A wild , comestible North American plant that most masses know as Jerusalem artichoke is not an artichoke at all . And it did n’t come from Jerusalem . The odd name comes from a story of miscommunication that ’s too long and tiresome to relate here .
To get around that light-headed name some foodie occur up “ Jerusalem artichoke ” because the plant is in the helianthus family . It still begs the enquiry : Why would any sane individual christen any food with the name “ choke ? ”
Professionalforager Sam Thayer opt the name sunroot . And given that the Latin name isHelianthus tuberosus , which means “ tuberous sunflower , ” sunroot seems like the right agency to go so I ’ll deposit with that . Mostly .
withal , sunchoke , as a name , is still much good than the undeserved halfway - school - wit name of “ fartichoke . ” If you harvest the tuber of this plant too betimes , yes , you ’ll get gas — enough perhaps to make others suffocate !
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A Fine Foraging Find
But a chic forager will hold off for Robert Frost to exhaustively kill the top of the Jerusalem artichoke industrial plant to avoid that gassy faux pas . If you glean the genus Tuber after that severe alteration in the weather , you wo n’t be grasp up fartichokes . Instead you ’ll be digging up a paleo craw that provided much of the healthy carbohydrates for those original locavores , the Native Americans .
Interestingly , sunroot starch has a sweet flavor , yet evolved in a mannikin that diabetic can safely eat . The tuber are delicious raw and are crispy as H2O chestnuts . Frank Hyman
Do n’t make the misapprehension of preparing them like potatoes as some recommend . They make a good pickle or can be steamed or roast whole and slice up to attend as a side dish . If you do n’t have a base cellar , the tubers can stay in the ground through wintertime or you’re able to store them in a plastic bag in the electric refrigerator for several months .
Frank Hyman
Sunroots ’ striking yellow flower bloom in early fall on 8- to 10 - foot tall , haired bow . You ’ll find them develop wild in sunny fields and at the border of forests where they spread and shade out other plants .
Be mindful that other interchangeable but inedible raving mad repeated helianthus species fetch up blooming in late summer before sunroots have begin . They also all have smooth stems as opposed to the sunroots ’ haired ace .
Take note of the location while the sunroots are blooming and then come back after a hard frost has bolt down the tops . The sandpapery hairs on the stems will still be there to reveal this plant ’s secret identity .
Frank Hyman
contribute a shovel to prod them and a bucket to carry them in . The tubers will be plentiful .
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A Cultivated Crop
Foraging is n’t the only way to gather sunroots . We can do as the Native Americans did and constitute them as a crop . Oikos Tree Nursery sells cultivated varieties of sunroots and other fascinating native crops online .
But since they spread out , I contain my sunroots in magnanimous formative nursery containers ( 10- to 20 - gallon crapper ) scavenged from landscapers . Fill them with garden ground but no fertiliser . Mulch the pot and keep it water during dry spell .
To keep these top - heavy plants from tipping over their mess in a strong wind , I lop a few column inch off the top when they ’re a foot grandiloquent to thrust them into a brusque , bushier shape .
After the base of the plant have been killed by a heavy frost ( which is not needs the first icing ) cut your sunroots to the ground . Then dump out the entire pot onto a tarp .
Gather all the Jerusalem artichoke tubers except for one or two that get tossed back in with all the grease to grow next class ’s craw .
This article earlier appear in the January / February 2021 issue ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
