Topic: Giant Bolivian Achocha - is it daylight sensitive?

[galina]

Sorry, can't help, Sparrow.     

[penedesenca]

As Sparrow said. I have the lighter green ones with a few prickles like those shown in the Reel Seeds pic. I did try to add pics but my comp. through a wobbly.

TY for saying about Lady slipper I was giving up on it but I will give it next year in the patch. 

[woodypecks]

I was thinking about giving these a try too , but most people dont seem that impressed with the taste.....so the flowers....tell me about the flowers .  Lovely flowers might just tempt me :)   

[galina]

Here is a picture of the flowers and newly set fruit.  The bees love them, but somehow I feel you won't be too impressed. 

[squeezyjohn]

I grew them again this year ... we tried eating a few in casseroles where you couldn't really taste them and they got eaten.

However - we discovered that they make fantastic little characters for the kids to play with ... a bit like hairy green clangers.

[Vinlander]

In short - yes!

It started cropping for me in August and kept going until well in to October - talk about a glut!  I had 5 plants and the fact that these ones are substantially larger than the others meant that they really overwhelm you!

Unfortunately they're not exactly delicious, with a taste like an unripe green-pepper crossed with a bland french bean - they're not unpleasant, but it's just a bland green vegetable taste. The taste is just the same as the fat baby ones I grew in previous years, but they're just about 4 times the size.  If I was using achocha as a subsistence crop I wouldn't think twice about growing them as they are super-productive and pest free, but given I have higher hopes for my home grown stuff flavour-wise I don't think I'll grow them again.

Couldn't agree more - that's why I was P'd off when my "wild pygmy" seeds from a friend failed to sprout. I thought the flavour of a big achocha compressed into a little one might just make them worth eating without risking starvation (Russian saying: "hunger is the best condiment").

Unfortunately "wild pygmy"  is my name for them - I've never been able to find out what they really were.

Cheers.

PS. I recommend Bulgarian Teardrop peppers at the lime green stage to liven up bland veg. dishes made from gluts. They should be shredded onto the plated meal at the last minute for their pungently citrusy zest. 'Course the obvious thing is to put a bit of bacon in with the onions at the start - that makes it work even better. NB. green manzano/rocoto/locoto peppers put in at the start give a mild comforting deep heat that really fills out the flavour.

[woodypecks]

Here is a picture of the flowers and newly set fruit.  The bees love them, but somehow I feel you won't be too impressed. 
 Ah ! Galina . Thanks for putting flower pics on ! Bees loving them is good though ! :)

[galina]

Same here galina - they flowered really early and then did nothing.

I had the round seeds, just looked back through my photos to check.

This is a bit cheeky, but I don't suppose anyone has any chufa this year? I think that I left mine too long and they didn't germinate.

Am really keen to try again, but if the fishing tackle shops sell ones that are fresh enough I can always try there.

It's raining, so I am just enjoying the Thomas Etty catalogue and, yes!, they have Chufa seeds. 

[sparrow]

Yep, I spotted that too - was just waiting for the HSL catalogue to come out before getting my order ready. :)

[Vinlander]

Same here galina - they flowered really early and then did nothing.

I had the round seeds, just looked back through my photos to check.

This is a bit cheeky, but I don't suppose anyone has any chufa this year? I think that I left mine too long and they didn't germinate.

Am really keen to try again, but if the fishing tackle shops sell ones that are fresh enough I can always try there.

It's raining, so I am just enjoying the Thomas Etty catalogue and, yes!, they have Chufa seeds. 

I assume the chufas you mean are tigernuts (Cyperus esculentus)?

I bought some pre-packed ones from a fruit shop in Ipswich recently but they had very little flavour and tasted a bit off too - I strongly suspect they had been parboiled - and probably soaked too long before that (this is what anglers want - quick to rehydrate and off flavours that attract carp).

I think the company packing them for human consumption has used supplies aimed at anglers - they are much cheaper due to the greater demand.

It wasn't the shop's fault - it is an excellent shop (for anything else).

I won't name the manufacturer because I have no proof - but I'd recommend tasting a small pack before investing in any bulk purchase (or investing the effort of sowing and mollycoddling them) - especially if you are using angling supplies - obviously anything boiled or 'off' is also impossible to germinate.

If anyone can recommend a source of sweet and tasty 'tigernuts' I'd be interested - as much for eating as germinating (they are tricky) but not at any price...  before they fell out of fashion (I assume that's what happened) they were available at roughly the same price as sunflower seeds (they are a weed of rice fields after all).

You are probably aware that chufa 'milk' is better than anything anywhere near the price (almond is good but incredibly expensive, soya is cheap but disgusting).

But you might not realise how wonderful the leftover nut flours from 'milking' are in breadmaking (especially when home processing only takes what would be a 'first pressing' compared to the industrial process).

It's a lovely moreish nutty taste - much more subtle and less intrusive (and  better) than dessicated coconut.

I really don't understand why they aren't marketed properly - after all they bypass all the nut and seed allergies by being a tuber!

As Woody Allen very nearly said "If you can't do then teach, if you can't teach then teach gym, if you can't teach gym then go into management, if you can't manage then try marketing".

Cheers.

PS. The chufa milk in the shops (horchata) is produced mainly for Spanish kids - so it has too much sugar in it for an adult -  there is an 'extra chufas' version with more flavour but it's very rare outside Valencia.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Mine grew merrily, but I haven't lifted any yet. I grew them in pots last  year, from the seed swap, and got a reasonable number, but didn't try any. I planted them out in an open bed (possibly a mistake due to their small size) and this year they flourished. I'm still not sure how many to put in a container, but I'll probably grow them that way next year as they should be easier to harvest.

[Hector]

Realise this is an old topic but have not had great crops with Achocha but am keen to grow again. Any updates re which one more productive/ likely to ripen in N Wales?