desertlzbn, I had good luck last year putting my sweet taters in the garden on top of 2in of sand and covering with about a foot of loose composted 50/50 straw and Christmas tree mulch. First time I tried it and will start some more the first of Feb. I'm a lot colder here than you and flyingbrass, and wasn't sure if it would work, but it did great and produced about 45 6in sets with three long beauregards.
