Surprising Harvest!!

[Rebbetzin]

I think I have found a crop I can grow here!! Sunchokes!!

Last spring, I planted three or four small sunchokes I bought at a local heathfood type store.

They were about this big.

They made tall sunflowers during the summer. Growing in clusters. The plants ranged from about 5 feet to about 11 feet at the tallest point. Here is what the plants looked like.

Close up of the flowers.

We had some frosty nights recently, and the plants died off. I was cleaning out the garden bed where they were a few days ago. And to my great surprise under ground as I was pulling up the dead stalks were a large amount of tubers!!

Here is my harvest!!

This is the largest of the tubers I found.

Now these tubers are said to help in the control of insulin production. They are useful in the control of blood sugar highs and lows. Neat Oh!! They taste sort of like Jicama, or a kind of sweet water chestnut.

I am going to plant many of the tubers so I will have more next year!!

 

[abifae]

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[Lady Henevere]

I have read about these and was thinking of planting some. Thanks so much for the great pictures! I have never seen them before and it's great to know what they look like while growing.

 

[Rebbetzin]

they halp blood sugar?

*thoughtful*

how deep do they need planted? will they grow in CO as nicely as they did in AZ?

I heard from someone on the Easy Garden forum, she is in Colorado Springs, and has been growing some for six years in a shaded area that is hard to water. She said she negects the heck out of them and they still grow quite well in her yard.

I planted them, about two to three inches deep. I bet you could plant them deeper.

 

[enjoy the ride]

I might be cautious about planting more- you will probably be unable to get rid of them as it is- I planted them and was pulling them out for years.
Some people have a bad reaction to eating them so getting yourself accustomed to them by starting slowly is good. They have something that causes digestive problems in some people. I don't remember the exact problem now and it was a loooong time ago- could be mis-remembering.

Pretty though , aren't they.

 

[Rebbetzin]

I did read they cause excessive "flatulence" in some people. So far, I have not had that problem, but I have only eating small amounts over the past 4 or 5 days now.

I know they can become a weed very quickly. I saw plenty of very tiny tubers on the roots I pulled up.

This summer the little finches loved to eat the leaves of these sunflowers. It is ok with me if they spread thoughout my whole backyard!!

 

[abifae]

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[sylvie]

I have grown them for 15 years and love the dependability of them.

Sure they can wander, but if you eat them regularly, that isn't as much of a problem. I give them their own bed; never till or plow the area which is a recipe for uncontrolled spreading.
I neglect them, they are on poor clay-ish soil. After I dig what I need and toss the dirt back in they end up being various depths. We get severely heavy freezing so deeper is better for me. The only time I lost them was at a previous house where the garden was prone to periodic standing water causing them to rot, so they don't accept absolutely every growing condition.

I go out in the middle of winter, shovel the 2 feet of snow off and dig what I need. It is amazing that I can harvest something fresh from the garden in January. They are so crisp! I don't harvest until fall to let them complete the growing cycle and enlarge.

I throw them in my root roast, which contains whatever roots I have on hand like carrots, small whole potatoes, parsnips, onion,, etc. I mix with olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and winter savory. When done I serve with a side of Country Dijon grainy mustard for dipping.

I have made a cream soup with them and watercress.
Sliced with vegetable dip.
Mashed with butter.

I pick the flowers for bouquets in summer and did recently read that that possibly promotes larger tubers.

Obviously a big fan, too!

 

[valmom]

I have never heard of them- and I don't know what Jicama tastes like, either. What do you do with them? Are they starchy like potatoes? They look sort of like ginger root (which I really DO want to put in somewhere).

 

[TanksHill]

Very interesting.