Blaine Clark

May,
There are some varieties that seldom bloom, even when in full sun. Mine are in full sun and bloom every year, however, I have a tiny patch planted in the shade of a Maple that seldom bloom. Full sun makes a difference on blooming with nearly all varieties.
Side note: The Colonials sent Sunchokes all over the world from the early 1600s on and today there are over 400 recognized varieties. A friend in Tasmania remembers her mother cooking them when she was a child. They'll nearly all handle zones 3 through 8 but there are some that take zone 2. Those are usually found in northern Canada and northern European countries.
I had one variety that grew 12'+ tall and spread way over 4' underground. They were a white/tan skinned smooth tuber like carrots in size and shape. They were, however so obnoxiously turnipy/herbal flavored that one tuber chunked into a large soup pot nearly overpowered the soup. I got rid of them. They do not all taste alike! I've collected mine locally in west-central PA, near the heart of their native range and where people have these tall, beautiful, yellow flowers in their yards and flower gardens that they don't have a clue what they've actually got.
It's best to find varieties that are known to grow well in your climate, but it's also OK to try any you can get your hands on. There are varieties that mature in just over 100 days and others that take over 150 days. I only have two types now and they mature three weeks apart. That gives us a tad bit more time in the fall to harvest. Some types spread tubers over 6' and others that spread only around 16" and clump in an easy to pull gob!
The early type seldom has flowers that last until first frost, but the second type lasts well after first frost and the flowers and leaves are hard frost hardy, barely wilting. I do not harvest based on frost but only when the tops die and fully dry, just like harvesting potatoes. Potatoes and Sunchokes can be very bitter if harvested too early.

I'll add that when you mix varieties in one patch they will fight for dominance. They are allelopathic, which means they spread chemicals that retard competitors, even other varieties. That means they will not grow to their best. That's also true when they're crowded without being mixed. I have a patch of two mixed varieties and discovered this the wrong way. In separate patches the varieties grow better, nothing stupendous, but clearly noticeable. I've also cut flowers from sections of patches for wine and there's no difference in yield between the deadheaded and the fully flowered plants.
I use a sod/garden fork to dig with. I've thought of making a shaker frame with 1' screen to help separate the tubers but just haven't gotten around to it. I've heard of small potato pickers modified for the smaller tubers that are pulled behind garden tractors. I don't grow enough to warrant that expense, plus the picker will only go so deep.
I wait for the tops to die and fully dry before harvest, that's when all the nutrients in the tops drain into the tubers making them their largest and full flavored. I got a small electric chipper and while I'm harvesting I chip the stalks and spread them over the patches, mixing in most of the chips as I dig. That's built up the soil very well. Yearly digging, yearly amending and mulching the tops loosens the soil very well. Yeah, sand will compress amazingly tight and hard, that's how sandstone is made.
Harvest as thoroughly as you want, it's very-very unlikely you'll take too many tubers as any tiny ones and roof nodules will sprout again.
I'm in west-central PA., zone 5. I harvest from when the stalks are dead until the ground freezes, then early in the spring I harvest more as soon as the ground thaws. Also, downwind of the Lakes I've got moderate to high humidity. That promotes powdery mildew which can be exaggerated by the plants growing too crowded, restricting air flow. Unless the powdery mildew gets too stout, it doesn't hurt the plants.
Keep digging, mulching and amending the soil and it'll loosen up.

How close together? The white knobby ones I have only spread about 12" or thereabouts so I start with them between 2' and 3' apart when I'm starting a new patch. The reddish ones can spread around 3' so you could go 6' apart if you want. It totally depends on the variety. Consider this though, after the first year, it just doesn't matter. Every tiny tuber you miss will sprout in the spring. They could be an inch apart or four feet. Don't sweat it. I normally plant them about 3" to 4" deep, just so long as they're deep enough that predators can't get them too easy. Rats, voles, squirrels, rabbits and the occasional groundhog. Voles are the ones to watch out for, they can be voracious.

I wholefartedly agree with Cécile. I have a white skinned very knobby variety and a reddish/purple skinned smooth skinned variety. The white ones lose their zip fairly easily, cooking for 1/2 hour, canning as pickles, over winter freezing, etc. Those red ones! I live in zone 5, east/central PA. I can dig them in the spring, after a full winter's freeze and cook them for an hour and I still raise the roof, but they taste so much nuttier and better than the white ones. I also take a daily supplement of Inulin for gut health which is the gastronomical ingredient in 'chokes. That means I should have guts balanced to withstand the Inulin in 'chokes, but I repeat * those red ones! *
I harvest only after the stalks are fully dead and dried. That's when all the nutrients have drained into the tubers and they're at their best size and flavor, just like harvesting potatoes, only after the stalks are dead and dry.

I've never heard of it or seen it. Thankful I've never had to deal with squash vine borers and we grow squash every year so there wouldn't be any chance of my knowing first hand.

Glad you like the leaves! Raw, they're a bit fuzzy for sure. I've boiled them and flowers to get broth for wine making and the boiled leaves lose the fuzziness plus they taste a lot like squash with the flowers. Add a bit of butter and you're good to chow down. I've got two varieties and one has leaves nearly three times the size of my hands, suitable for wrapping just like grape leaves for Mediterranean style or corn husks for Mexican style. They soften up when cooked though, really soft!
They contain trace amounts of salicylic acid - raw aspirin and coumarin - raw coumadin or warfarin, an anticoagulant or blood thinner. Dried, they make a mild pain relieving tea. I've dried them and mixed with dried Mullein at 60%, dried Spearmint or Peppermint at 10%, 'choke leaves at 10% and pipe tobacco at 20%, all by rough volume measurement for a decent pipe smoke. For spits and giggles I pan fried some in olive oil - meh. They tasted like olive oil so if I was going to do that regularly I'd add some herbs or spices to give them flavor. Pan fried they got super crispy and actually melted in my mouth. I haven't tried pan fried flowers though the one variety I have has very tender flowers, tender enough to toss raw in salads. The other variety's flowers are quite tough.
As far as I can find, the leaves and flowers don't contain Inulin, the fart ingredient.
Dealing with the farts from the tubers, there are four ways to convert the fiber Inulin into mostly fartless fructose; freezing, fermenting, cooking in an acidic ingredient or slow cooking for around an hour.
If you want them chipped raw in salads, either toss them into the freezer for a week or so, or if your winters are cold enough to freeze them, dig them when the ground thaws. Get them before they start to sprout, when they start to sprout the flavor goes 'off'.

John F Dean wrote:Hi Blaine,

I went roof diving back in ‘82 off a second story roof.  With my usual advanced planning, I was alone, a mile from the nearest neighbor, Christmas Eve, with a major snow storm rolling in.  I suppose it was a good thing that I hit the ladder on the way down, putting a serious bend on it.  I woke up on the ground with my dog in my face barking.  I was more fortunate than you. I did break my left knee cap in 3 places. Through some stroke of luck, it healed without major problems …I refused the hospital. There are days when every joint in my body seems to relive the experience, but Turmeric seems to address that.  Thanks for the tip on the Horseradish.

I hit the Turmeric for years but for me it only took a big edge off of the ache. My drop was around 33' to 35' and I landed on my feet, did a tuck and roll on sloped but tamped backfill, came up on my feet and promptly crumpled. Two fellows were with me and got me into the truck and to the hospital.

Not iodine related. I've made Black Walnut Vinaigrette and Black Walnut Liquor. Vinaigrette was good but I wasted a fifth of good vodka on the Liquor.
Both are made the same. Pick the Walnuts before they harden, wash well and quarter them with a cleaver or hatchet, hull included. Pack the pieces into a jar and cover with either vinegar, not distilled, or vodka. Set aside, out of sunlight at room temperature. Shake well every day for about six weeks. Taste occasionally to see how strong it's getting. Filter the pieces out and let the filtered liquid stand for at least six months in a dark cabinet or pantry.
The vinaigrette is good on salads and some say on ice cream. For me, salad was good but the ice cream ... blech.
The liquor ... as I said, I wasted a good bottle of vodka. It's supposed to be a nice sipping drink. Not for us!!

Joshua States wrote:This intrigues me, as I have bone-on-bone in both knees and am trying to avoid the replacement surgery.
@Blaine Clark, where is your pain centered?
The idea that horseradish would have anti-inflamatory properties was news to me, so I asked the Oracle of the internet and it gave me this:
https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-horseradish

Wow! I'm going to have to get into a conflab with my wife on some of those cooking ideas!
As for your bone-on-bone, I'm pretty sure you're still going to need either artificial padding or joint replacement. if the erosion isn't too rough, the artificial padding might get you through for a while. The Horseradish should help with pre and post surgery aches. Your knees have to move, my back is nearly immobile. A young friend of mine is a UPS driver and his knees kept getting worse. He had steroid shots and from the sound of his description there was some kind of lubrication injection or insertion. Even with that he had to have both replaced three years ago. I recently told him about the Horseradish, but he detests it.
My pain matched my current stiffness. From the base of my neck to the bottom of my beauteous maximus. The center of the worst moved according to the weather anywhere from my short ribs to the center of my hips. On some occasions due to both weather and exertion it would hit me all the way from short ribs to the hips at once. Those were my number 9 days. I'd need a cane to get around. Come to think of it, I haven't been close to needing my cane all winter! It's been leaning against my night stand since November!
Back in 78 while I was in the hospital, the osteopath on duty told me I'd be on replacement hips and probably replacement knees by the time I was 50 because every bone and every joint was spider-webbed with fissures. Well, 50 was 19 years ago and I'm still running on original equipment. I retired from the HVAC service field with thousands of trips up and down ladders with tools, wiring, pipe and parts as well as hauling furnaces, airhandlers and boilers into and out of buildings, some were commercial/industrial sized units. Hips are a bit rough, but nowhere near needing surgery because the pain is from sciatica. How my hips and knees are still good is beyond me, but i'm not going to question!

Diane Kistner wrote:
The rest you posted is very good advice. I do have Jerusalem artichokes growing for inulin and am looking into fermenting some to avoid the gas problem.

But I wanted to talk about Creeping Charlie. I've got a ton of it growing everyday, so much I'm just letting it be ground cover. The pollinators absolutely adore it, and it does look pretty. I'll have to try it in salads and cooking! I knew it has some medicinal benefits, but I can't remember what. Being that it's a mint (which I did not know), I wonder if it will help keep snakes away from the chicken coop.... Please do share whatever you find out about using it, because it's probably the most abundant thing I grow.

Glad to know cooking horseradish helps with the heat. I assume it still has its beneficial properties for arthritic pain when cooked?

I grow two varieties of Sunchokes that I've collected locally in west-central PA. One is, I'm guessing Stampede. It grows a good 5' to 6' tall with very knobby white/tan skinned tubers. They only spread about 16" or less and the taste is mild, kind of like Sunflower seeds, but different, maybe earthier. The other is a red skin I'm guessing is a Red Fuseau. It's smooth and looks like a small red sweet potato. It's for sure nuttier and packed full of more farts than the Stampede. It grows 6' to 8' and spreads out a good 2'. We do most anything with them. Canned for pickles. Roasted. Grilled, my wife says they taste like grilled sweetcorn, but they don't taste like that to me so they must take on different flavors to different people. Makes me jellyous. I've made wine from tuber and flower broth. The boiled flowers taste a lot like squash. I've dehydrated chips and made flour. Tossed raw chips on pizza and into salads. Maybe you can guess we love them? Freezing, fermenting, cooking with an acidic ingredient or cooking for around an hour converts most of the Inulin into Fructose. The leaves contain trace amounts of salicylic acid (raw aspirin) and coumarin (raw coumadin or warfarin). Leaf tea is a mild pain reliever just like Willow bark.

I've got a link about Creeping Charlie; https://www.healthygreensavvy.com/creeping-charlie-uses/ I've got some in my lawn but not enough to use regularly. I mainly just toss a handful into salads during the summer.

I haven't found one thing addressing whether cooking changes the Horseradish. I skip any other dose of Horseradish when we have it in a dish, but I've discovered that I can now skip a day occasionally without any increase in the bone ache so I just flat-out don't know. All I can say is that it's like black pepper when cooked, it loses the zip and some of the flavor, but that flavor gets into the meat. BTW, my brother-in-law got me going on using hotsauce when roasting turkey and chicken. A good tsp. to Tbl. spoon per pound in the juices, basted very regularly really brings out the flavor and again, there's no heat. The fat in the bird does in all the heat as it roasts. And I stab the birds to death twice before roasting so the juices penetrate. Of course the birds are dead before I stab them!! Who do you take me for??   Never mind.