Sunroots (aka Jerusalem Artichokes)

Credit: Carolyn Herriot

So easy to grow, once you plant them you’ll always have them! Maybe not a problem for a perennial food plant that produces lovely yellow sunflowers in October (I used them for my wedding bouquet with baby’s breath and a yellow ribbon!) and can be harvested all through the winter.

Sunroots are an excellent alternative to potatoes and have the same nutritional vitamin and mineral value. When drizzled with olive oil and baked for 25 minutes ( 350°F) the flavour is sweet and nutty. They are light and crunchy when eaten raw with veggie dip, not to forget the delicious creamy soup they make.

Plant Sunroots now, one foot apart, three times the size of the tuber deep, where you will not mind if they spread rampantly. Growing 5-feet tall with large bushy leaves, a patch of sunroots makes a great windblock, providing both shelter and shade in the garden.

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