Jerusalem Artichokes

Discussion in 'Crops & Gardens' started by Yvonne Smith, Mar 24, 2015.

  1. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    My friend and nighbor, Joyce McGregor, has given me some jerusalem artichoke starts to grow. We have so many trees here that it is hard to find a nice sunny place to grow plants that like lots of sun; but out by the front of the house next to the road does as good as any; so that is where i will plant the "sunchokes".
    I just planted my irises there last week, and thought that i would fool the squirrels by planting my sunflower seeds under the irises, and maybe I could actually get some to sprout this year before the squirrels ate all of the seeds.
    It worked for about two days, and then the little pests discovered where I planted the sunflowers, dug up all of my irises, and ate all the seeds again.
    So, my new plan is to plant the sunchokes there, instead. The squirrels should not eat those, they are perennial, and will spread and get thicker each year.
    Since they are growing out by the road, they will also make a privacy screen between the house and the street. And Jerusalem Artichoke roots are edible; so, if all goes as planned, we will have flowers, privacy screen, and a food crop , all in one fell swoop !

    http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/growing-jerusalem-artichokes-zmaz10onzraw.aspx
     
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  2. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    An update on the sunchokes----- They are doing well and are almost 6 inches tall now; so we can tell where they are. The irises are settled in and look like they are happy there, and one has even bloomed already.
    Joyce McGregor is going to give me some more of the sunchokes and I am going to start more of them along the side fences.
    I have several roses blooming , red, pink, yellow and white ones.
    Today I planted more of the tomatoes that have been sitting out in the front yard in the flowerpots, and it is supposed to be warm this week; so they should take off and grow. I got two raspberry plants when Kroger had them on clearance, and those are planted in the back yard. (Robin LOVES maters and raspberries ! )

    So, slowly, but surely, the yard and garden is coming togther. Once the hot weather gets here; I will be like Ina, and spending the daytime hours inside except for early mornings, and dire necessities.
     
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  3. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    I'm interested to hear and see how your privacy fence comes along, as well as your flowers and crops!
     
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  4. Richard Paradon

    Richard Paradon Supreme Member
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    I have never seen one. How do they taste? I know that is one silly question but I could not refrain! I would not even know how to cook one!
     
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  5. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    @Richard Paradon , I have not tried eating any of the sunchoke roots. Since I only got a few , I planted them all. Now that they are sprouting; it is too late to try eating one. However, they multiply, so by this fall or early next spring, I should be able to dig up a fresh one and try it.
    From what I read, they can be eaten eiter raw or cooked, and have a similar taste to a water chestnut when eaten raw. They are full of nutrients, and supposed to be low-glycemic and especially good for diabetics.
    Since they grow in the summer and die off in the winter; they should be good for making a privacy screen during the months we are outside, and then gone during the winter when we want the extra sunshine. I won't have to plant them every year like regular sunflowers, and there won't be any seeds that the squirrels can eat , like when I plant regular sunflowers. I am planting some of those, too, but i have to start them in the house and transplant them.

    http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-sunchoke.htm
     
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  6. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Earlier this spring, my friend (and neighbor) @Joyce Mcgregor gave me some roots and plant starts from her Jerusalem artichokes , also called sunchokes. These plants have nothing to do with either Jerusalem or regular artichokes, and they look like teeny-tiny sunflowers when they blossom.
    The roots can be gathered and eaten after the plant dies back in the fall, and some people grow them to harvest the roots, which are very low on the glycemic index, and especially great for diabetics.

    Assuming that you do not dig up the roots, they will spread and come back thicker the following year, and then continue to spread.
    We face a noisy street, and people will walk down the road and just toss empty drink cans, bottles, or food wrappers onto lawns as they pass, not to mention just standing out in front of the house and yelling at someone on their cellphone.
    So.....we planted the sunchokes in a row out near the road.

    This year, they are spaced about a foot apart and not thick at all, but each year they should come back better and better, and we will have a summertime hedge out front between us and the road.
    In the fall, they die back, but the foot traffic on the street is also less by then.
    Now, they are starting to blosssom, so here is a picture of what the row of plants looks like, as well as one of the little flowers, which are only 2-3" across. The plants themselves can be over 6' tall, although most of ours are shorter than that this year.

    image.jpg image.jpg
     
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  7. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Yeah, those loud squirrels yelling on their cell phones!:D
    [​IMG]
     
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  8. Ina I. Wonder

    Ina I. Wonder Supreme Member
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    @Yvonne Smith, Your chokes are so beautiful, and you'll not believe it, but that 5' rug I was inquiring about, the desired colors are three shades of yellow, and your choke flowers show all three dolors.

    Your yard has gotten so pretty, I know how proud you must be. It looks like Bobby has redone your walkway from the porch. I'm as impressed as that little squirrel seems to be at how much your yard has changed since April when I was there.
     
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  9. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    That looks so nice, and I'm sure it will be a big relief when they grow even bigger and you don't have to deal with the noise from the passersby. I love having a cushion between me and those who pass by. Fortunately, most of the ones here don't toss cans and such, but I've dealt with that before, and it sure is annoying. I wish I had your green thumb. I seem to be able to grow things in pots sometimes, but only if they're within eye shot, or I forget to water them, and they die.
     
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  10. Martin Alonzo

    Martin Alonzo Supreme Member
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    Thanks for reminding me about artichokes I have not seen them in years. My dad grow them when I was a young child the tubers had a nice nutty flavor.
     
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  11. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
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    That line about great for diabetics caught my eye. My niece is a juvenile diabetic and she is on insulin. We are always on the lookout for something that can alleviate her plight. It's so difficult to see her checking the bloodsugar 3 times a day and injecting insulin 3 times a day too. If that sunflower plant's roots are curative, perhaps we can try... if we can find that plant here.

    Although our street is a cul-de-sac, but it ends in the entrance of a small informal village which residents use our street as their right of way. Our front garden also have that trash that we find in the morning, usually cigarette butts and candy and snack wrappers. Right now the lawn is not well kept due to the rains but the morning trash are always present.
     
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  12. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    The Jerusalem artichokes are starting to come up again this year ! They grew all summer last year, and then in late summer, they just spread out on the top and were full of beautiful yellow blossoms.
    My friend @Joyce Mcgregor has moved to be closer to her family, but I am going to go down to her house and dig up a few more of the artichokes and plant them along the fences. Eventually, we will have some scattered all around the property lines, and they should come up and bloom each year.
    Since they are also edible, if we ever get to many of them , we can also dig up some of the tubers in the fall and they can be eaten either raw or like a potato.

    This is how they looked last summer when they were in full bloom.
    image.jpeg
     
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  13. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    The jerusalem artichokes are growing like crazy ! Some of them are over a foot tall now, and where they re-seeded themselves last fall, they are pretty thick. last year, we planted just one little row, a couple of feet apart, and they have really spread this year.
    I am working on transplanting some of the shorter ones to along the fenceline so they can start growing and beautifying that part of the yard, too.
    It is strange that the ones which have the best sunlight seem to be where they didn't grow as well as the ones which are mostly in the shade, although the sunchokes are supposed to be s sun-loving plant, just like the regular sunflowers are.
    By the end of summer, these will be at least six feet tall and covered with flowers.

    image.jpeg
     
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  14. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Yesterday, I watched a youtube tutorial about growing the sunchokes in planters. He had his planted in 3 gallon black garden containers, like those that plants come in when you buy them at the store or nursery.
    He had pictures of the sunchokes literally splitting open the sides of the planter because they were so chocked full of the tubers.
    He then dumped the container, and shook out the dirt and sprayed down the basket full of sunchoke tubers, and when he weighed the basket, there was about 8 lbs of sunchokes in there .
    That is a huge amount for one little container ! !

    We didn't dig any of ours last fall because I wanted them to spread, and they certainly did. The first season (last year) I planted a single row, about a foot apart, along the front of the yard near the road, with the ida of it becoming a summer privacy screen.
    Since they will not reach their full height until August, that idea really didn't work out like I thought it would, although they do make a good hedge, even though they are still short.
    They can grow from 6-12 feet tall under good conditions !
    Mine reached close to 6 feet last summer, and will probably be about the same this year.
    However, this year, we will have a huge amount of tubers under there, and I am going to harvest some for eating, and others to plant around the side fences or other parts of the yard.
    Sunchokes are very healthy, and have lots of vitamins and minerals, and are a good source of inulin, which helps to feed the friendly bacteria in our lower intestines.
    After reading @Ken Anderson 's post about growing the potatoes in sacks, I am thinking that this would be an excellent way for me to grow some of the sunchokes next year, and dumping them out would be much easier than digging them up with the shovel or spading tine.
    Here is a video showing what the tubers look like at harvest time.

     
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  15. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    They're pretty with the flowers blooming....how long do they bloom? If you said so, I'm sorry and missed it. I didn't go back to the beginning of the post.

    Also, what do the roots taste like?
     
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