Neither an artichoke, nor from Jerusalem, these bulbous tubers are easy to grow and offer pretty flowers and a delicious vegetable
As an ethnobotanist, I am forever fascinated by how we have come to eat the crops we do. Despite there being an estimated 50,000 edible plant species on Earth, most of us exist on the harvests from fewer than 100 species, meaning we are missing out on 99.8% of the options available. In fact, 60% of the calories that fuel humanity come from the seeds of just three grass species: wheat, rice and corn. Having grown and tasted hundreds of these alternative edibles, I can confirm that there are sometimes very good reasons why some just haven’t been popularised. “Edible”and “tasty” are often different things. However, once in a while there is an example of a crop that ticks all the boxes, yet remains totally undervalued. The Jerusalem artichoke is probably the easiest and most rewarding vegetable crop around – and now is a great time to get ordering them.
Continue reading...* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
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