Jerusalem Artichoke

Jerusalem Artichoke

I first found this plant in my neighbor's garden in Massachusetts. He had a fire in his house and decided to demolish the site. He moved to Florida and told me to take any of the flowers that I wanted from his garden. These were alongside his fence and were very easy to transplant.

They are very durable and have survived fire, being transplanted and then again being transported to Western New York.

The Jerusalem artichoke was titled 'best soup vegetable' in the 2002 Nice festival for the heritage of the French cuisine. Despite its name, this hardy perennial is native of North America. Prepare the vitamin and mineral-rich roots as you would potatoes. Or enjoy their sweet nutty flavor by slicing them raw into a salad or a stir fry.

This perennial grows from 4 – 9’ tall. The tubers are gnarly and uneven, vaguely resembling ginger root, with a crisp texture when raw; they vary in color from pale brown to white, red or purple. The crop yields are high, Jerusalem artichoke also has a great deal of unused potential as a producer of ethanol fuel.

Harvesting should be done after the first frost. Dig the roots with a spading fork as needed. They are thin skinned so keep them moist until you are ready to eat them. The roots keep best in the ground, even over the winter.

Sir Walter Raleigh found Native Americans cultivating sunroots in what is now Virginia in 1585. When the sunchoke reached Europe in the early 1600s, thanks to Samuel de Champlain, it was known as the "Canada" or "French" potato.

Jerusalem artichokes are easy to cultivate, which tempts gardeners to simply leave them completely alone to grow. Even a small piece of tuber will grow if left in the ground, making the hardy plant a potential weed.

CAUTION: very invasive. Best planted next to a fence and the rear of the flower bed.

Here is a squirrel whose main purpose in life seems to be to bury peanuts and chestnuts in every part of my garden. He and his partner live in a tree in front of my house. They spend most of their time frolicking around the power lines and fence tops. We have learned to live in harmony together.