If you love sunflowers, and who doesn’t, why not grow a perennial one? The sunchoke, aka Jerusalem artichoke, and sunroot is one species of perennial sunflower, Helianthus tuberosus, grown as a vegetable for the nutrient rich edible underground tuber, an ornamental with clusters of radiant 2-4” yellow flowers, a nectar magnet for butterflies and a seed source for songbirds.
In fall, tubers are sown in sandy or loamy, well-drained soil 1’ apart since each plant becomes 6-10’ high on a single stalk. Seeds are sown in spring. The plant requires full sun and adequate space to grow. Be prepared to stake the stalks.
The North American native grows wild in old abandoned fields, moist thickets, forest margins, railroad tracks, and along roadsides. Sunchoke was an important food of Native Americans before European explorers discovered them in the 1600s. The Lewis and Clark diaries record Sacagawea, the Shoshone teen-aged interpreter and only female joining the expedition, introduced the men to the nutty-flavored root vegetable survival food.
Sunchokes growing at Sustainable Carolina Garden at UofSC.
French explorer Champlain brought the plant to Europe. It soon became a popular vegetable crop for poor farm families in Europe and the American colonies. Because tubers store well in root cellars and barns, farmers also used the tubers as winter livestock feed. In WWII sunchokes became an important food when Nazi occupation resulted in strict rationing.
Each plant produces two to five pounds of tubers per season. The tubers are cooked like potatoes, grated raw for salads and stir-fries, or blended into a hearty soup. Harvest sunchokes after the first frost for the best flavor.
Today, sunchokes are a gourmet vegetable served in upscale restaurants and markets. A Hopkins farm grows sunchokes as a row crop and tubers are sold to local restaurants. Sustainable Carolina Garden at UofSC grows sunchokes for the campus culinary department and local food banks.
In selecting a site for sunchokes in your garden, keep in mind their potential height and vigor. Their tall size and aggressive tendencies are best sited in a naturalized area or the edges of perennial borders and vegetable gardens to allow plants to colonize. To prevent spread all tubers must be removed annually, a laborious task. Sunchokes are found in cottage gardens, bird gardens, butterfly gardens, native plant patches, and meadows.
Pollinators are attracted to Helianthus tuberosus.
Bring this perennial survival food into your gourmet vegetable garden.
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June 25, 2020 at 11:06PM
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Sunchokes—Survival Food to Gourmet Vegetable - Columbia Star
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