Director, Resilience Research Farm

Hartshorn, Missouri

        Jerusalem Artichokes will grow throughout most of the U.S. from Zone 3 to Zone 9. The 6'-9' plants are related to sunflowers.  The knobby tubers have a crisp texture, much like that of water chestnuts only a little sweeter.  They resemble carrots in texture and have a nutty taste.  The tubers can be eaten out of hand, sliced raw into a salad or cooked, boiled, baked, roasted or fried.  When cooked they have a taste similar to potatoes. 

        Directly after harvest the carbohydrates are in the form of inulin and are excellent for dieters and diabetics.  They may stored out of the ground but the inulin changes gradually into starch and then should be regarded more like the starch in potatoes.   Therefore, just store your artichokes in the ground and dig them as needed when the ground is thawed.

        Growing Artichokes is easy: as soon as possible after the tubers are received cut or break each one into sections with one or two eyes.  Plant 4" deep 12"-18" apart in rows 3 feet apart.  Do not allow the seed pieces to dry out prior to planting.  Almost any soil will do whether wet or dry.  The plants do need full sun and can stand moderate drought.  It is imperative that you harvest the tubers annually or they will become crowded and tuber size will decrease.  These plants are perennials so site them accordingly as they  your beds will bear reliably year after year.  After the first planting you will not ever have to plant again unless you want to increase your yields because the few tubers you miss at harvest will replace the ones you harvested and make next years crop.  We have never experienced any pest or disease problems with our test plots (unless you call deer pests) so they are perfect for organic growers.  

        Artichokes have a moderate need for fertility.  Organic growers should spread well rotted compost over the bed at initial planting and again each spring before the plants appear.  Conventional growers should work a 10-10-10 fertilizer in to the soil before first planting and broadcast the same fertilizer in early spring of each following year.  With proper care a tremendous yield of as much as 5 bushels can be expected from each 100' row.  You will enjoy the profusion of yellow sunflower-like heads in late summer. 

        In the fall, after the first killing frost cut the plants back to 1" and harvest can begin.  In extremely cold areas you will want to mulch with a thick layer of straw.  Tubers are best after chilling and maintain their sweetness through the winter harvest season.   While you can harvest them all at once and keep the tubers in cold storage at 85-95% humidity and at 34 degrees F for several months they will not remain as high in inulin or as sweet as those left in the ground and harvested as needed.

        While you sure can grow these for your own family’s use,  the commercial value of this crop makes it a fine candidate for market growers to add to their list of enterprises.  In fact, it makes a wonderful “training crop” for youngsters to begin as it is easy to manage and learn gardening skills at the same time. 

        Since there hasn’t been a “Jerusalem Artichoke Council” to promote the tubers the public is not very much aware of this plant.  It will be imperative to offer free samples wherever you start selling the product.  The astounding fact is that I have sold tubers to every single customer who has tried them. Be sure you offer free samples at your market stand or provide your stores with “freebies” for customers to sample.  While you can offer them at the farmer’s market in bulk you will receive the highest prices for tubers packaged similar to mushrooms.  Your tubers should be scrubbed well after harvest and before packaging.  While the tubers are fairly hard to damage care should be taken when handling them to avoid skinning, cuts and bruises that decrease value.  At the present time a 16 ounce package is retailing for $5.49 to $8.00.  For a product with low production costs and easy harvest you can see there is a high potential for profit from this enterprise.

        As you may remember from my previous talks and articles customers don’t buy products, they buy benefits.  In the case of Jerusalem Artichokes there are several that you should make your customers aware of.  First, they just plain taste good and are a crunchy treat any time.  More importantly they actually feed the healthy bacteria in our stomachs and are good for us!  They are a good source of iron and potassium, are low-fat and low on the glycemic index.  Since they are high in potassium they help to lower high blood pressure.  You could put together a sheet for diabetics just on the benefits to them.  They store well in the refrigerator for up to a month.  Since they are completely edible there is no waste whatsoever.   To the store selling your product this is a locally grown fresh vegetable available from October through May and the loss due to spoilage is low.  You could also develop a mail order business or web business as they ship well at normal temperatures.

        If you decide this project is for you here is what you need to know about seed tubers: There are few distinct varieties known.  The Indians planted them along the trails they walked each day.  They probably helped to increase the size and improve the taste by replanting the biggest and tastiest tubers from each plant.  While literature and some catalogs mention varieties these are probably actually strains.   Ours were originally wild crafted (harvested from the wild)at our Ohio farm and improved through selection at our Research farm here in southern Missouri.  They are of good size and easy to clean after harvest.  Since you can save your own tubers to increase your future plot size I suggest you start fairly small and increase your production after finding your best market area.  If you are interested in more free farming articles like this visit the Resilience web site at www.Resilienceonline.org  .

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