Apios americana (Ground Nut) and Jerusalem Artichoke

vickeym
vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited March 2022 in Vegetables

Have been reading about both of these wild grown tubers. Thinking they may be good to add to our own (and others) plans for food security.

The ground nut sounds like it could be a good option for folks on a low carb diet as well. Based on this description. https://sowtrueseed.com/collections/bulbs-live-plants/products/ground-nuts?_pos=1&_sid=f6aed31f7&_ss=r

Only problem I have found is that they are hard to come by. Several places seem to have the ground nuts but they are all out of stock.

Only one place I found sold the Jerusalem artichokes and they were out of stock as well. https://territorialseed.com/products/jerusalem-artichoke

Would anyone have ideas how to get them for this season?

We can't plant outside until Memorial day here, so I have a little time yet. I'm on the notification lists for a couple places but I'm thinking they may not get more this year.

Comments

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    I am also on a notification list for Jerusalem Artichokes. I just found another source but their site isn't allowing me to place an order so I have e-mailed them. I will let you know when and if I am able to source them. Both are Canadian companies. T&T seeds is also sold out.

  • bookworm
    bookworm Posts: 35 ✭✭✭

    We got our original starts from our local health food store. We plant them in tubs, as they can be invasive. If I find a source, will post it.

  • jowitt.europe
    jowitt.europe Posts: 1,465 admin

    @vickeym I have never heard of Apios americana. I have watched a few videos. It is a beautiful plant. I have tried to grow peanuts in a pot. They did grow, but I could harvest only a few nuts, so I gave up.

    I am very successful in growing Jerusalem artichokes. And I have plenty of tubers, but I live in Europe and it would be impossible to send them anywhere outside EU. Thus I am giving them away free to friends and neighbors.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Everything I've read about Jerusalem artichoke, also known as sunchoke, suggests that they are so easy to grow they can be invasive.

    That hasn't been my experience.

    The first batch of Jerusalem artichoke I bought were so rotten that they had to be thrown out.

    The second batch came in good condition and were planted along the road. Most tubers were eaten by some pest, probably a vole or other small mammal. One sprouted and grew a foot or so, then the pest ate all of its roots, leaving the stem and leaves standing loosely in the ground.

    On the third attempt, I found one tuber that escaped the pest. I transplanted it inside my garden fence. It grew nicely, reached several feet high, and finally died when winter arrived, as expected. But when I dug into the clay to find tubers for eating or replanting, only a single tuber was found. I left it there to see if it will do better this year.

    I'm giving up on Jerusalem artichokes. I wanted a low effort crop that would spread on its own and produce a lot of emergency food. This crop just can't accomplish that where I live.

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    torey Hope you are able to find somew for your garden. I'll post if I find any as well.

    bookworm I'd try that but the nearest health food store is about a two hour drive away from me. lol Maybe I should see if my brother will go check out the health food stores for me. He lives there.

    jowitt.europe Unfortunately, I think they would frown on trying to mail them to us. LOL

    VermontCathy Could it be that the clay soil was just too hard for them to spread in? I had that kind of issues with potatoes until I added a bunch of lofty compost to the soil. Last year my potatoes did very well in spite of a much later start in planting than they shoould have gotten.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I know ground nuts grow on my property but I have not identified them yet. They grow everywhere here in my neighborhood and I need to be able to ID them in the spring when they first come up. I thibnk it would be easier to get my one neighbor who had a bunch and him walk the land to help me out.

    Artichokes are common enough here you just have to post you want some on a local plants swap site and you get a lot of people offering you some. A ground hog looked like he wiped out my crop out but it came back. I did not mark it so I hope to find enough that I can move them to a safer place.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2022

    @vickeym It's possible. David the Good had great success growing Jerusalem artichokes on clay in Tennessee, but my clay may be harder than his was, or have other problems.

    But if I have to improve the soil anyway, I may as well grow potatoes. To me, the whole point of the Jerusalem artichoke was that it would grow and spread on its own with little or no attention from me.

    I'm still looking for a crop that will grow in my unimproved Class 6w soil to supplement the fussier crops I grow in highly improved soil in very small raised beds.

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    VermontCathy I was looking for those qualities as well as thinking that if some some reason the potatoes are hard to come by or if things were to get really bad and someone decided to "Take" your food, they would probably over look the "weeds" planted in the edges of things.

  • Kuri and Kona
    Kuri and Kona Posts: 177 ✭✭✭

    @vickeym I grew a handful of Jerusalem artichokes last year, and got a huge crop from just a few plants. I grew them in planters, and they did really well (my soil is not the best). An important trick seems to be to continuously snip off the flower the plant produces. Some people grow it for the flower, but if you leave the flowers on, you will get little food out of it. I left a few in the ground after harvest so that I have more for next year. I hope you find a source that works for you!

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    torey I'm not a huge fan of Amazon, though in Alaska we all use them a lot because of shipping costs to us being so high. That said, I discovered there are several options for jerusalem artichokes on Amazon. Might be an option if we can't get them through a better source.

    I just dearched for jerusalem artichokes and there were quite a lot that came up.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @Kuri and Kona Good point about clipping the flowers off. I probably wouldn't have done that but will remember to do so when I get mine planted.

    @vickeym I agree, I would prefer to buy from a reputable supplier who has experience growing them rather than Amazon but I will keep that in mind if I can't find them elsewhere.

  • JennyT Upstate South Carolina
    JennyT Upstate South Carolina Posts: 1,273 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I didn't realize Jerusalem artichkes would be so difficult to source. I believe I saw them at the little grocery store that deals mainly with local growers.

    I'll have to check again, hopefully, tomorrow. 🤞

  • JennyT Upstate South Carolina
    JennyT Upstate South Carolina Posts: 1,273 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I was able to find some at that little local store!!!

    I'm hoping they will grow for me like the horseradish I bought at Whole Foods a couple of months ago. Planting just like David the Good, from the grocery store.😁

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    I just ordered mine! I got a notification that a limited supply had opened up so I have placed my order. Unfortunately, I don't think they ship to the US. I have a pound each of red and white varieties. I didn't know that they came in two colours.

    But for anyone in Canada who is looking, here is the link. Warning, shipping is as much as the roots.


  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    torey Glad you were able to order some. Hope they work out well for you. I'm still waiting. If I don't find some before long, I might end purchasing some on Amazon after all.