You will never starve if you are growing Jerusalem Artichokes. These are a root crop, but the tops can be use to feed stock, & the dried stalks make excellent kindling. If you are going bush, take some of the rhizomes with you. They will multiply. These are native to the Great Lakes area in North America, they grow very well here in the temperate climate of New England in Australia. You should have no problem growing these in the UK. Keith.
Mmmm I love artichokes! I had no idea the plants had so many other uses. Do they bear a lot of fruit? I'd love to try growing these, I'm hoping to get a nice variety of veggies in my garden next year.
Jerusalem Artichoke is NOT the same as an Artichoke. Jerusalem Artichoke is a root crop, but yes it grows a lot of tubers. Not much taste, but if added to a stew they tend to take on the taste of the stew. They can be eaten raw & they can of course be dried to preserve them or to carry as a trail food. I prefer them roasted. Keith.
Didn't knew those Jerusalem artichokes. Seems they are very useful to let them grow widespread in temperate climate zones, tops to feed stock and dried stalks for kindling, certainly handy to have around.
@Keith H. ............How long does it take for a artichoke to reach its harvesting stage? It does seem like a low maintenance vegetable. I can imagine a whole field of this and it yielding 1000 pounds of food per harvest. I can't find any time frame online as to it's growth rate.
Sautéed Jerusalem artichokes with garlic and also it would be good to add some bay leaves and you will have on your hands a lovely alternative snack.This vegetable is not really what we say may constitute as an artichoke but rather one of the assortments of sunflower with an uneven, chestnut toned tube that you might frequently say takes after a ginger root.
I have been growing these for several years now. We have harvested very few of the tubers because I have been replanting them in more areas around the yard, and along the fence line. The name is completely misleading, because they have nothing to do with either Jerusalem or an artichoke. Apparently, it is a case of the name being corrupted by people who didn't understand it. The proper name for them was Gerisol, which means "sunflower" in Italian. They are also called sunchokes, or earth apples, and they are actually part of the sunflower family. They do not produce the large edible seeds like the big sunflowers do, but they have beautiful small daisy-like flowers in the fall. Since they will spread each year, you can start with only a few tubers, and gradually you can grow more and more of them. They will grow at least 5-6 tall, and I think in good soil, probably even taller. This is a great survival food, because even if people were raiding houses for food, most of them would not know that you have a veritable garden growing underneath those beautiful yellow flowers. Another nice thing is that they can be eaten either cooked or raw, and used as a potato substitute .
