Sweet Potato Digging

After finishing our rice harvesting experience in the morning and early afternoon, we headed to a sweet potato field, also located in Nabari. Just as we thought we could relax a bit in the car, we arrived in no time.

At the farm, we were greeted by the delightful aroma of yaki-imo or roasted sweet potatoes waiting for us under a tent. These sweet and warm treats were just what we needed to recharge!

While enjoying the yaki-imo, we learned about the varieties we’d be harvesting that day and their unique characteristics. The potato farmer also explained how the sweet potatoes are grown without chemical pesticides or chemical fertilizers, as well as how to properly dig them up.

A Bountiful Harvest!

Then it was time to start harvesting! We even had a little game to see who could dig up the largest sweet potato. The winner was decided by weighing everyone’s harvest!

Motivated by the challenge, we eagerly headed to the sweet potato field. The vines and leaves had been neatly cleared, making it easy to access the rows. Different varieties, such as Silk Sweet and Beni Haruka, were planted in separate rows, so we could choose the type we wanted to harvest—or even pick a row that looked like it might yield larger potatoes.

To our surprise, the sweet potatoes were enormous! Each vine yielded multiple large potatoes, some of which were hanging from a single vine, while others were connected underground by long stems. As we dug them up, we discovered so much about their growth that we had never known before.

After filling our baskets with sweet potatoes, we returned to the tent for the weighing competition. Even if we found a huge potato which we thought we would definitely win the game, somehow there was always the chance for a larger and heavier potato to have been found, which added to the excitement and laughter.

The sweet potato harvest was a huge success, with plenty of delicious produce to take home. It was a truly satisfying day filled with the joys of autumn’s bounty.