Is this ginger root? Or maybe misshapen potatoes? Nope! But, like potatoes, they are edible tubers. Unlike potatoes, they are perennials, which mean they grow back every year, even here in Canada. We call them Jerusalem artichokes or sunchokes. Belonging to the sunflower family, they shoot up two-metre-tall stems and produce small sunflower-like flowers late summer to early fall. As such, they provide an interesting wind barrier and visual screen, and they attract pollinators. They really are a favourite in permaculture since they perform so many functions.
As perennials, they are super easy to grow: just bury a few tubers in the fall or in the spring, or leave a few healthy specimens in the soil at the end of the season and they will grow back the following year. In fact, you should choose carefully where you plant them. Like rhubarb, they can be hard to eradicate once they settle in.
Since I do not have access to soil at my rented house, I cultivate Jerusalem artichokes in grow bags. Three seven-gallon grow bags gave me over 6.5 lb of tubers this year, a pound more than last year. Even though they are heavy feeders, I reuse the same soil year after year. I simply refresh it with a bucket of Bokashi compost (see my future post about Bokashi Composting). Since the soil dries up fast in my grow bags, they do require daily watering during the hottest period of the year. But an automatic irrigation system can take care of that while you are away or busy doing something else (see my future post on Solutions to Water Less).
Those on the right are mulberry trees.
Once you harvest these tubers, no need to pack up your fridge with them. You can simply bury them in a bucket of sand and put them away in a cool place like your basement. They will keep for several months.
Sunchokes can be eaten raw or cooked. I usually roast them in the oven or dice them up and add them to any soup, as I would do with potatoes. They can also be sliced thinly and thrown in a salad. They are a wonderful source of inuline (no, not insuline), which is a soluble fibre. It serves as a prebiotic that feeds your good gut bacteria and helps them proliferate. If your gut is not used to processing that kind of fibre, don’t overdo it at first. It could cause bloating.
Who wouldn’t want to cultivate sunchokes, a healthy, low-maintenance vegetable that regrows on its own every year? Adding more perennial vegetables to our landscape is a big part of permaculture. If you are looking for other examples of perennial veggies for a Canadian climate, just think about asparagus, rhubarb, chives, green onions and sorrel (a lemony lettuce).
Good luck with your gardening and don’t hesitate to grow food, even in your front yard. It can be pretty too! For more information, see my post about herb spirals.
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