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Jerusalem Artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus)

GROWING SUMMARY​

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  • Onions are frost hardy and germinate best between

  • Timing:  

  • Direct Seeding

  • Growing Seedlings
    Germination temperature

  • Bed Preparation
    Raised beds
    On the flat

  • Plant Spacing
    Germination temperature

  • Irrigation
    Germination temperature

  • Pests and Diseases
    Germination temperature

  • Harvesting
    November – January depending on variety & location

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GROWING SUMMARY​

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  • Plant tubers directly into the garden in late winter or spring. Choose your spot carefully, certainly not it the middle of your annual vegetable beds because once established they can be hard to get rid of. They like full sun and  can grow up to 3 metres tall in relatively poor soil. They do well positioned oin the south side of a  north facing fence as it can be used to support them when they reach full size.

  • Make sure to add potassium (wood ashi is a good source) when preparing the ground and go easy on high nitrogen fertiliser (manures, blood and bone). You want to encourage strong root growth, not lush top growth

  • Plant the tubers 100mm deep and 300mm apart.

  • Mulch well and install drip irrigation.

  • For maximum yield you should pinch off the flower buds as they appear and the artichokes are ready to harvest when the plants start to die off in late summer, early winter.

VARIETIES​

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Jerulalem artichokes are available on line but usually you can get a few from gardening friends or even the green grocer or supermarket. Choose carefully, you want to plant large, healthy, smooth tubers if you can. It makes peeling them easier if you don't want to eat the skins.

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MORE INFORMATION

The Name

Jerusalem Artichoke are not closely related to globe artichokes or cardoons. They are a member of the sunflower family and you eat the roots not the flowers. The Jerusalem part of the name comes from a corruption of the Italian name for a sunflower "girasole", the French called them artichokes because they have a similar taste to globe artichokes.

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Growing Jerusalem Artichokes.

Plant your Jerusalem Artichokes in a part of your garden were they can stay for a long time. They are not really a big problem as a weed because they are easy to pull out when they are young. However they are very persistent and produce lovely, lush green foliage which I always promise to remove but never do. The problem is that they are sunflowers and the cheery yellow autumn display is gorgeous.  The advice is to prune the flowers back to increase production of roots, however they seem to produce plenty of tubers without any flower removal so most people leave them and enjoy the display.

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Eating Artichokes

To peel or not to peel is a personal preference. Either way they are delicious in soups, salads or casseroles. However they have earned themselves another name - Fartichokes. Make sure you add plenty of lemon juice to the water when you boil them. This greatly reduces the amount of gas they produce when eaten.

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