photo #1430402

Jerusalem Artichoke tops. The tubers won't be ready to harvest until around October. Jerusalem Artichokes, AKA Sunchokes and Fartichokes. They are a north-eastern North American perennial native related to annual Sunflowers and perennial Dandelions. Native Americans used them as a major food source plus some medicinal uses. They're packed full of a soluble fiber called Inulin that can cause explosive gas, hence the 'other' name, Fartichokes. Regular and moderate use of Inulin can help with several gut problems, but not without stirring them up first. That's a downside, but if you can get through the initial rough stages, Inulin can really help. My wife and I both take Inulin as a supplement. I take one tsp. daily, she takes one about every three day or so. She suffered from regular bouts of Diverticulitis, especially around the holidays when eating gets unscheduled. Since taking the Inulin she hasn't had one bout in several years! Both of my parents had colon trouble. My mother had severe polyps that never developed into cancer. My dad developed colon cancer and had to have a colostomy. That gives me a double whammy for colon trouble. I'm 66 y/o and had my last colonoscopy just over a month ago. No polyps and no sign of inflammation! The surgeon has only found one polyp in me and that was shortly before I started Inulin. Read up on it, it's amazing.I've got three varieties that I've roughly ID'd from online sources.The first one is similar to Stampede. It's a white/tan skinned very knobby tuber that can reach the size of baking potatoes in pure, aged compost. In the garden patch they get up to baseball sized. They spread around 8" from the crown making them good for medium sized containers. I easily get 30+ gallons out of a 5' x 25' patch and I don't dig to clean them out, so there's a lot more left in the ground than what's needed for next year's seed. They grow under a 5' - 6' top with 3"+ YELLOW flowers that smell like chocolate!The next type is like a Fescue(?), red skinned, slightly knobby, about the size of tennis balls and they spread around 16"+. That's a bit much for containers unless you've got BIG containers. They're also under a 5' - 6' top. They're much easier to clean and I'll learn more about them this fall. When I got them, I screwed up, royally. I tossed them into the patch with the Stampede. They didn't do well at all for several years, then I discovered that they're allelopathic. Just like Walnut trees, they spread chemicals that retard germination and spreading of competitors, including other varieties. Last fall I separated enough to make a 6' x 6' patch that's doing very well this summer.The last variety is terrible. I'm not joking. I found them along a road and a woodlot near a village called Stump Creek, just north of Punxsutawney. Yep, the home town of THAT groundhog. Why are they terrible? They have an obnoxiously strong turnipy-herbal taste. They're a white-tan skinned carrot sized and shaped tuber that can spread 4'! They'll cross under a large sidewalk or a narrow lane with no problem. They are so strong that one, just one tuber chunked up in a whole pot of stew or soup will flavor it up and stink up the kitchen while doing it. Yea, I don't do much with these.For those who don't want to mess with the Inulin, it can be converted into Fructose four ways. Hours long cooking, cooking in a acid such as vinegar or citric acid. Freezing, either in the freezer or in the ground over winter. Last is by fermenting just like sauerkraut or in a Kimchi or as refrigerator pickles.Now for post number three.