The great big thread of sunchoke info - growing, storing, eating/recipes, science facts

William Bronson wrote: The side of these things!
I clearly need a better strain of sunchokes!
What strains get that big?
What have y'all been feeding them?

Mine have just been getting leaves. 2 years of really heavy leaf mulch over flipped sod. (We're on sandy loam) The one pictured was also right next to this years bean patch, so that might have helped.

That... might not be a totally insane idea.

William Bronson wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:Gordon, Mine seem to take forever to ferment but as long as I keep them below the brine there is no mold just a bit of scum to remove occasionally and they are about as crispy as fresh.

We just finished last years a month or so ago...refrigerated after I called them done enough and they kept well😊

Yours might have been good still if the surface mold (scum?) was removed and the brine topped up?

This makes me curious, have you ever juiced them?
Could make a great fermented drink, or maybe they could ferment in their own juice?

William Bronson wrote:I clearly need a better strain of sunchokes!
What strains get that big?

He's out right now, but you might check out the "cluster" variety from Edgewood: https://edgewood-nursery.com/shop/nadhodka-sunchoketerrasol-helianthus-tuberosus-tubers

William Bronson wrote:

paul wheaton wrote:

William Bronson wrote: What have y'all been feeding them?

I think that is the key.

Hugelkultur.  Mulch.  Polyculture. Chop and drop certain neighbors (like snowberry).

Notably, not heavy nitrogen but heavy carbon/lots of organic matter.

Heavy carbon and heavy nitrogen.  The greens that are chopped and dropped, especially the snowberry (a nitrogen fixer) which is a weed here.  We cut 95% of the snowberry off and use it as mulch.  This makes the roots drop a lot of roots, underground, which are also loaded with N.

Gordon Blair wrote:I wanted to come back and report, especially to Paul, that I am now a full convert.

My wife and I grew a load of sunchokes and had them stored in the freezer for a long, long time because we could eat so little at a time--they were mostly forgotten. I was mulling over what Paul had been saying about building up a tolerance, and I eventually resolved to try it out properly.

For both of us, it took far less time than I expected. Over about a week or two, I went from only tolerating a small amount (and even that still produced a lot of gas) to being able to eat sunchokes like a potato substitute with no significant gas. It didn't even entail eating them every day, just most days.

If other growers can solve the problem as easily as that, I'd say it's well worthwhile! But I think the word needs put out there--in very explicit terms--because most people will try them once, get horrendous gas or worse, and never try them again? Your first experience is likely to validate the horror stories for you.

Yes!!!
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