Sunchokes Provide Food for People and Animals

Backgrounder

Here’s news about a low work, perennial vegetable called a sunchoke (Helianthus tuberosus). That’s right, this is a perennial vegetable. That means that you don’t have to replant it every year – it seeds itself again and again. And it doesn’t need much care while it’s growing. All you have to do is reap the harvest at the end of the season.

If you keep livestock you will be particularly interested in this crop. Keep listening to find out why.

Sunchoke produce tubers that grow underground – like potatoes. These tubers are nutritious. They have a lot of protein. Research has shown that sunchoke tubers contain more protein than soybeans, corn, wheat, or beans. The tuber looks something like a knobby potato. And it tastes a bit like a potato too.

Sunchokes can also be used as animal feed. You can feed the leaves, stems and blossoms to your sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle. The leaves and stems contain 28 percent protein. That’s more than twice the amount of protein in corn.

That’s not all. Sunchokes need little or no fertilizer. They grow so fast that they shade out weeds. They produce large harvests in almost any type of soil – even poor, infertile soils. They grow well with very little water and are resistant to drought. In fact, too much water – more than 150 centimetres per year – may reduce growth and rot the tubers. And sunchokes produce best in temperatures below 28 degrees Celsius.

I mentioned that sunchokes produce high yields. With the right conditions they can produce 35 tonnes per hectare of tubers, and 85 tonnes per acre of leaves and stalks. And because they produce food for people and food for animals, this might be an ideal crop for you.

Let’s talk now about how to plant and care for sunchokes. Plant sunchoke tubers the same way you would plant potatoes. You can either plant the whole tuber or you can plant a piece of the tuber which has several seed eyes, also called buds. Plant the tubers 8 centimetres deep and 30 centimetres apart. Thirty centimetres is about the distance from your elbow to the tip of your longest finger. The rows should be one metre apart. Be warned! Once you have planted sunchokes it is very hard to get rid of them. This is because each piece of tuber left in the ground grows again the next year. So plant sunchokes in a place where you want them to grow for a long time.

Sunchokes require a growing season of 150 days – that’s about five months. The stalks will grow to be two to four metres high, depending on the fertility of the soil and the amount of space between each plant. When the sunchoke shoots are 10 centimetres high – that is as high as your ankle – remove any weeds. Then spread straw or dried leaves on the soil around each plant. This will smother any new weeds, and help to keep the soil cool and moist.

If you grow sunchokes for animal fodder, cut the plants to the ground when they reach shoulder-height and feed the stems and leaves to your animals. Let the plants grow again, but this time don’t let them grow so high. Cut them again each time they reach your waist.

If you are growing sunchokes for your own food, wait until the plant flowers. Then cut the plants to the ground. Feed the stems and leaves to your animals. Dig the tubers out of the ground if you are ready to eat them. Or, store them in the ground until you are ready to use them. The longer you leave them in the soil, the bigger they will grow.

You can cook sunchoke tubers in a variety of ways. You can bake, boil, roast, mash, fry, steam, or cream them. Or you can eat them right out of the ground. Raw tubers have the texture of crisp water chestnuts. Sunchoke tubers can also be dried and ground into flour. When you add sunchoke flour to other grain flours such as wheat and maize, the mixed flour contains extra protein.

Sunchokes are native to North America, but they have been successfully grown in many parts of the world. You will probably have to do some research to find someone who can supply tubers for planting. Ask an extension officer or community farming group if they know of a seed source. If you can find one you will be rewarded with an easy to grow, nutritious crop which provides food for both people and animals.

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