|
|
Post by orflo on Jan 10, 2009 14:04:01 GMT -5
This is one of the least known and most promising treasures of the Andes, a very good crop for temperate climates, very nutritional, but still lots of things to learn about it; I had the opportunity to grew it out in 2008, with some very good results....  By orflo, shot with DiMAGE A2 at 2009-01-10  By orflo, shot with DiMAGE A2 at 2009-01-10  By orflo, shot with DiMAGE A2 at 2009-01-10  By orflo at 2009-01-10 Everything is eaten: the roots (the heaviest one was over one kg), the leaves and the stems...And everything tasted sooo good... |
|
|
|
Post by ottawagardener on Jan 11, 2009 10:12:59 GMT -5
It grew for you. Wow. I remember reading about this some time ago. How did it taste?
|
|
|
|
Post by ottawagardener on Jan 11, 2009 10:16:53 GMT -5
And another thing: I've read that it is perennial. Do you know how hardy it is or if it can be overwintered outdoors? I understand you can store the roots indoors and replant. Can you divide that mass assuming you get a part of the crown and replant? How about just cutting off the forking roots and replanting the crown?  ? |
|
|
|
Post by plantsnobin on Jan 11, 2009 10:52:56 GMT -5
Just by looking at it, I would think that it might be easy to root from cuttings. That lush growth really looks like it could cut down on weeds and compete on its own pretty well. Another thing to try this year.
|
|
|
|
Post by canadamike on Jan 11, 2009 12:36:35 GMT -5
Orflo, I am plannig to go to Europe next year, and I might very well end up in Belgium just to whip your ass ;D Stop playing the tastebuds teaser and tell us what kind of SOOOO GOOOOD it is  Can we relate it to something, sweet or not, texture etc..... details, details oh! My dear brainy goat ;D I feel like being RAN TAN PLAN in a LUCKY LUKE book, salivating everywhere without knowing why, this dumb look in my face. We've been buddies long enough for you to know you can't leave me like that  |
|
|
|
Post by hiven on Jan 11, 2009 13:20:44 GMT -5
They are yummy looking Orflo ! Do you peel the tuber and cook them like carrot ?
|
|
|
|
Post by orflo on Jan 11, 2009 13:36:02 GMT -5
I should have realised when I placed the pictures I would get all sorts of interesting and clever comments and questions... So, a bit more info...
This is actually one of the rarest vegetables existing, I spend years looking for seeds, and cipotato finally had some...
Growing out was very very easy, I did sow the seeds (light-germinating, so don't cover) by the end of March, planted the vigourously growing little plants in the garden by May ,10 or 15, don't remember exactly. These plants were amazingly alive, there's very little info on the net about the mauka (and in books, it was only 're-discovered' in the late sixties in Bolivia), and this info mentioned stems reached up to 1 metre. Well, I ended up with stems over 2,40metres in November! so I really planted them too close to each other (about 40 cms from each other)
Karen, you are completely right, the normal way to propagate these things is by making cuttings, I made a few in September to survive them inside (the leaves and stems are frost-tender), the roots are possibly frost-resisting. Again, possibly, because of the lack of info. I placed one piece outside during a light frost, and it remained unharmed, so I think they can at least take a light frost. The cuttings are very easy to make, they root up like sweet potatoes. I made a cutting at the beginning of the growing season (I should check my notes, but it must have been by the end of April), that cutting did grow out fine, but without producing a reasonable big root. So it definitely needs a longer growing season, because the earlier sown plants did produce good-sized roots, the heaviest being over 1 kg, as I did mention already, the smallest one being about 500 grms. They can size up to a few kgs each in their homelands and become over 40 cms long. I will replant some of the biggest roots , see if they start growing again, and I suspect I could triple their weight. Even a bit of selection could be enough to be able to grow out really big roots...
The roots need a bit of sun-curing, because they contain some astringent elements. There's a difference between the varieties, Ecuadorian varieties seem to have lost (probably by selection) all astringency, Bolivian have got quite a bit of these elements in them, Peruvian varieties are in-between the two. I placed the roots in the greenhouse (protected them from frosts during the night) for just under a week, and the boiled roots were certainly without astringency (I tasted a very tiny slice of a raw root, but that had some astringency left, so it has to be boiled!)
Seeds have not produced during this first year grow-out (they are perennial in a frost-free climate, so in the Andean mountain), I hope some will be produced next year.
Contrary to some Andean tubers, these plants are NOT daylength-sensitive , they produced their root during our summer and they definitely liked the bad weather we had. I suspect they could have problems with hot and dry summers, but that's more based on my experience with other Andean tubers and roots, ( seeing them grow , even in November (temperatures 10-12° C and they were still growing!)).
And now for the taste:
first the peeled roots (cooked) I think they are some sort of a link between potatoes and sweet potatoes, the texture is firm, the taste is a bit sweetish (they could even have sweetened up this winter, still have to try), a bit of chestnut, a bit of sweet potato. The leaves are fine, mild, soft tasting. The stems were great, cooked , but I did do something wrong there, they were just too hard, but what a taste!
All in all, I think this is one of the most promising things I ever had, nutritional value seems to be quite good as well... (Telsing, one of my experiments is indeed cutting the lower parts and replanting the top, we'll see if that works...)
|
|
|
|
Post by PatrickW on Jan 11, 2009 14:06:25 GMT -5
Wow! This sounds really interesting. One of these times I visit, I'm going to ask for some cuttings!
|
|
|
|
Post by stevil on Jan 11, 2009 15:07:06 GMT -5
I was lucky enough to see this for my own eyes when I visited Orflo's Andean-in-Flanders Research Station in the summer, but it was still a surprise when I saw the fantastic psychedelic colour of those roots.
By the way I hadn't realised that Mirabilis is in the same plant family as Bougainvillea? Have you seen pictures of Mauka's flowers.
I've grown Mirabilis jalapa for many years, just because it's a minor edible, but I've never tried it. Have you? Wonder how the leaves compare with Mauka.
|
|
|
|
Post by orflo on Jan 11, 2009 15:16:16 GMT -5
;D ;D ;D ;D Stephen, what a wonderful name: Andean in Flanders Research station, I never tried the jalapa (well, I grew it because of the flowers, but that's it).
Pictures of the flowers??? I searched the whole net for pictures of expansa, roots, flowers or stems, I did find one not too good picture of roots sold on a market (but the colour was so different that I have my doubts), the only thing that popped up was the familiar drawing from 'lost crops of the incas', did you ever find a picture?
|
|
|
|
Post by stevil on Jan 11, 2009 15:31:27 GMT -5
Correction: Andes-in-Flanders Research Station (ANIFRES) sounds better - You're good with wood, make yourself a big sign over your entrance - after all what you're doing is REAL research.
No, I had a quick look and didn't find any pictures... You can be the first then...
|
|
|
|
Post by utopiate on Jan 11, 2009 16:16:33 GMT -5
Hi Orflo, Thats amazing! I've been running into you and Stevil's pictures and posts over the years on unusual tubers, which I'm very interested in. I really appreciate the information you guys have connected me with.
Hi Stevil also... its me Steve in USA. Was writing you an email, but I accidently lost the whole thing. Will get to it again.
I was reading about Mauka before and never thought I was interested in it because I thought I had read somewhere that it had a bad flavor. These posts really inspire my interest in the plant.
The day neutral nature and apparent cold hardiness really suggest this is a fantastic find. Isn't it from the northern Andes?
And that flavor description really sounds appealing. Thanks. I gotta say, I can really relate to Canadamike at times on flavor descriptions and their need for some elaboration. But Mauka seems to sound really good here.
With your fantastic connection with cipotato, do you think that strains for some of the other Andean tubers could be found from higher latitudes.. say the southermost parts of their Andean ranges that might yield more suitable photoperiod adaptations for northern growers, or is that still too close to the Equator to make much difference. I'm thinking the extreme end of the Andean highlands, in Chile perhaps? Really envy your professional connections with these germplasm resources.
|
|
|
|
Post by stevil on Jan 11, 2009 16:32:26 GMT -5
Steve: Glad you made it here!!
Stephen
|
|
|
|
Post by utopiate on Jan 11, 2009 16:35:24 GMT -5
Yah nice to see u.. still trying to learn to navigate around here. Hi to all the other member. Will try to get some kind of profile up soon.
|
|
|
|
Post by castanea on Jan 11, 2009 18:04:56 GMT -5
Amazing. Thank you. The roots apparently grow more quickly than Mirabilis jalapa roots.
Did you have to beg, or pay, for your original seed? Were the seeds the same size as mirabilis jalapa seed?
|
|
