When I give tours of my place I’m usually asked why there are stalks of some dead plants all over the place. Now as unsightly as they are (normally explained away as ‘permaculture is in the eye of the beholder’), the stalks are the only above ground remains of the mighty Jerusalem Artichoke.
By keeping the dead stalks there over the Winter, it is very easy to find the delightful tubers just beneath the surface. They will keep all Winter in the soil, and what you don’t collect will start to grow anew from mid-Spring.
You can see below how the tubers spread under an irrigation pipe. Only thing you need to be mindful of with Jerusalem Artichokes is that they will become invasive if you let them, so don’t let them!
Any shoots coming out in mid-Spring that you don’t want? Pull them out in good time.
- Two Must-have Survival Root Crops: Jerusalem Artichokes and Cassava (modernhomesteaders.net)
- Permaculture: A Quiet Revolution (topdocumentaryfilms.com)
- Sunchokes in Alaska (alaskapublic.org)