Does anyone else have a patch of these sunflower looking plants with tubers at the roots that taste between a water chestnut and a parsnip? They are somewhat invasive so plant a patch where it won't intrude on the garden. Whether or not you consider them a "survival food", they are quite tasty!If nothing else, cook them however you would cook potatoes.

Fartichokes! Absolutely. I have grown them for years. This is a very versatile plant. The tubers are good raw or cooked. I have noticed when cooked you will begin to rumble and get quite musical. The foliage of this giant also makes for great livestock fodder. I have a hard time establishing it in the wild here as the deer absolutely crush it.

I harvest tubers in the winter from my garden and use them raw in salads.

Peel the tubers, then cook, or cook, then peel?

They look like they would be "hard" to peel, without wasting a lot of edible tuber.

I have always said I was going to grow some, but never have.

There is no need to peel them. The skin is very thin. These things are tender cooked, crisp like an apple when raw. Delicious either way.

I'll have to try them. I have seen them but never tasted them. Thanks for the information!

Ann, when you speak about cooking them, are you referring to steaming? That is how I do most of my vegetables. I KNOW it would work but why reinvent the wheel if you have better ideas?

Randy,

You can bake, steam, roast or boil them as you would any root vegetable. As I mentioned, I prefer them raw, cut up in slices on a salad or eaten like an apple. They are good no matter how you prepare them.

Beware of the nickname of 'fartichoke'. The amount of gas your body will produce after eating them is scientifically astonishing. This diminishes significantly if you eat them regularly though. They are not a starch like potatoes. First time I ate some I boiled them like a potato. I thought the situation was pretty funny until it kept me awake much of the night. It was a work night too so not so much fun in the end.

This is a very productive plant. One tuber planted in spring will result in many by fall. Tubers are large and small in size and are knobby looking things.

Since it is a tuber, would sandy soil be the best? I have a heavy alkaline level here + have to inport sandy soil to mix in m gardening areas along with the compost. The reason I ask is that my land is west of I35 + the REALLY deep dark productive soil is east of I35. Another story for another time.

I raise mine in wicking tubs. Where I live it is all rocks and clay, not meant for digging tubers. This plant likes moisture as well and I can give it what it needs easier this way. I mix my own planting medium: peat moss mixed with sand, perlite, rabbit manure, azomite and a bit of fertilizer now and then.

My garden looks 'atomic' right now.

I also grow sweet potatoes and good old fashioned taters this way too.