Thursday, January 4, 2018

Harvesting Jerusalem ArtichokeTubers

 Helianthus tuberosus   sign

Unexpected Challenges of Preparing Helianthus tuberosus for Market


Summer Tales for Winter Days

A few years back, Lilly a friend of Nodding Onion Gardens graciously gave us several Jerusalem artichoke tubers. These potato-like tubers, which some folks eat were planted and left undisturbed for three years. In the fall of 2017 it was obvious that they had out grown their original home and needed to be relocated. The apple tree, which was a young seedling at the time of planting, was now blocking precious sunlight.

After carefully removing the tubers, half were planted in one of our gardens and half were potted in anticipation of next season's farmer’s markets. Sounds sensible right? As it turns out, people aren’t the only ones that find Jerusalem artichokes palatable; so do mice, chipmunks, rabbits or maybe even squirrels. Either way garden critters enjoyed a nutritious meal courtesy of Nodding Onion Gardens, potted up and ready to go. Take out food in the natural world.