Harvest Monday: November 10, 2014 - Jerusalem Artichokes and a Recipe for White Bean, Bread, and Tomato Skillet Casserole

I decided to pull some jerusalem artichoke yesterday - the first since I planted it two years ago.  I have left it alone to spread out.  The first 10 plants became about 40-50 this year; naturally they are very close together.  I want to have a field (well, a partial field) of them eventually as the flowers can be pretty when seen in large bunches (rather plain individually).  Mind you, it will probably only take a few more years at the rate they multiply.


Unfortunately, they didn't even flower this year.  And the tubers themselves aren't looking too great.  As I mentioned above, I only pulled a few and didn't really dig too deep - they are very small!  I don't eat a lot of these but it would be nice to take advantage of them now and then, especially once they really start to multiply as I'll need to dig them up to control the spread.




I am used to them being larger.  The ones in the picture below were from our farm a few years ago.  Maybe a different variety?

 

Mind you, the patch of jerusalem artichokes there was probably 3 feet wide and 15-20 feet long.  And the soil was not at all as compact as mine is here.

Jerusalem Artichoke - McDonald's Corners 2011

I think I'll dig around the current patch and loosen up the soil a bit to see if I can improve things for next year.  And I suppose they could use some additional nutrition although what I'm not sure (will google that unless anyone has ideas?).

And that is my limited contribution to the weekly harvest topic at Daphne's Dandelions Harvest Monday collection.  Stop by to see what other gardeners are up to.

The rest of the post is what I've done with a previous harvest - Tarbais beans.  This dish includes so many of my favourite combinations (tomatoes and bread, beans and cheese, bread and cheese, tomatoes and cheese!!) I couldn't help but love it.

BUT ... I have to admit the Tarbais beans were a bit bland.  These were the beans I harvested earlier this year.  Does anyone know if Tarbais beans are always so bland?  It is the first time I have grown them.  I realize most beans don't have a ton of flavour on their own, but the borlotti beans are considerably tastier.  I'm just not sure that I want to devote the space for Tarbais next year ...

The dish is delicious either way but I might try another bean (cannellini comes to mind) the next time.   As for the rest of the Tarbais bean harvest, I've seen the beans used in dessert recipes where the sugar can help with the bland flavour.

Read on for the casserole recipe.

Jerusalem Artichokes - my, how they spread!

Last year, I planted 2 small patches (about 5 each) of jerusalem artichokes close together.  As seen in the main picture of the post, I have previously had many plants.  In my opinion, they are a very pretty "ground cover" and will eventually reduce the amount of lawn I mow.  The flower is not all that much on its own, but quite pretty in larger bunches.  Well, to be truthful, I like them even with just a few but not everyone does.

I knew they would multiply quickly.  They are related to the sunflower (same genus: helianthus) but actually grow edible tubers beneath the ground ... like potatoes.  Well, they look more like ginger but multiply like potatoes.

Where each tuber formed last fall, a new plant shot up this year!  So each patch of 5 artichokes have turned into about 35-45 artichokes plants this year.

My plan was intentional - plant these and let them spread to cover a wide space.  Even without flowers, they are prettier than poorly maintained lawn which is the best I can usually manage.  But spread they will ... and they are only 30 feet from the neighbouring property.

I did not bother to harvest any last year as there were so few and I wanted to encourage growth.  But it won't be more than a few years before I will be offering bags to co-workers in order to manage the spread. 

I look forward to some interesting recipe options in the fall.  If anyone has good jerusalem artichoke recipes, please share!

Jerusalem Artichokes

A long patch of Sunchokes, a.k.a. Jerusalem Artichokes.  Great for a border plant, but can get away on you very quickly due to the quick spread.

Here they are at their peak in the summer…

Ready for harvest …

These tubers are delicious when used in recipes similar to potatoes, but can be hard on the stomach – google search on "inulin".