Please can someone give me an idea when I can expect to dig my Jeruselem Artichokes I planted the tubrs on 7th April this year they are about 3ft high and of course have not flowred yet. Are they like pots, when the flowers have died they are ok to dig.
At the end of October the tubers should have been made and the tops can be cut down to within 2ft from soil level.
The tubers are very hardy and could be left in the ground until needed in winter. But lifting them from frozen soil is not easy, so can start diggin them up at the end of November
Let them make growth as much as possible over the summer and autumn..and once the tops are starting to die, then the harvest begins and you can keep digging and eating them until the new growth starts next year.
Trouble with JA's is that they don't store very well. I only dig the amount that I'm going to eat withing a week at the time. If there is freezing weather in forecast you can always put a sheet of plastic over the ground and thick layer of mulch over..then it is case of peeling the layer off before digging more up. The soil under the mulch will stay soft...perfect!
I find they store well enough if clamped... in dry peat or sand to stop the tubers drying out too much... and they are easier to "harvest" if in a large bucket in a frost free shed then in frozen soil... :)
Mine reached aboy 8 feet tall. Last year we cut them in half mid summer, like the Chelsea chop, and we got much bigger tubers.
I like them thinly sliced and fried i butter as a snak, but unfortunately I am one of those whose tummy finds them a bit rich and after eating them we have a levitating quilt that night :o
They are one of the banned foods in our house........fartichokes is the real name ;D
last year i didnt know what to with the hollow stems so i cut them into short leng ths and stuffed them in a part of a hollow tree sort of an insect home planning on making some proper bug houses this winter whatdo others do with their old stems of them
Quote from: ipt8 on June 10, 2011, 23:39:02
Mine reached aboy 8 feet tall. Last year we cut them in half mid summer, like the Chelsea chop, and we got much bigger tubers.
I like them thinly sliced and fried i butter as a snak, but unfortunately I am one of those whose tummy finds them a bit rich and after eating them we have a levitating quilt that night :o
thanks for a different cooking technique. i'm not meant to eat them either as i suffer with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) but as i occasionally only get now n' again, i'll should be ok if i eat something in moderation. in the past, i only cooked them in soup, but this yr, i'll roast and sautee them like tatties.. mmh, can't wait!
I get a bit of IBS too, and I find they are much less trouble if they are roasted slightly slower and longer to the point where they become little bags of mush - and they are even more delicious when they are...
ok, so i'll slow roast them toget. with garlic and some root veggies in the autumn when they're ready... ooh, my mouth's watering now!