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Post by ottawagardener on Oct 28, 2008 8:25:48 GMT -5
I am trying this seed again next year but I don't suppose anyone is growing a coreless skirret nearby? Just thought I would ask.
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Post by utopiate on Feb 1, 2009 23:41:10 GMT -5
Did you grow any out before? My seeds didn't germinate when I tried years ago. I read it has inulin in it ... does this mean they will affect me like Jerusalem artichokes do?
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Post by orflo on Feb 2, 2009 1:18:54 GMT -5
Skiret is one of my favourite foods, I never noticed the side effects, but Jerusalem Artichokes don't effect me either. There's indeed some issue with the seeds, if I remember correctly their viability is quite short, and perhaps most people take seeds from one year old plants, which is inferior, and certainly not the good thing to do...
For me, they're the excellent winter alternative for parsnip , carrot or root parsley, nice taste, a bit starchy, but quite versatile in use. They're mostly propagated by replanting (after selecting) roots, but seeding works...
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Post by utopiate on Feb 2, 2009 2:25:33 GMT -5
So there are coreless skirrets?
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Post by ottawagardener on Feb 3, 2009 12:45:44 GMT -5
Apparently, both Breed your own Veggies by Deppe and Perennial Vegetables by Toensmier?? mention it. The company that sold it does not seem to exist anymore.
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Post by Hristo on Feb 3, 2009 14:35:25 GMT -5
Breed your own Veggies by Deppe mention it.  I have missed that! Can you indicate that page? Thanks! |
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Post by utopiate on Feb 3, 2009 14:38:59 GMT -5
If anyone finds them, and also a surefire way to inhibit the effects of inulin...I'm very interested also.
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Post by ottawagardener on Feb 3, 2009 15:01:42 GMT -5
Let me look through but I'm pretty sure it was this one that mentioned it as well. I'll get back to you on it.
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Post by Hristo on Feb 3, 2009 15:29:35 GMT -5
If anyone finds them, and also a surefire way to inhibit the effects of inulin...I'm very interested also. As far as I know skirret does not contain high amounts inulin. It's roots are sweet even when fresh harvested, inulin is not sweet. Googled and didn't found info indicating inulin content. So, I think there is not high amount of inulin. |
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Post by utopiate on Feb 3, 2009 17:15:16 GMT -5
You may be right, I can't find where I got the notion at the moment, but if this is true then I am even more interested in skirret. Probably I was thinking of Sium suave (the water parsnip), a native sium which Native Americans ate the tubers of. Or this could be a result of something related to this information and the saccharide content of skirret, if that is what it is.
Inulin is a carbohydrate belonging to a class of compounds known as fructans and is closely related to fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS). Although they aren’t the same, you will often find them used interchangeably. These are all starches (carbohydrates), just varying in structure. Since inulin is not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, it is considered to be a fiber. It is a soluble fiber as opposed to cellulose which is insoluble.
If I find something on inulin in skirret I will be very sure to let u know... haha.
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Post by atash on Mar 22, 2010 3:27:55 GMT -5
Time to revive this thread with a few notes:
* I've gotten year-old Skirret seed to germinate.
* The "coreless clones" theory is hearsay. An alternative rumor has it that seedlings produce roots with cores, but roots of older plants are coreless. The woman who sold me the ostensibly "coreless clone" does not think she has any special variety. Yet more hearsay says that seedlings vary in how much core they have.
I will be able to confirm one way or another soon, as I will have both the ostensibly "coreless clone" and seedlings. Reputedly seedlings of the "coreless clone" have cores. I'll figure out what the pattern is and propagate them accordingly.
My first attempt with this vegetable as a catastrophe, as my plants quickly succumbed to a root-rot. This year I planted the plants in pots and overwintered them in a polytunnel. The root-rot left them alone, and they have grown new roots and new leaves. Hmmm, it's getting warm in there...I'd better harden them off for the garden. Usually the root-rot (probably Pythium) only kills seedlings and stressed plants (the plants I lost had roots that had been cut and bare-rooted).
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Post by ottawagardener on Mar 22, 2010 7:51:51 GMT -5
I think I've heard that before too - that second / third year old plants don't produce cores / as much core. Keep us updated on how to goes.
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Post by atash on Mar 22, 2010 14:35:04 GMT -5
I will, Ottawagardener. If I forget, feel free to nudge me to remind me. I should have an answer next year. Not surprising that the crop is a mystery; hasn't been grown much since about the 18th century. It remains a rare backyard crop in Germany (hasn't been grown commercially for a while now), so I checked numerous German websites, but no details as regards the core issue (other than a few references telling me to remove it). Found numerous recipes for it though: www.starcookers.at/de/nc/rezepte/rezepte-a-z/zwischengerichte/display_type/details/recipe_uid/1095.htmlNumerous references to using it as a vegetable, making soup out of it, using it in salads, and even in desserts (such as preceding). A few websites commented that it is extremely easy to grow, but that the work involved in cleaning the roots is making it rare. Eric Toensmeyer commented that it didn't take much scrubbing with a brush to do the job, but that de-coring them gets tedious. |
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Post by orflo on Mar 22, 2010 16:05:04 GMT -5
It's funny, I never had a problem with cores... I did notice last year that they grow better in wet summers (last summer was dry and they didn't really size up ), the roots become thicker and longer. I never had a problem with rotting either, although the soil over here is very humid and compact during winter. As for cleaning up, I use a garden hose, and it's quickly done, I just have to rinse it a bit more in the kitchen and use them. They don't need to be peeled, so that's easy.
This is in fact one of those crops that refuses to be selected, I tried several variaties, and they all were so much alike, so I suspect there's only 'one' variety of skirret, and no selections have been made or found. Another one of these is lathyrus tuberosus, it's so hard to select on these... I'm trying out some other skirret varieties this year, I would dearly want to have a variety with some bigger and thicker roots (provided they don't split up). A lady once told me she tried selecting for a 'one-root' skirret, but it didn't work either. But still, they're an excellent food crop, easy to grow and very tasty!
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Post by atash on Mar 23, 2010 1:16:19 GMT -5
Orflo, my soil is somewhat sandy and drains very fast. But even with good drainage, my soil is badly infested with a deadly root rot. I can't get rid of it, because it is everywhere in my soil and any soil I try to clean up simply gets reinfected. For lack of better options I am trying to introduce non-pathogenic fungii to compete with it.
Mycostop does not seem to help at all.
It is particularly hard on members of Leguminosae, which are extremely vulnerable to damage to their taproot. I don't have L. tuberosus but I was worried about L. nervosus, which seems to have survived so far but it remains to be seen if it is healthy.
Your observation about Skirret responding well to moisture is consistent with information I have read that it is naturally a moisture-loving, stream-side plant.
I'm glad to hear your suspicion that they are really all the same variety, because if so it implies my many seedlings will eventually be of the same quality as any other. I should start another flat before it gets too warm for them to germinate.
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I have missed that! Can you indicate that page? Thanks!