Jerusalem Artichoke or Sun Choke

herblover 6/24/2013, 2:40 pm

Anyone in zone 5b familiar with growing this?

boffer 6/24/2013, 3:19 pm

I grow them and love them in 7B.

You might find some feedback here:

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t6834-friday-s-rookie-post-iiisunroots

**camprn** 6/24/2013, 3:36 pm

Boffer, you wanna trade some of those tubers/rhizomes??? Wink

boffer 6/24/2013, 3:54 pm

Yep, be glad to in the fall when they die back.

They overwinter here in the ground, with no protection, just fine. How do you think they would fare in the ground in your climate?

**camprn** 6/24/2013, 3:59 pm

Oh, they would do fine, way over yonder at the edge of the yard, all by their lonesome! What a Face

landarch 6/24/2013, 11:31 pm

it's a native plant so they should do well perennially.

herblover 6/25/2013, 9:40 am

Thanks for all the replies. I will try some a couple of different ways to see how we like them and if so, that will be on my list to grow!

landarch 6/25/2013, 9:56 am

friends that have grown them say that they are difficult to get rid of once established...you have to dig out every little tuber or they will keep coming back...so plant accordingly.

**camprn** 4/4/2014, 5:45 pm

I got me some sun chokes in the mail today from a really nice guy. Thanks Border!!!

boffer 4/4/2014, 5:55 pm

camprn wrote:I got me some sun chokes in the mail today from a really nice guy. Thanks Border!!!

Lucky you!

I mailed mine to you a week ago; did they make it yet? Wink

**camprn** 4/4/2014, 5:59 pm

boffer wrote:
camprn wrote:I got me some sun chokes in the mail today from a really nice guy. Thanks Border!!!

Lucky you!

I mailed mine to you a week ago; did they make it yet?

stoopid phone, the wrong eyeglasses and lack of proof reading. I'm not so smaht. silly me

Thanks Boffer!!!
you rock

boffer 4/4/2014, 6:05 pm

Jerusalem Artichoke or Sun Choke 3170584802

I hope your ground is workable pretty soon!

GWN 4/5/2014, 11:13 am

I was given some of these from another gardener and basically have grown them more as a block between my neighbour and me.
I have been afraid to eat them because I have read where they are extremely gas producing...? (I have colitis)... However perhaps I might "take a walk on the wild side"
What is OTHERS experience with them?

boffer 4/5/2014, 11:29 am

One of the advantages of owning dogs:

They do have a reputation, but your mileage may vary.

My wife, who has trouble with beans, has no effects from them.

I, who rarely have issues, am hit hard on the first day, but not the second or third day when eating leftovers.

GWN 4/5/2014, 11:34 am

They do have a reputation, but your mileage may vary.

My wife, who has trouble with beans, has no effects from them.

I, who rarely have issues, am hit hard on the first day, but not the second or third day when eating leftovers.

I have heard it said for beans... or a lot of this stuff, that one needs to get their (system) built up to it. I have the same issue with Chantarelle mushrooms, and its too bad because I LOVE Picking them. However I can eat them one night, but the subsequent nights I struggle... Sort of like I have a threshold....

**Turan** 4/5/2014, 4:15 pm

My husband made me promise to never assault him like that again Shocked

I can handle them in small quantities and would probably build up the ability to handle them fairly quickly. DH has trouble with old world beans as well but not new world beans. SO take it slow, grate one into a potato dish or something and see how it goes.

Goosegirl 4/6/2014, 7:43 am

Some people have systems that will adjust with some time and 'inoculation', some just keep right on as the nation's best untapped natural gas sources!

GG

GWN 4/6/2014, 11:20 am

turan wrote:DH has trouble with old world beans as well but not new world beans.

Turan Which beans are old world and which ones are new world?

**Turan** 4/6/2014, 12:40 pm

GWN wrote:
turan wrote:DH has trouble with old world beans as well but not new world beans.

Turan Which beans are old world and which ones are new world?

Fava, lentil, mung, soy, garbanzo are all old world beans. There are lots of others as well. Fava and lentils are the hardest for DH, maybe just because he is most likely to eat a large helping of a stew of them.

Regular garden fresh beans and dry beans like kidney, pinto, black turtle, Jacobs, etc are all new world beans as well as peanuts are.

brainchasm 4/6/2014, 1:20 pm

GWN wrote:I was given some of these from another gardener and basically have grown them more as a block between my neighbour and me.
I have been afraid to eat them because I have read where they are extremely gas producing...? (I have colitis)... However perhaps I might "take a walk on the wild side"
What is OTHERS experience with them?

The gas production from Jerusalem Artichokes is because the plant is very rich in inulin (NOT insulin, no typo), a carbohydrate that the human body cannot process. And, as with any energy source that we cannot break down, there's something in our gut flora that can...and it makes mass quantities of gas in the process.

Wikipedia says that sun chokes stored for any length of time convert their inulin into fructose (standard fruit sugar)...so maybe, don't use them fresh, store for a week, and get less gas and sweeter tubers!

Aside from the gas production, inulin really is a neat thing, and the sun choke is a huge source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inulin#Uses

**camprn** 4/6/2014, 1:40 pm

http://www.commonsensehome.com/before-you-plant-sunchokes/

GWN 4/6/2014, 1:45 pm

Interesting brainchasm
I have long believed in a theory that everyone has different abilities to break down certain carbohydrates.... such as the ones in chantarelles
Everyone is blessed with differing amounts of the necessary enzymes needed to break the down, and I also believe that many people lose some of this as they age
A lot of people tend to stop being able to break down the cruciferous veggies as they age, whereas they could when they were younger.

Certainly the case with me, I at lots of these things when I was young. NO effect.

steve638 1/27/2015, 10:22 pm

I've been curious about these plants. As posted above they are proflic growers and may take over a garden.

That's where juicing comes in! Juicing can be expensive and I'd like to see if a patch of these can keep up.

check out http://drbenkim.com/detox-juice-recipe.html

Though it seems some experimenting with it and other ingredients will be needed to see what works Jerusalem Artichoke or Sun Choke 3170584802

**sanderson** 12/3/2023, 6:51 pm

Bump

Anyone growing sunchokes? This article is within the thread and I thought it was humorous.

https://commonsensehome.com/before-you-plant-sunchokes/

markqz 12/3/2023, 7:17 pm

sanderson wrote:Bump

Anyone growing sunchokes? This article is within the thread and I thought it was humorous.

https://commonsensehome.com/before-you-plant-sunchokes/

Might be a good thing to try this spring (or late fall) up front, where I have a harder time growing things, and the flowers would be great. There's a limit to how much lemongrass I need.

I was interested in Jerusalem Artichokes (now called sunchokes) as a kid, because Euell Gibbons and other wild-food foragers suggested it as a potato substitute. Never managed to find them in the wild though.

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