I grow them, Mainly as an ornamental they are a perenial sunflower and bloom late summer early fall and attrack tons of benificials. My wife makes relish out of them but other than relish have never cooked them. I have a 5gal bucket of them in the shop right now and noticed the top few are shriveled and moldy but still plenty of good ones in the bottom. They can become evasive. Mine came from my wifes Grandmothers house my mother inlaw says they have been there her whole life and they always made relish each year from them. These things will grow 10ft tall and become loaded with 3in yellow sunflowers in the fall with very little water. Rodger

They definitely don't keep just like a potato. If left out, on the shelf, they dry up and go bad in just a couple days. But I have found they keep quite well if I keep them in a plastic shopping bag with a damp paper towel and in a cool place like an out building or the hydrator in the fridge.

Rodger, would you happen to have that relish recipe available?

When I was in my teens I would sometimes go camping, making a "cold camp," (no fire). I would often carry a sack of these and eat them raw for my dinner.

I don't know if it was varietal, or that my mom used a pressure cooker. But her cooked sunchokes were mushy. Mine, either baked or boiled remain pretty firm. Even when I sliced some into a stew, they had roughly the same texture as a potato. I need to mention, however, that unlike a potato, I boiled them (twice) before slicing them into my stew. I REALLY didn't want another stomach ache!

George

I planted these last summer for my husband who is diabetic and on low carb diet. The sunchoke is a good substitute for Irish potatoes. Good to know about changing the water! Someone sent me a recipe for pickled sunchoke. I put them in containers...have them on property line and that neighbor would have a fit if they got in her grass!

Peggy

I have the recipe, but I am at work, working nights this weekend. So I will post it tomorrow.
Rodger

Here's another good like, with some good comments and observations on sunchokes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunchokes/ Plants for A Future

I'm thinking of planting them in an abandoned field, but I'm wondering... if they get mowed down in their youth, will they fail or grow a new stalk? I think this field, which contains some drainage ponds, is occassionally mowed (but I'm not sure) by the neighborhood association. I'd hate to see them looking good only to be mowed down in their prime.

Good tip about changing the water when cooking!

They are a bit invasive here in Zone 7. I planted a few of them several years ago and they continue to oome up in the original bed, no matter how much I pull them up.

I grew these last year, they did really well, and I think they taste delicious!

I did find the 'gas' effect seemed to lessen each time I ate them.

They make a lovely screen. I didn't get nearly all of them harvested before the ground froze solid for the winter, I presume they will still come up next year??

Yes, I'm sure they will come up. When I was a boy, growing up in NJ, we would mulch them, so we could dig them all winter. In Oklahoma, there are only a few days a year that I cannot dig. Those who know me, probably laugh, when I mention this... because I do so enjoy digging!

George

Here's a great Youtube video from Midwest Permaculture, on Sunchokes/ Jerusalem Artichokes. This fellow says it the way I'd like to!

George

Here is a link that might be useful: Midwest Permaculture/ Sunchokes

Heres the recipe for the artichoke relish. This is a sweet relish and is a recipe from the 20-30s at least.
3qt chop cabbage
3qt chopped onions
3qt chopped red and yellow and green sweet peppers
3qts chopped artichoke
1qt chopped sweet cucmber pickle ( we use bread and butter)
1 bunch celery chopped
a few pods of hot pepper chopped
5 tbsp of powdered mustard
3 tbsp tumeric
1 1/2cups flour
4 lbs sugar
1 cup salt
1/2 gal vinegar

Place all the vegetables except pickles in a large container and mix with the cup of salt. Let stand for 2-3 hrs. Drain well in a colander. Mix sugar , flour, mustard,tumeric with vinegar in pot on stove add drained vegetables and bring to a boil add cucumber pickle.Remove from heat pack into hot jars and seal.
this is great as a side with butter beans or southern peas. Rodger

That's wonderful Rodger. Thanks!

George

macmex, I ordered a pound of these and am waiting for them to arrive. I was planning to put them in an east-facing part-sun bed that's planted fairly lightly with perennial flower bulbs. Do you think this will work? I've never planted them before but really enjoy eating them roasted at 450F for about 20 minutes.

Hi Shnnn,

If you can grow something that's known to need sun, then chances are they will grow in that bed. Another way to think about it is to see if the bed gets 6 hours of sun. I'd say that is the minimum. If they will grow I can almost guarantee that you've never seen anything produce like Jerusalem Artichokes! Good luck!

I still have quite a few out in the garden and they're starting to sprout now. Recently we fixed up a bunch as hash browns and they were good.

George

So how could I prepare them for MAXIMUM gas effect? This sounds like a great source for a practical joke on the guys at work - maybe I could make "pumpkin" pie out of them?

I would like to plant them and I almost did. I bought some at the store first to taste them (good idea, right?). I prepared them sauteed with some peppers and onions (like breakfast potatoes) and served them with eggs for breakfast. They were really good, we both liked them. The whole intestinal reaction was somewhat delayed on me and it started in the evening of that day. It was worse than any bean or any other food - well, almost - but let me tell you, no fun at all. My DSO did not have the same effect, which is strange, since beans affect him a lot more than they affect me. I decided against planting them so as not to live the rest of my life in solitude.

Thanks for posting the double boiling method George. I will buy them again and do the double boil on them. I still want to plant them, I like the taste, they are a great crop, they would be great as a fence crop and the flowers sound great. I have to just figure a way for my body to digest them....gently.

I eat them raw and have never noticed any digestion issues. To me, they are like very-easy-to-grow carrots, slightly more tender (like a water chestnut) with no bitter skin. Lately, we've been using them for slaw instead of cabbage (just push them through the salad shooter and add dressing).

They are ridiculously productive- I dug my last 4 plants yesterday and got a wheelbarrow-full. And I've never had bugs or diseases attack them. They really should be dug by Spring each year, as each plant makes about a 2' circle of tubers before frost kills the mother plant. So they get seriously overcrowded very quickly if you don't harvest.

I wouldn't recommend planting them in a flowerbed with anything else. Better off to themselves.

I've decided to plant Jerusalem Artichokes this year. I have heavy deer/rabbit predation in my area and have a fenced plot where I can grow them.

My question is: when they grow higher than the fence (about 4 feet) will the deer nibble the tops off? And will this have an effect on the harvest.

I could try to get THE HUSBAND out there to build the fence taller, but it would take an act of Congress for it to happen!

Thanks, Florrie

Florrie, how much the deer bother them really depends on how bad the deer problem is in your area. I have mine growing by a 4 1/2' fence, where deer could nibble them. But our deer population is fairly well controlled. When we lived in NJ, however, deer would mow down everything even remotely edible, even pushing the fence down, if it wasn't well supported. Do you see deer where you would like to grow these? If not, then maybe you can escape damage. Another thing to consider is that it is better to put up a barrier BEFORE they know what is "in there." Once they taste a goodie inside the fence, they will go through great lengths to get more. One option might be to put up another 4' fence, about 5' back from the first. This would effectively keep them from reaching the sunchoke plants and would probably be more economical than making the existing fence deer proof. Just some ideas.

Steelshepherd the way I've fixed them, which caused me the most grief, is precisely what Shnnn likes to do. I baked them. Then I split, buttered and ate them like a baked potato. Prepared this way they tasted absolutely WONDERFUL. But, oh! I was up much of the night with gas pains and all the accompanying sound effects! Keep in mind that apparently not everyone has this reaction. I was the only one in my family.

I am also coming to the conclusion that small to moderate amounts per consumption are helpful; that and frequent consumption. My personal theory is that the body somehow can adapt. But when we did them as hash browns, even after boiling twice, I ate A LOT and had some discomfort.

One more comment: I have to agree with the above comment about eating them raw. I have often done this, even recently, and with no noticeable ill effect. They are very tasty raw.

George

Macmex, you have some of the most interesting topics!

Since they don't store well for long periods, can you just harvest as you want to eat them? Or are they like potatoes or onions that you have to harvest all at the same time or can they be left in the ground even after the tops have died? I'm in zone 8, so our season is longer.

I have mostly harvested as I needed them, since our ground only froze briefly this winter. But it has been handy to have a sack of them out "in the shed."

George

I have posted about Jerusalem artichokes in the past. I have them taking over a concrete block box so they can't take over my tiny backyard. They are a stately looking, tall plant. It also cracks me up about their flatulent nature.

Gerard's Herbal, printed in 1621, quotes the English planter John Goodyear on Jerusalem artichokes:
"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."

The culprit as someone mentioned is inulin to which some people have a high sensitivity and they are not able to digest. Inulin is a polysaccharide (grouping of simple sugars). I wonder if Beano would be helpful or cooking it with epazote? Epazote helps reduce the noxious flatulent effects beans have on some people. Plants that use inulin do not store starches so as someone mentioned this is most helpful to diabetics. I can relate to the flatulence problems. I can eat beans with gusto and have very few if any major side effects. My mother would get cramps if she ate too many beans. Some folks get horrible gas from cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. It just depends upon how one's system digests foods. The same method someone mentioned about double boiling JAs works with beans too. If you soak the dry beans over night and then pour the water off, cook in new water and pour that water off, the complex starches which are on the bean coating will be greatly diminished which results in less gas problems. I just thought I'd throw that in. I swear I'm going to eat these JAs in my backyard some day but like someone else pointed out, if you dig them up and leave them out on the counter for more than a day, they shrivel up and go bad. I enjoyed this thread on JAs. I'll need to pay more attention to the jungle of them I have in my backyard.

They're roots, and soften something like carrots, losing crispness in a few days at room temp. By contrast, they stay good all winter in a plastic bag in your refrigerator vegetable drawer.

Left in the ground they start to sprout as the soil warms up in the Spring.

I got some JA plants from forum member Violet (whom I haven't seen post lately) back in 2007. Last yr. they spread tremendously, I thought it was seeds from the flowers? But I never got the harvest shown by George in the 1st post. Not even close. Last year I remember getting some very, very small tubers in the spring that were quite tasty raw. I just didn't think the size was worth all the work.

What am I doing wrong?

Gumby,
JA don't start getting tubers until about mid August and should be ready by late September or early - mid October, My question is how do people cook these without them turning to mush? no matter what I do all I get is a watery mush... so what am I doing wrong, I would be very grateful for any hints.

Well, I suspect that variety has something to do with their texture when cooked. The ones we grew, when I was a kid, turned to mush. But the ones I grew in 2008 stay quite firm even when boiled for over 20 minutes. I suspect that the size issue could also be related to variety. The named variety which seems most similar to what I have is called Stampede.

George

I shredded mine in the Cuisinart, then mixed with about 1/3 shredded potatoes, rinse very well with cold water, pat dry, and fry for hash browns with diced onion. Very good!

Also, make "mashed potatoes" 50/50 with regular potatoes. You get that nice sunchoke flavor, but the potatoes add more body to the mix.

I think they would make an awesome gratin, maybe layer the slices with sliced potatoes, onion, and kohlrabi, add cheese, milk, and a little flour salt and pepper, bake until bubbly and the root veggies are soft.

I keep meaning to make sunchoke "chips" frying them like potato chips. I sure do have enough of the dang things.

macmex here is some info I found about Sunchokes:

The stored carbohydrate of the artichoke is inulin, which differs from the starch of the potato. If you are not used to it, your stomach will rumble. The only thing you an do about that is to eat artichokes or black salsify more often.

Because this starch, or inulin, is not easily digestible by everyone, it may be best to introduce the vegetable in small amounts.

but they contain inulin - An indigestible starch which a) makes you fart, b) makes them very low calorie and c) is considered to be a "pre-biotic", helping to feed colonies of good bacteria in the gut."

And my favorite:

In 1621 the writer John Goodyer wrote of the Jerusalem Artichoke, "but in my judgement, which way soever they be drest and eaten they stir up and cause a filthie loathesome stinking winde with the bodie, thereby causing the belly to bee much pained and tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine, than men."

Makes me almost scared to grow them, as I get the winds by looking at beans. :)

Dean

bump for bobbo...

Thanks that was very helpful