Jerusalem Artichoke growing

Mark

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Well here's the end (nearly) of our jerusalem artichoke plants - they died rather suddenly actually! I guess the cooler change during the past few nights hit the plants hard and triggered the dieback (which is normal at this time of year of course).

The strange thing was there are still some plants growing in the high round raised beds and for some reason these jerusalem artichokes came up a month or more later than the ones in the lower raised beds even though they were all planted at the same time. I'm not sure why this happened - maybe someone could have a guess?

jerusalem artichoke in raised garden bed die back.jpg


There's heaps of tubers and we'll need to use the ones dug pretty quickly otherwise they'll go soft. I tend to only dig them up when we want a few to eat (because that way they stay hard buried in the ground) or at the beginning of the season in spring to separate and spread out to grow.

jerusalem artichoke tubers in garden.jpg


I wrote a review on Jerusalem artichokes here for those who are interested - I wouldn't call it one of my all time favs but I do still like growing it as a substitute carb.
 

Mark

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I have since found out Jerusalem artichokes are a good vegetable to ferment (for food and alcohol) but I want to try it for food. I will post the results and start a new thread on our "Preserving" section.
 

OskarDoLittle

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Oh I'm jealous! I dug mine up (admittedly a little early, because my mother-I-L wanted some) and despite wonderful leafy foliage and flowers, there weren't many rhizomes. I ended up keeping them to replant in spring as there wasn't enough for eating and re growing. What sort of alcohol do you get from them? I'd guess something like a vodka!
I suspect the reason the lower ones dies off before the ones in the raised bed is simply from frost/colder weather at the lower level.
 

Mark

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What sort of alcohol do you get from them?
I have no idea :dunno: yeah I suppose being similar to a potato (sort of) vodka might be it...?
I suspect the reason the lower ones dies off before the ones in the raised bed is simply from frost/colder weather at the lower level.
Hmmm, that's the best answer I've got so far and it sounds totally plausible to me.
 

Mark

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I'll let you guys know if fermentation helps tame the gassy aftereffects - I'm fermenting some Jerusalem artichokes in the next few days ;)
 

OskarDoLittle

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So after digging up most of my Jerusalem artichokes to give away, and having never had much success with them, this year I just ignored them. So I was quite shocked this am when i went to dig out the "dead" flowers to discover a god 4-5kg of tubers!
Just cooked some up for lunch (saluted in coconut oil with garlic, rosemary, salt & pepper & a little bacon with a splash of apple cider vinegar) - they're delicious!! I didn't peel them so there's a good chance of lots of gas!! Nice enough i've decided to replant them!
 
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