Jerusalem Artichoke/Sunchokes

[preservefreak]

A few days ago I planted some Jerusalem artichokes in a small scrap of earth we have at the end of our yard. I love eating them so growing them seems a natural step. The video is American but still valid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD1aHQ0ZtJ4

One of the people in the video above has them growing in a sand pit so any scrap land nearby would be ideal for them.

You can store them in the ground on the plant and as long as the soil is movable you can harvest them. They are ready from Oct - Mar for harvest but apparently if you leave them in the ground they will just keep getting bigger.

Anyone else grown them before?

[Straight Shooter]

Never tried them and TBH never eat them.....what do they taste like ? How easy are they to grow? Bet you S13 eats the buggers all the time....with insects I spect.

[GrannyMike]

We used to them to feed to pigs planted half acre in Feb put pigs on after first frost about Oct pigs root them up clean ground and muck it at same time they grow over six feet tall and will flower like a small sunflower as they are same family taste wise a bit soap y and give you wind goats will also eat tops roots very easy to grow no needed when growing well

[preservefreak]

This is my first attempt growing them but they are apparently very easy. Taste wise kind of like a water chestnut raw and kind of potato like when cooked.

[Scythe13]

The wife likes them....can't say I've ever complained.

Just get a load and throw them on the ground. Simples. Urm, I mean cultivate them specially.....

[Stewart]

They take over any space they grow in.cut the stems off before they flower and the bulbs grow bigger

[Little Lou]

Stewart's right. We inherited some in the garden of our last house, and they took over everything they could reach. We were eight years there, and still never eradicated them completely.

There's a good article about them here - which also confirms Granny Mike's comments about wind...

On the other hand, you're right, and they're the perfect survival food. I'm thinking they'd be a great candidate for guerrilla gardening - they need no looking after, can thrive on any old soil, and will spread as much as you like. They don't even look 'food-like', so it's unlikely amateur foragers would spot them post SHTF. I think I'm going to get some tubers tomorrow!