Eastern Shore farmer’s sweet potatoes add variety to the traditional tuber

If you're serving sweet potatoes this holiday season, mind if we ask what kind?

We don't mean baked or whipped or dotted with marshmallows. We mean Hayman or Beauregard or Hernandez. Or some other variety.

Sweet potatoes, like apples, differ greatly in taste, texture and color, depending on the variety. They range from mildly sweet to super sweet and from creamy white to jack-o'-lantern orange.

About 30 minutes up the Eastern Shore in Machipongo, Bill Jardine grows nothing but sweet potatoes on his family's 15-acre, certified-organic farm.

He raises the coveted Hayman, an heirloom white sweet potato reputed to be the sweetest of all varieties. But with a dirt-ugly appearance,

short shelf life and low crop yield, it's rarely planted these days.

Jardine also grows Beauregards, a pumpkin-orange potato common on grocery store shelves, and other varieties. He's also experimenting with Japanese sweet potatoes and is considering a Louisiana variety touted as 20 percent sweeter than anything else out there.

We recently stopped at Jardine's farm market - a cornucopia of all things wholesome, from farm-raised chicken to green cleaning supplies, from bulk grains to organic produce.

Right inside the door, wooden bins were heaped with six varieties of organic sweet potatoes. Jardine provided the background on each and outlined the differences in texture, color and taste.

We bought all six kinds, baked them real slow and conducted a side-by-side comparison. All sweet potatoes are packed with fiber and vitamins A and C, but if you think all of these tubers are created equal, read on.

Beauregard

This is the industry standard, Jardine said, because these potatoes produce well, are consistently sweet and look good on the grocery store shelves. They have smooth, burnt orange-red skins and a vibrant orange flesh. Baked, a Beauregard is not at all stringy and delivers a medium-sweet flavor compared to some other varieties.

Hernandez

With its rough, bumpy skin, it's not as pretty as a Beauregard, but Jardine says that this variety is "consistently good" and sweet. Jardine picked a couple from the pile at his market and pointed out the dried, black drip from the end of one, a good sign of sweetness. The creamy, orange flesh of the one we baked was brighter at the edges but a bit darker toward the core, and it tasted sweeter and more complex than Beauregard.

Covington

A cross between a Hernandez and a Beauregard makes it kin to both. Covington's skin is redder than its cousins and more intensely orange inside. Baked, we thought the flesh was firmer than most, mildly sweet, but with an almost flat taste.

Hayman

The legendary Hayman is a 100-year-old white sweet potato that was once widely grown on the Eastern Shore. It's a difficult crop with a low yield, so it's not easy to find. Haymans, smaller than the other varieties tested, are tan and oddly shaped with bumps and raised areas of skin that look like raised veins on the back of someone's hand. Inside, they are white like a russet potato. The flesh is denser than the others when baked and somewhat fibrous with a distinctly sweeter taste.

O'Henry

If you've been seeking the elusive Hayman, you may have found this instead. O'Henry is another variety of white sweet potato that is easier and more economically feasible for farmers to grow. It's the same color as the Hayman, but the shape is that of the classic tapered tuber with no bumps or veins. It has a creamy, yellow-white flesh when baked and is pleasingly sweet, but not as sweet as the Hayman.

Porto Rico

A dusty orange, heirloom tuber that Jardine said was the industry standard on the Eastern Shore 50 years ago. Porto Ricos fell from favor because they didn't can well and are not widely grown or available today. Baked, the flesh ranged from deep green to orange. The texture was purely creamy and it tasted even sweeter than the Haymans. We say serve these naked.

Sweet potato 101:

How to choose them You'll want them dirty. They should not be washed until just before using to preserve the flavors. Dark seepage or even drips from the ends of the potato are good signs of sweetness.

How to store them Although the garage might seem like a perfect spot, it isn't. Sweet potatoes can keep for months in a dark spot where the temperature doesn't dip below 55 degrees. Do not store them in the refrigerator.

How to cook them Bake in the oven at 325 to 350 degrees for about 60 minutes. Try serving them without adding any sugar, syrup or marshmallows. You might be surprised.

Where to get them Quail Cove Farms Country Market, 12435 Machipongo Lane, Machipongo, (757) 678-1275.

Haymans, if available, are $1.39 a pound; 99 cents a pound for all other varieties.

Deliveries Quail Cove Farms makes deliveries of organic produce, Amish chicken and cheeses, and other products to host homes in all five South Hampton Roads cities; $50 minimum order plus $5 delivery. Go to www.quailcovefarms.com or call (800) 286-1452. Also, delivers weekly to the Five Points Community Farm Market, 2500 Church St., Norfolk, (757) 640-0300, or www.5ptsfarmmarket.org.

Source: Bill Jardine, owner Quail Cove Farms Inc.

Lorraine Eaton, (757)446-2697, lorraine.eaton@pilotonline.com