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[jhereg]

if anyone is interested in planting some JA tubers, let me know, i'd be happy to send some out.


i should prolly note tho', that in order to keep shipping costs down, i'd like to limit it to half a pound per person. i'll try to post a pic later showing how much that is.

[chase]

Heheh, ai just planted some this season and they're already a foot tall. Looking forward to harvesttime and that cool, artichokeish taste....

[sunflowersFTW!]

oooh, sunchokes! i'd be interested in some seeds, but it'll be quite some time before i'll have a yard in which to plant them, unfortunately. hopefully i'll have good luck with finding some in the wild. shouldn't be a problem, though.

[jhereg]

alas, i have no seeds! 

they taste a little more like earthy water chestnuts to me. my wife & daughter aren't too fond, but i like 'em! 

[Matt]

What climate can they grow in?

[jhereg]

it's native range is listed as "eastern North America, from Maine west to North Dakota, and south to northern Florida and Texas" and in general is comfortable in temperate climates.

[Matt]

Drat, my area is probably too cold then

[derekja]

I don't know that Calgary is too cold. They grow great here in Seattle. And Calgary summers don't seem that different from North Dakota. They're awfully hardy little buggers.

Just make sure to cook them properly! We called them "fartichokes" a couple summers ago because the inulin isn't very digestible.

[heyvictor]

We've grown them in B.C. They are pretty hardy. In fact they kind of tried to take over one end of our garden.

I like them, but we finally decided to remove them and had a hell of a time.  All it takes is for you to cut a tiny bit of the root when digging them up, and accidentally leave it behind and you will have them growing again next year.

You need to choose your location for them carefully because they can be colonizers.

[jhereg]

oh, yeah, def pick a spot to put 'em and just let 'em have it.

the first time i ate them, i had painful gas, but that was early in the fall. i've since eaten them later in the year (like mid-winter thru about now) w/o that kind of reaction. they seem to become more digestible after a couple/three frosts.

[derekja]

The freezing should also break down the inulin.

I'm not from anywhere that these are native, so I don't know about traditional cooking of jerusalem artichokes persay, but camus bulbs are the traditional food here in the pacific NW that are high in inulin. They were frequently cooked in a steam pit for anywhere from 12 to 24 hours and that long, slow heat renders the inulin digestible. (and yummy! Steam pit camus bulbs are delicious)

[Willem]

jhereg-

Ahhh! Yes, in the words of John Goodyer, way back in 1621:

“which way soever they be dressed and eaten, they stir and cause a filthy loathsome stinking wind within the body, thereby causing the belly to be pained and tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine than men.”

Repeat after me: filthy, loathsome, stinking wind.

[sunflowersFTW!]

Sunchokes, like all or at least most members of the Sunflower family, are extremely hardy. I have a feeling they'd do fine in southern stretches in Canada. They don't require much care at all, either.

[jhereg]

jhereg-

Ahhh! Yes, in the words of John Goodyer, way back in 1621:

“which way soever they be dressed and eaten, they stir and cause a filthy loathsome stinking wind within the body, thereby causing the belly to be pained and tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine than men.”

Repeat after me: filthy, loathsome, stinking wind.

depends on when you dig and eat them. i've had excellent results by waiting later after a couple of good freezes (in OH, I think waiting until Christmas-ish before digging in is a good time).

and i can't really say that it stank much, tho' the pain might have been distracting me... 

[finisia medrano]

 
   this root and camas have sugars that are not digestagle by you system without proper cooking. to have a complete rubbingstone to put in the bundle that is you , you would have to know how to give life to this sister plant and how to cook it soas to allow it to feed you. these need to be roasted thouroghly to a mocha cofee color and then no more gas thank you. we are offering the hoop experience so that those who would like to build community in these old ways and on these old hoops can . we plant back continually. what we hope to offer is what we see is lacking in discusssion and learningthe way and that is the game, the chance to live it and to create the model and community . look for kim slayton, les, and finisia medrano email fnamedrano@yahoo.com thank you tranny granny