Today we finally harvested our Jerusalem Artichoke Crop what an exciting day for us but me in particular I have always wanted to taste these and try them and the Jerusalem Artichoke is another way we can be self-sufficient. Now apparently many people plant these in the Spring, cut them back in the fall, and harvest them in the late fall or early winter but remember where we live it is mild quite a bit of the year and we wanted to be sure these artichokes got some very cold weather before we harvested. Well I have to tell all of you we were in for an incredible surprise we only planted 3 or 4 bulbs in this particular bucket and look at all of the Jerusalem Artichokes we got!
First of all I had already ordered these last year and was excited when I stumbled across The Edible Garden’s post on these wonderful edibles and had to laugh because apparently in England they are affectionately called “Fartichokes”. See clip below from “The Edible Garden” it’s quite enjoyable!
I have to tell you I have never had Jerusalem Artichokes and tonight we ate them and they were absolutely amazing they tasted kind of like a white potato but with a little more sweetness and crunch. I made them using Jamie Oliver’s recipe right here….apparently from what I have found on the internet the English know a lot about Jerusalem Artichokes or they just come up on the searches I have done 😉 This recipe was absolutely delicious I was not disappointed if anything I expected less than what I got which was “I am so making this again!” But I have to tell you peeling them is such a pain you can basically think of it as very similar to ginger…..it’s just a lovely, knotty, golden, pain…but so worth it!
Did you know that the Native Americans actually planted these along the trails they traveled always having a ready source of available healthy food. They are 100% edible although I peeled mine for our meal tonight so their need not be any waste. Also they are loaded with iron and potassium and when harvested and eaten fresh they contain inulin which is great for diabetics and you don’t have to consider them a carbohydrate but once they have been in storage you need to count them like a potato. They store in the refrigerator for up to one month so we have lots of good eats ahead! I only needed to peel and slice four for dinner!
Jerusalem Artichokes are a great prep food because you plant them and basically forget them and just make sure you harvest annually for best results. The critical issue is getting your soil right…they love sand and can withstand some drought but if it gets too cold you need to mulch them more heavily.
Now it’s time for The Ole’ Saturday Homesteading Trading Post No. 14….What have you been up to on your homestead? Are you prepping your garden for the future? We are planting more Jerusalem Artichokes and potatoes really trying to plant foods that will sustain us in the next year as food prices climb and fuel prices rise. Have you gone off grid as my friend Rose Petal at Live Ready Now does you may want to check her site out as she always has lots of compelling blog posts that just keep me coming back for more! Every week I am going to start sharing different stories that link up so that we all can connect with other like-minded homesteading bloggers isn’t that what this is all about? So link up share what’s going on at your spread here I can’t wait to see what you are up to!
Link up for the Ole’ Saturday Homesteading Trading Post Ed. No. 14 here:
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Today my husband are on our local gardening tour it is sure to be a fun-filled day connecting with gardeners I for one cannot wait! Also thanks so much to all my new blog followers on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Email! You all encourage me and inspire me to continue to share our journey! Have a lovely Saturday folks!
Fondly,
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Can’t be doin with all that peelin…I do like the flowers though!
Bridget the peeling is definitely a pain but the health benefits, how easy they are to grow and the beautiful flowers are all worth it! But I so know what you mean 😉
Thank you so much for this idea. As we prepare to plant sustainable edibles on our new little homestead we are always looking for ideas like this…and we have plenty of sand here so they should grow well, I guess. When I watched the video it looked like the peels came off fairly easily when she boiled them…or was that an inaccurate impression? Thanks again!
Rose Petal I will have to try to blanch them and see if that helps….I will let you know I have plenty so I am going to experiment with them! 🙂
Jerusalem artichokes are not something I really care for, but it could be that I haven’t had them repared the right way, either. When I saw what they look like raw, they look like funky-looking raw ginger root 😉 🙂 I’m glad that you like them 🙂 🙂 🙂 Have a good weekend. Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂
Heather they were absolutely delicious! You are right they are kind of funny and knobby looking!
I just realized I typed my website address incorectly. I fixed it. It should be good now, if you want to come visit my blog 🙂 Have a good weekend. Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂
Heather I will link your blog to our blog hop no worries! i always love to see what is going on at your place! Happy Saturday!
This is an awesome post. It makes me want to plant Jerusalem artichokes especially if the boiling helps with the peeling. 🙂 I’m giving it a mention tonight on Friday Food Flicks. Thanks for sharing and for the inspiration
Amanda
Amanda thanks you so much! I really appreciate it they are delicious! 🙂 I hopefully will be doing more cooking again this next week and will link up again it has been such a busy week around here!
I am not sure why you need to peel them at all. I do not. The skin is very thin and if scrubbed with a vegetable brush there really is no need to peel.
Derek it depends on how we cook them whether we peel them or not. When we make Jerusalem Artichoke chips I prefer the peel on but when I make them like scalloped potatoes I personally prefer the peel off…just a preference.
Thanks for visiting friend 🙂