Sunchokes- Jerusalem Artichokes

me&thegals

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StupidBird said:
Ok, so I probably now have a zillion of these "fartichokes" in the ground. We like them, but they do a serious number on the local air quality and noise abatement issues.

Seriously! What can I do to make these more digestible for us? Is this just a "getting your gut used to it" and I should feed MORE, or some people just can't tolerate 'em? I've prepared them raw to very well done. Fried. Baked. Boiled. Still becomes the fart wars every time. And yes, the dear chickens ignore them.

I have found that the way to compost them thoroughly dead is in double black garbage bags, stuffed full of sunchokes and lemon balm (another accidental invasive thug), wet it down, tie it closed, and dump the bags in a hidden corner in the garden until next spring.
Love the new name :)

As I already posted above, try frying them. They're great in soup, great in potato-choke pancakes. RAW is where the digestion issues come in.
 

me&thegals

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Dawn419 said:
I haven't tried any of these recipes yet but I've been searching for them since my 'chokes should be here next week. I've got 3 pounds of tubers coming and no idea how or where to plant them.
In the wild they grow about 6-12" down, so that's how deep I have planted mine.

They are INVASIVE, so be very cautious about where you put them. Make sure it's an area you can dig deeply or put deep borders around, as they WILL spread. And a lot.
 

FarmerJamie

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me&thegals said:
Dawn419 said:
I haven't tried any of these recipes yet but I've been searching for them since my 'chokes should be here next week. I've got 3 pounds of tubers coming and no idea how or where to plant them.
In the wild they grow about 6-12" down, so that's how deep I have planted mine.

They are INVASIVE, so be very cautious about where you put them. Make sure it's an area you can dig deeply or put deep borders around, as they WILL spread. And a lot.
^^^^^
that
 

Dawn419

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Thanks, me&thegals!

I grew them back in TN, so I know how they will get. ;) The "soil" here in the Ozarks is mostly rock so I'm gonna have to come up with some kind of raised bed for them and I'll probably just pot them up until I can get a separate bed built for them.
 

Hinotori

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How do they tollerate wet? We have a lot of land that seasonally floods, and I'm looking for something useful to grow there other than the native grass.

Mom grew jerusalem artichokes when I was a kid, but that is a different climate on the other side of the mountains from where I live now.
 

me&thegals

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Hinotori

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Thanks much. This climate is just so different from what I grew and learned to grow in. Go two hours east over the mountain and I understand that climate. Biggest difference is here there is rain, lots of it.

So it looks like I can try and grow them in the low spots when it's dry, but that said they can get rot from constant wet in winter. So I'll try planting some on the higher soil between a low spot that is a foot deep all winter, and the stream. Maybe they can help elbow out the lupine mess that grows there. And hopefully the water keeps them from spreading to far. The area is about 50 by 100 so I'll try somewhere in the middle.
 

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Finally finished digging the rest of the fartichokes and made a wonderful tasting cream of soup. Spent the night between the crapper and the hot water bottle. DH farted his way through three states (trucker). The rest are in trash bags holding down my tarp. Next experiment will be something I don't have to dig up.
 
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