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Jerusalem artichoke

My friend at work with the garden full of crazy and unusual vegetables (eg spaghetti squash) has given me some Jerusalem artichoke tubers to eat and to grow.  Apparently they go quite crazy in summer, so I decided to plant them outside the garden fence with the arrowroot (which we should also eat), so that they can provide shade in summer.

This is what the tubers look like, they were difficult to peel....

We ate the artichokes sliced thinly and fried in butter.....

the flesh is white and crispy, with a mild taste

although it did end up mixed into the gravy with left over roast beef

The passed the taste test, Farmer Pete said they were "quite nice", so now all that remains is to see if they will grow in my garden :)

I forgot to take a photo before I piled the dirt back over,
but this is where I planted them...next to the arrowroot.
Have you grown Jeruselum artichokes?  Or anything else unusual?
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Comments

  1. africanaussieApril 27, 2012 at 7:50 AM

    I love spaghetti squash - but it didn't grow here the one time I tried it. I have never eaten Jerusalem artichokes - good idea to plant them where they can go crazy if they want.

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  2. Tanya MurrayApril 27, 2012 at 8:58 AM

    Once you grow Jerusalem artichokes you will always have them so choose you plant site carefully. Despite removing the tubers at the end of the season there are always more there waiting to come up again. But if you choose your site carefully like you have then they can be a great shade provider and lovely green "wall" and you can't argue with food abundance either. I have a friend who swears by cleaning them with the Karcher (high pressured hose) and a bucket on the back lawn. This way she gets them really clean quickly and no peeling. Baking them is also another great way to enjoy them.

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  3. Linda WoodrowApril 27, 2012 at 9:07 AM

    I agree with Tanya. But they are also hugely productive and really hardy. Make the best soup.

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  4. JenApril 27, 2012 at 11:27 PM

    I am going to have to try this when I expand my garden next year. I tried growing Jerusalem artichokes for two years, but I was obviously doing it wrong. :) Thanks for the tip!

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  5. Kirsty @ Bowerbird BlueApril 27, 2012 at 11:37 PM

    Be very sure of your placement, we've got a patch at our school vegie garden that refuses to disappear. I had the soup for lunch today and am feeling a little of it's notorious after effects,it was delicious however. The skin is quite edible so you might be able to avoid that fiddly peeling, just take off any blemished bits.

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  6. Judi BApril 28, 2012 at 10:53 AM

    I want to try them again ... I think I must be the only person who managed to kill them twice but it was out of my control first died years ago in the drought and last year in the floods.
    JA's and arrowroot are also good as a chop and drop mulch.

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownApril 28, 2012 at 8:42 PM

    Emma, I was thinking that too! We didn't notice any "side effects", can anyone elaborate?

    I'm pretty excited about establishing the artichokes as a perennial food producing plant in my garden (and I think I've put them in the right place if they do go crazy), anything that wants to grow without my constant attention is very welcome in my garden :)

    I love the idea from Tanya of cleaning them with a pressure cleaner! I only peeled them because I couldn't get enough of the dirt off....

    Also looking forward to making soup.

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  8. Judi BApril 30, 2012 at 10:54 AM

    They are sometimes get called Fartichokes LOL

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownApril 30, 2012 at 2:26 PM

    thanks for clearing that up Judi!

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownApril 30, 2012 at 4:13 PM

    I love the taste of Jerusalem Artichokes - especially as a creamy soup served with crusty bread. The problem for me is that they cause such painful gas! Hopefully you and yours don't have that problem though.

    I had plenty of 'Fart-a-chokes' growing in my allotment last year but decided to give them up for good. Over the last six months I've been manually digging them out and they're still sending up shoots even now.

    So my advice to you would be to grow them in containers first and if you REALLY like them then plant them into open ground after that. Because once they're planted they're going to try to be with you forever ;)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Lrong LimApril 30, 2012 at 6:53 PM

    We grow them for their yellow flowers rather than the tubers...

    ReplyDelete

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