 | Bear here... Think there isn't much to harvest in the Spring? Think again. It's April and we harvested 12 lbs of sunchokes (which used to be known as Jerusalum artichokes). They are perennial, so there are no planting worries. When you're harvesting, just leave the tubers that are too small in the ground and they will regrow. The only thing we have to worry about is whether we want to harvest in the Spring or the Fall. This year I got them in April (after the ground thawed but before we saw sunchoke sprouts). For more info about this plant, see our Sunchoke page. |
 This is the 5' x 5' sunchoke patch by our bird feeders. We prefer to harvest in the Spring because the stalks, which grow up to 12' tall, make a good wind break and places for the birds to land in the Winter. (Also, after the first frost I'm kinda lazy, don't tell Theresa.) |  The stalks also make great kindling for our wood burning stove or more material for the bird condo (brush pile) you see in the background. Most of this pile of stalks will be broken up and put in our kindling bins. |
 To harvest, I dig down the length of my hand spade (about 8-12"). The larger ones seem to be around the 7-10" depth, and we have found if we skip harvesting for a year we get more of the larger tubers. We also have two sunchoke growing areas, so next season I will harvest the other area. |  It's a treasure hunt I enjoy. I used to pull out as many tubers as I could and would get up to 40 lbs, but this year I decided to take only a certain size or larger so it wasn't such a pain to clean them all. Be sure to get as much dirt off as you can while you're still outside, and remember to rake the area flat when you are done. |
 We got the treasure! Now it's time to crank the tunes, grab some brushes (the photo shows my large assortment), and get the treasure ready for storage. I find short bristle brushes are good for scrubbing the mud off of most of the tubers and the toothbrush is good for the tight places. |  I'm done cleaning the tubers (not my mess). Remember when I said to get as much dirt off the tubers as you can when you're digging them up? Here is my pan after cleaning (on the left). I strongly recommend using a pan in the sink to catch the mud and then using the tub to water something outside when you're done. The mud could plug up your plumbing. |
 | Do a final rinse and put the damp tubers in some large ziplock bags. This is what 12 lbs of sunchokes cleaned, bagged, and ready for storage in the refrigerator look like. They will last 2 to 3 months in the fridge, if they stay moist. Depending on what we do with them, this is about 6 to 15 meals worth, not bad. See our webpage for sunchoke recipes. Type at ya later... |
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