As winter finally breaks into spring, my thoughts turn to gardening. The promise of fresh food that is both tastier and better for the earth than anything we can buy in a store is tantalizing. As soon as tax season is over, I’m ready to trade my laptop for a shovel.
Our soil is challenging, to say the least. It grows sagebrush, greasewood, and Russian thistle– all good food for goats. But it’s too heavy, salty, and alkaline for many crops– not to mention poor drainage. Corn is hopeless. Tomatoes require lots of compost in raised beds.
We’re always on the lookout for something that will grow well here. Last year, we discovered hairy vetch, a cover crop that does pretty well with enough irrigation, and Hopi red dye amaranth, a more useful relative of the pigweed that grows seemingly without any effort.
This year, we’re trying something new: Jerusalem artichoke. A North American native, this plant is actually in the sunflower family. It’s described as very similar to the wild sunflower on top– and like that flower, makes decent forage for goats. But its roots develop many small tubers that are good to eat, and are described as “similar to water chestnuts in taste.”
One site suggests slicing and baking the tuber for about 45 minutes drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper. The result: “sweet and nutty tasting.”
Jerusalem artichoke is supposed to grow almost anywhere, and prefers alkaline soils. One website warns that the plant grows like a weed. We should be so lucky.
