Page 28 - ALG Issue 2 2021
P. 28

                                vegetable
Unusual Tubers
  Most plotholders will have grown that most familiar tuber – the potato – but here are some other interesting tubers to try out.
STACHYS AFFINIS
Chinese Artichokes have a slightly nutty, artichoke-like flavour. A perennial herbaceous plant that can be treated like a potato from chitting to planting, the tubers are around 5-8cm long
and about 2cm wide. Once you have established a bed of these, you will be able to harvest annually in the autumn if you leave a few in for the following year. They can be eaten raw in salads or as a garnish, and they can also be used as a substitute for water chestnuts in stir-fries.
OXALIS TUBEROSA
Oca originate in the Andes and require a site in full sun with a moist yet free- draining soil. When first harvested, the tubers have a sharp, acidic, lemony flavour, but if they are left out in the sun, the tubers turn sweeter. The tubers can be used like new potatoes and taste good with a little butter. Start out in pots in March, transplant in May and harvest in October before the frosts arrive.
POLYMNIA EDULIS
Yacon is another Andean tuber that is a relative of the sunflower and Jerusalem artichoke. The large tubers are crisp and juicy with a taste more like a fruit than a vegetable. Treat like a dahlia
and after harvest keep a few tubers
in a frost-free place to replant for
next year’s crops. Like the Jerusalem artichoke it contains inulin that makes it difficult to digest.
CYPERUS ESCULENTUS VAR. SATIVUS
The chufa, or tiger nut (can you remember the boxes of tiger nuts available from sweet shops in the 1960s?) is a perennial tuber that prefers a moist or wet soil in full sun. Probably best grown in pots in good quality compost – keep them fed and well- watered till the first frosts and then harvest the tasty nutty little tubers from beneath the roots. They can be eaten as they are or used in salads or ground for smoothies.
 Mashua Tubers By Michael Hermann
    Most plot- holders will have grown that most familiar tuber – the potato – but here are some other interesting tubers to try out
TROPAEOLUM TUBEROSUM
Mashua is a tuber from Peru that has been grown for thousands of years and is still a staple food for many people. The tubers have a peppery flavour and can be treated as potatoes. The pretty flowers and leaves can be eaten too. Plant out in a sunny spot once the frosts have finished and give them something to climb up. Mulch
to conserve moisture in the soil and leave until the foliage has died back in autumn before you harvest.
APIOS AMERICANA
Also known as the cinnamon vine
and ground nut, this crop is a tender herbaceous vine and produce tubers with a very nutty and sweet taste. It also belongs to the legume family and is a nitrogen fixing plant. The tuber is white and firm once peeled and best boiled or roasted. Plant in moist, but well drained soil, sun or part shade. The attractive pinkish flowers produce edible seed pods.
Mashua Tubers By Michael Hermann - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
Yacon Plant By Edibleoffice - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
 Yacon Plant By Edibleoffice
  28 Allotment and Leisure Gardener








































































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