Farmer’s Plate: Creedmoor farmers Deborah and Ronnie Brogden offer sweet potato advice
The spare bedroom in Deborah and Ronnie Brogden’s home is filled with sweet potatoes.
The farming couple, who sell at the Wake Forest and Creedmoor farmers markets, store their Covington sweet potatoes in crates, stacked four to five high, inside all winter, and they will not sell out until mid-April.
Deborah Brogden has several pieces of advice for those buying sweet potatoes at farmers market at this time of year. She says: store them in an open air space, not in a box and not inside a plastic bag; and do not wash them. In fact, she says, “Do not wash any vegetable until you are ready to eat it. That’s protection.”
The couple met in 1998 at a dance at a local steakhouse and got married a year later. Deborah Brogden went from assistant manager at the Walmart in South Hill, Va., to a farmer’s wife. Ronnie Brogden, who has farmed his whole life, owns about 2 acres and rents several hundred more.
They phased out of growing tobacco in 2004 and switched to produce, grains and hay. They’ve been selling at local farmers markets since about 2008. This time of year, customers will find them selling sweet potatoes, kale, lettuces, cucumbers, turnips, butternut squash and cabbage.
“Produce makes you work harder than tobacco,” Deborah Brogden says. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of us being together.”
Andrea Weigl: 919-829-4848, @andreaweigl
Meet the Farmer
Deborah and Ronnie Brogden of Brogden’s Produce sell at two farmers markets:
▪ Wake Forest Farmers Market, 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, 405 S. Brooks St., Wake Forest, wakeforestfarmersmarket.org
▪ Creedmoor Farmers Market, 1-5:30 pm. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, 608 N. Main St. (beside the South Granville Animal Hospital), Creedmoor.
See a complete list of local farmers markets at nando.com/1ap.
Candied Coconut Sweet Potatoes
From Deborah Brogden of Brogden’s Produce.
4 cups mashed sweet potatoes (4 medium sweet potatoes or 2 (40-ounce) cans sweet potatoes
6 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons melted butter, divided
2 eggs, beaten
7 ounces (1/2 can) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
If using fresh sweet potatoes, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prick each sweet potato with a fork and place on foil-lined rimmed baking sheet in the oven. Cook for 40 to 60 minutes or until tender. Once cooled enough to handle, slice in half and scoop out the insides into a mixing bowl. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. If using canned sweet potatoes, drain out liquid and add to a mixing bowl.
Add sugar, 6 tablespoons melted butter, eggs, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla to the sweet potatoes in the mixing bowl. Mash up with a spoon or fork until it is the consistency you prefer. Spread evenly into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Make the topping: combine brown sugar, coconut and remaining melted butter in a small bowl and stir well to mix. Sprinkle over top of sweet potatoes. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 40-50 minutes.
Yield: 16-20 servings.
This story was originally published October 30, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Farmer’s Plate: Creedmoor farmers Deborah and Ronnie Brogden offer sweet potato advice."