo-sheng explains that ploughs will be used to loosen the soil during planting and harvesting, but when the soil is loosened during harvest, manpower will be needed to pull out the stems and leaves above ground, and the sweet potatoes will be slightly exposed upside down and then boxed. "you should also be very careful when pulling it out. If you get caught by clods or grass, the sweet potatoes may be bruised or cracked."