Jerusalem Artichokes

[RozieDozie]

More questions about our family's heirloom veggies. Anyone ever heard of or grown Jerusalem Artichokes?

Thanx, Rozie

[Denninmi]

More questions about our family's heirloom veggies. Anyone ever heard of or grown Jerusalem Artichokes?

Thanx, Rozie

Sure, we've had a quite a few threads on here about them.

There are pros and cons to them.

The pros: hardy, easy to grow, productive, few pest or disease problems.

The cons: Can be a bit invasive, hard to get rid of if you change you mind and don't want them. The worst "con" though, is that, for many (probably most) people, they cause terrible flatulence, due to the high concentration of inulin, a starch which your digestive system doesn't break down, but bacteria in the human colon can. It helps to expose your system to them gradually at first, and also, I think it does help to slice thinly and soak for a while in a couple of rinses of water before cooking.

Dennis
SE Michigan

[tashak]

I've got them but don't know what variety they are, as I started them from the supermarket Jerusalem artichoke bin about 5-6 years ago. So far they haven't been invasive. And so far they have seldom flowered here, though I've heard of people growing them as easy care ornamentals.
Denni is right, they can cause a gassy reaction in some people. They are supposed to be a safe carbohydrate food for diabetics.
Apparently there are several varieties.
PS. The slices do stirfry well.

[SandyAnn]

Rozie, y'all grow these in zone 8B? For some reason I was thinking they liked colder climates, but I'd like to try 'em.
Sandy

[RozieDozie]

Rozie, y'all grow these in zone 8B? For some reason I was thinking they liked colder climates, but I'd like to try 'em.
Sandy


Hi SandyAnn,

I'm not growing them now. We're moving to 7a/b and want to include some heirloom veggies our family grew. We've been gathering lists from our relatives and Jerusalem artichokes were on there.

The aunt that listed Jerusalem artichokes lived on Edisto Island and grew them there. I think that's near you. :)

Thank you for the info, folks. My aunt said her Mamma pickled them. I can't seem to get the hang of the search thing, but I'll try and find some old threads on here about them.

[SandyAnn]

[QUOTE=RozieDozie;176514]
The aunt that listed Jerusalem artichokes lived on Edisto Island and grew them there. I think that's near you. :)

QUOTE]

YAY! I'm very close to Edisto! I've never known anyone who grew them, so this helps. Can't wait to try 'em. Thanks:)

Good luck with the search thing, I'm not very good at it either.
Sandy

[peterskeepers]

i've grown em for years. easiest crop ever. just thin and mulch. wait till the ground is cold cold cold then dig em up or dig in spring. put in bucket with soil and keep cold. I kept some all summer in the fridge this way. they are supposed to help the good bacteria in your stomache. my wife made some flour from them and the resulting c c chip cookies were fantastic, and very different. I like to boil them and use the water to make soup. I like to boil them, cool then peel the skins off. they come off easy. bake the skins. watch out, they burn easy. then make nachos out of the skins. give them their own garden, not like I do, so you can mow around them. in loose soil, the roots can travel a few feet each year. They will grow in clay or whatever as long as you keep the weeds down. mulch works good, the soil must be loose, which it should be from when you dug them up last. last year i dug up every single tiny peice i could find and still a hundred came up. This year I grew them in clumps of 3 triangle formations which I tied in their respective clumps, then grew green beans up them. worked good. I think you need a cold climate for them to mature properly. mine routinly grow to 12 or 14 ft. this year my sister tested the soil and the nitrogen was next to nil and the soil resembled clay and wood ash. 12 ft still. mostly you eat them like potatoes. they are more tasty, but oh yes, the flatulence.

[Natloo]

I grew some for the first time this past summer. So far I've only eaten them sliced in stir-fry and didn't notice too much gassiness but I didn't put very many in there. And, I guess I'll find out in Spring just how invasive they are going to be for me. I really liked the taste and am going to try them sliced and fried with a bit of onion and green pepper next.

[peterskeepers]

JA's @ onion, watch yourself!

The one warning I'll seriously make is don't get greedy eating these things. You should be able to down a couple at a sitting, but if you get greedy, the gas can form up in your stomache instead, which will reward you with a couple hours of painfull stomache gas.

[bunkie]

hey rozie, here's some of my flowering pics and discussion of jeruselum artichokes....

http://www.idigmygarden.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10442&highlight=JERUSELUM+Artichokes

here's pics of some of my produce and more discussion....

http://www.idigmygarden.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9235&page=2&highlight=JERUSELUM+Artichokes

i still have some in the fridge to try and see if it makes them less gassy.

peterskeepers, flour sounds like a great idea. did you dry them in slices and then grind?

[reubenT]

we've had them sence early 1970's, they do spread, took over half a garden area way back before we moved, brought a few with us and they've been propagating themselves for years. last spring we finally dug a bunch, prepared a spot and planted them out. They grew like weeds. I like them, nice backup food supply that dosn't need harvesting untill we get hungry. never had a problem with their supposed digestive problem.

[Train]

Ya!
Now y'all know what to plant just before you move, Heheh.
And horseradish one the other side of the house.
That'll get 'em.
THE DAY THE PLANTS TOOK OVER
Train

[johno]

That was a real good idea about growing pole beans on them (peterskeepers), thanks!

I also got some from the grocery store a few years ago, and they have been probably the easiest thing ever to grow. I've never experienced gas from them, but then, I have a cast iron stomach. I only eat them raw. The ones I have didn't flower at first, but have for the last two years (cute small flowers). They've been moved a few times, but still come up in the old spots - difficult to remove.

[peterskeepers]

The first time I grew pole beans on them I let the JA's come up whereever, and it turned into a tangled mess that pulled itself all over the place and it was hard to get to the beans. So this year I did the triangle formation with room to walk in between. Purple beans would be nice cuz that was a lot of green to look through for green beans.

[SandyAnn]

Purple beans would be nice cuz that was a lot of green to look through for green beans.

Now THATS a great idea! Filing that under the "Now Why Didn't I Think of That" category.
Sandy