I am in a moist climate. I could understand that they might be better behaved in NMexico or Colorado. I have posted elsewhere that I have inadvertently produced bags and bags of them. More than half will be wasted. They need cold weather for storage, and things are heating up fast. If you put them in any soil, you will get tubers. The yield increases according to the quality of soil, sun, and water, of course. I got good results from grow bags filled with unfinished compost, chicken manure, sand, some wood ash, and well, sawdust and grass. Kind of mixed up.. Just... whatever... really. I got fair results from builder's sand with a cup of compost per plant. If you like watching things grow, they are great entertainment. They are good raw. Their texture is water chestnut or jicama-ish. Cooking is a little tricky. I recommend pressure cookers for use with them. Use them as you might rutabagas, or carrots?, or potatoes. Half and half mashed with potatoes is good. Curries with them are better than stews with them. Finding recipes is more difficult than growing them. In northern Asia, they are pickled, which seems to me to be a great thing to do with them. They would be awesome in a sweet pickle brine. The stalks they produce are also awesome. I have grown them to three meters. The stalks are about as hard as okra stalks. After you grow a stand of JA, you have enough supports for your spring peas, no problem. I have used them for kindling too.

Thanks Cabrita. The problem with JA is that if you slice or blanch them, they turn an icky gray in about 20 minutes. It weird to watch. I do not have a large freezer, so that is out. Dehydration might lead to grayness too. I am not sure, but I will check on that sooner or later. I have made chips out of them, but their water content is so high that they get leathery. Good taste though. You should try that. You will have better results than I did. As you know, harvest is January through April or so. After that, they start to sprout. So storage has not been a problem up to now. Actually, composting conventionally will not work either. I think my best bet here is to do anaerobic composting because doing it aerobically will cause them to sprout. And I am sure that JA sprouting in a compost pile will create a 50 foot godzilla like monster. For Rachel: You'll see. I think that the tubers will fill your needs well. They are watery rutabagas/turnip like things. They are not as starchy as potatoes. They are sweet. You will like them. Maaaaaybe...hahaha. If you give them good soil, they will grow very tall. I cut off the flowers to encourage tuber formation. Maybe it works. I use the stalks, which are okra like and about 8 feet high in many cases, and about an inch in diameter. You can snap them over your knee, but they are firm supports for veggies for the next year. I have a strange idea that everything in a garden should degrade over time, so I love using the stalks for peas, tomatoes, etc. Other uses? Kids like to use the stalks for jousting. Armor and helmets not included. Ah jousting. Sport of kings.

So I planted my knobby store-bought ones in a large pot that a tree came in. They got plenty tall and were beautiful and disease free, but they did get eaten about 3 feet shorter at one point by my nemesis, the deer. I'm attributing their lousy production to that and the fact that I didn't water them much. The soil was really dry a lot of the time. They didn't flower. They did multiply, but not anything impressive for an invasive plant. However, I am believing you guys and have NOT dumped the dirt out. I'm sure it will grow plenty of artichokes next year. Seems like they like more water. I misunderstood the talk about them tasting better after hard frosts, though, and left them pulled up and exposed. They got soft in our hard frosts. I stuck some back under the soil and brought some in the house to see what happens over the winter.

Thanks for confirming my thoughts that JA might be able to take an 'unseasonable' move. I have some that have managed to show up (I'm thinking an animal may have dragged/dumped a tuber) way in the back of my yard-so if these do fail, I do have some 'back-up'. I've had these things for YEARS and have only had them bloom a few times-I'm guessing the weather/length of season has to be just right. I've been dragging my passies in an out with the seasons. This year I have three incarnata that I overwinterd in the garage, instead inside in the house, and they are going to be part of my 'zone-challenging' grand experiement. I've planted them in a 'primo' place (south side, next to brick wall of fireplace), and will mulch the bejeebers out of them so see if I can get them to make it through a winter here.... I also was given two 2-year rooted figs by the grandfather of friend (from upstate NY) who swears that planted next to the house, properly wrapped, will make it through a zone 4 winter.... I've planted one in an ULTRA primo spot (as opposed to just 'primo') and am going to wrap and mulch like crazy after the first couple of frosts... If I can pull this one off, I know I will have to keep it to a large bush, small tree size--but still!!!! If the one makes it, the other one will be planted outside next spring. My goal is to come up with a fig that can (with protection) survive in zone 4 .... I'll try to remember to let you know how the 'grand experiement' went and if successful, maybe send you some cuttings...