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Post by ottawagardener on Feb 24, 2011 21:43:09 GMT -5
I am not bothered either. There must be someone on here that gets the toots? I've heard it is worse when they are used raw. Thanks for the storage tips everyone. I have had trouble keeping them fresh and useable for long. This year, I had them in the garage in moist dirt and they seemed to be doing well.
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Post by seedywen on Feb 25, 2011 12:15:12 GMT -5
When I grew sunchokes in the West Kootenays(north of Spokane) they never bloomed before killing frost. Then I didn't even know they had a flower! On the B.C. lower coast, sunchokes begin blooming by the end of August and bloom mightly until mid November, almost the last perennial flower still looking fine at that time of the year.
Grow them primarily as a back-up root crop in case(horrors!) the potato crop(or carrot, turnip or parsnip) should fail.
Haven't really experimented much with recipes. However some of you, make recipes that sound appealing so maybe I'll experiment more in the future.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Feb 27, 2011 15:28:07 GMT -5
I discovered a new word today. I intend to use it from now in instead of the old phrases that I used to use...
From now on I intend to use the word "sunroot" or "sunflower root" rather than "sunchoke" or "Jerusalem Artichoke".
People tend to focus on the word "artichoke" and say "I don't like artichokes..." And in any chase, it's an uphill battle to try to sell people a food that is subconsciously "choking" them.
Whoever thought that language skills were so important in farming?
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Post by lmonty on Feb 27, 2011 17:15:06 GMT -5
i'd like to grow some, but have been waiting to find the kind that aren't knobby. just looks like they would be easier to clean.
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Post by wildseed57 on Feb 27, 2011 18:14:30 GMT -5
I grew them years ago, but I have not seen any in the makets where I'm at. I wonder if there are certain varieties that are bigger than others?
George W.
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Post by ottawagardener on Feb 27, 2011 18:20:10 GMT -5
Yes, there's a fair amount of variation. I have a kind which is a less knobbly though I have no idea which it was. It is also large. When given good spacing, the tubers are about the size of my fist. As I don't peel the skin off, just wash, the knobs are not that annoying. I just break them off to wash.
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Post by silverseeds on Feb 27, 2011 22:14:07 GMT -5
thanks for taking the time to post these links.... |
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Post by happyskunk on Feb 28, 2011 3:10:44 GMT -5
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Post by stevil on Feb 28, 2011 3:45:20 GMT -5
I am not bothered either. There must be someone on here that gets the toots? Guilty  My fastest cycle rides to work are closely correlated to eating Helianthus tuberosum the night before…. I love the taste, but nowadays don’t eat too large a portion. I usually steam a few of them with potatoes – they take about the same time. I discovered a new word today. I intend to use it from now in instead of the old phrases that I used to use... From now on I intend to use the word "sunroot" or "sunflower root" rather than "sunchoke" or "Jerusalem Artichoke". People tend to focus on the word "artichoke" and say "I don't like artichokes..." And in any chase, it's an uphill battle to try to sell people a food that is subconsciously "choking" them. Ottawa’s post has inspired me to rename them Suntoots  Joseph: You could rename the thread: “Suntoots: Sunflowers that Toot”. I suppose that the association to tooting is better than choking though! |
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Post by stevil on Feb 28, 2011 3:49:04 GMT -5
When I grew sunchokes in the West Kootenays(north of Spokane) they never bloomed before killing frost. Then I didn't even know they had a flower! On the B.C. lower coast, sunchokes begin blooming by the end of August and bloom mightly until mid November, almost the last perennial flower still looking fine at that time of the year. I once grew a variety called Kootenai Bay (which is on Lake Pend Oreille)! It didn’t grow well here. i'd like to grow some, but have been waiting to find the kind that aren't knobby. just looks like they would be easier to clean. Fuseau (white or red) is fusiform (wide in the middle and tapered at both ends). See the picture which shows the following varieties: Dave's Shrine, Top L; Dagnøytral (Dayneutral), Top M; Kootenai?, Top R; Fuseau, Bottom L; Hardy Mountain, Bottom M; Helianthus strumosus, Bottom R. Dayneutral is the most productive variety here and the earliest to flower, knobbly tubers and doesn’t spread and is therefore not a problem to remove (I just scrub them , so don’t really find them a problem to prepare, although eating the skins may well add to the tootability?). I suspected that this might be similar to Stampede (from the description in Cornucopia II as having been selected by a Canadian Indian tribe for earliness – anyone have a better reference to this?). I received some tubers of Stampede from the US a couple of years ago and it does look identical (flowers at exactly the same time and otherwise the leaves, hairiness and tuber form are identical!) Storage: I dig them all up in autumn and store cool either in slightly damp sand or damp leaves. They store well like that until March. Attachments:
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Post by extremegardener on Feb 28, 2011 12:47:52 GMT -5
Nice photo Stevil - I have been wondering what Dave's Shrine looked like.
It was collected in the "wild" just over the mountain from me (Wolcott VT). I have "wild" in quotes because I am quite certain that the only way the patches of sunchokes one sometimes finds here near the riversides could have gotten there is that they were Abnaki (Native American) gardens. I am trying to locate a local source of Dave's Shrine.
I found a patch 30 years ago along the river on this side of the mountain and snitched some to grow, which was a good thing, because the entire area has since been paved, not a sunchoke to be seen, just parking lots...
The ones I found are quite different then Dave's Shrine , they look more like the "Kootenay?" in the photo.
RESCUE A SUNCHOKE
I urge anyone in North America to try to spot sunchokes in the wild, and rescue a sample. Unfortunately the areas they are usually found - river banks, at least around here - tend to also be prime real estate for developers, and cornfields...
As for the gas thing, as mentioned earlier here I like to use them in kimchee - the lacto fermentation process makes them easier to digest, and they have a nice crisp texture.
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Post by heidihi on Feb 28, 2011 13:40:57 GMT -5
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Post by ottawagardener on Feb 28, 2011 13:55:46 GMT -5
I think there should be a book called "Guide to growing and cooking with suntoots" Anyone in?
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Post by castanea on Feb 28, 2011 22:22:18 GMT -5
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Post by stevil on Mar 1, 2011 2:04:07 GMT -5
As for the gas thing, as mentioned earlier here I like to use them in kimchee - the lacto fermentation process makes them easier to digest, and they have a nice crisp texture. Yes, I'm sure that's the answer. Every year, I say this year I'm going to start lactofermenting, but just can't find the time. Think I'm going to advertise for a lactofermenting wwoofer... Applications on a postcard, please! |
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My fastest cycle rides to work are closely correlated to eating Helianthus tuberosum the night before…. I love the taste, but nowadays don’t eat too large a portion. I usually steam a few of them with potatoes – they take about the same time. 
Joseph: You could rename the thread: “Suntoots: Sunflowers that Toot”. I suppose that the association to tooting is better than choking though! 
