Last autumn my friend Evan moved from Castle Rock, WA to the Portland metropolitan area. Most of the moving took place while I was still away in the Carolinas, but I made sure to have at least a day or two set aside to help transport whatever they needed, and to help wrap up garden tasks. On the last day helping there, the last task was to dig up some yacón, a crop I’d only heard about, and one which I was eager to learn more about. Since I finally ate some this week, it seemed like a good time to mention the delicious New World tuberous treat.
Evan holding up the plant before we chopped it back to harvest the two kinds of tubers.
Evan wrote about the crop before, and I encourage you to read the whole post of theirs since it’s loaded with additional information as well as growing notes for the other crops they trialed a few years ago. Since I’ve only just tasted this, I don’t know yet how to grow it but we did harvest this one huge plant and boy did it NOT disappoint!
The flowers are definitely not very showy and are considered insignificant but they were sweet to see on that cold autumn day.
When we dug the plant up, I asked questions but didn’t retain the information since it was a long and cold day. What I remember though was that one plant ended up producing a lot of tubers and that it sounded like it wasn’t very difficult to grow. My hope is that the tubers I kept to grow at my community garden plot will sprout well and I can continue to keep this one around.
What I learned during a followup with Evan this weekend was that the original start was most likely purchased at the garden show in Seattle a few years ago from the Raintree Nursery booth.
Since then Evan kept it going and now hopefully Tamara at Chickadee Gardens and I can keep these going. (We passed on most of the propagative tubers to her, but she and I both got some so no pressure.)
In the post that Evan wrote above, the nursery Cultivariable is mentioned, and I will add that this is not just a resource for edible tubers you can grow, but it’s also a fun site just to sit and read the content. From potatoes to yacón, oca to mashua, ulluco to sunchokes, this is the resource! If you’re looking for potato species to grow for ornamental purposes (since most don’t taste great), again, this is the place! Or if you want to grow the potato (Solanum jamesii) native to the American SW, again, this is where you can find it. (Though the grower makes it clear that this is not a reliable food crop.) Luckily they sell many other interesting ones you can try—but as in vitro platelets it seems, so dare to be different! Why not!?!
While I wish that I could give you some amazing photos of a dish I made with these big beauties, I must confess to only having eaten one of the smaller ones fresh today. After we harvested everything, the propagation bits had to be separated and then we had to store the edible tubers so as to increase their tastiness. Well, even with a diminished capacity to taste and smell right now, I very much enjoyed the sweetness of the tuber I ate raw this afternoon.
Additionally, due to being in COVID-19 isolation, I can’t go to the store. Yes, that’s right, we’ve finally been hit with the modern plague here at home and I cannot yet go to the store again.
So, what did it taste like? It was delicious! Will I eat them again? Absolutely!
Once I’ve chosen three recipes, I’ll add them here in a post. I plan to make a few different dishes to see how different preparations change the taste and flavor. (If you have a favorite, let me know in the comments!)
So until then, stay warm out there and dream about the tasty tubby tubers you can grow in your garden this year!
(This post is dedicated to the late Julia Powell. Thank you for your creative content and honest voice. The internet—and especially social media—will always need more writers like you. #ripjuliapowell)
Spontaneous combustion. Sure, sometimes it can be more of a metaphoric process describing the danger of the fire burning inside of all of us. I’ve been celebrating my own blaze recently thanks to this song I listen to often as I work: When A Fire Starts to Burn. (Please watch the video to understand some of my humor here.)
When a fire starts to…
Clearly, with the cold nip in the air, songs with some umph keep me at it.
With lots of posts yet to catch up on from my trip, I’m tied here to my chair this weekend. I’ll still be running out to rescue this and that, but it’s time to start a fire under myself!! Brrrrrrr.
I’m already burning up with activity, but we’ve all got to make room in our lives to welcome whatever changes are heading our way unseen.
(She bends over and lights a match under the chair she is sitting in.)
Fuchsia ‘Poermenneke’ a gift from Theo over at The Fuchsietum.This is a trailing plant so will work best in planters and hanging baskets.
Clearing a logjam takes some skill and must be strategic. I could use dynamite, but, well, I’m not really into destroying my life though sometimes I am asked if I’ll be fired for the things that I write here.
Silly geese. Fly off somewhere, won’t cha?
I planned to do this somewhat thoughtfully. Little fires. Little steps. Maybe the hint of a conflagration here and there.
When a fire starts to burn, right, and it starts to spread
First, I cleaned up a lot more plants outside. In addition to the non-hardy tender plants, I had to sort out the new and special ones I need to propagate for next year. I’m grateful to have a few from friends, and a few I picked up on trips, and a few someone sent me—and more I forgot about. This confusion is part of my job.
I haven’t sorted it ALL out, but I did a lot this week!
She gon’ bring that attitude home
Felix causin’ trouble.
Who don’t wanna do nothing with their life
The next problem is space. It’s fun to save plants from the cold, but it’s not fun to have no space to move.
A lifeboat is always limited. And we have our limits too.
I see this happening a lot now with houseplant enthusiasts who went OVERBOARD and did deep dives into the houseplant lifestyle during the worst of the pandemic.
Collectors are finding it more difficult to unload plants they bought as investments.
Set a fire under that too! Compost it! Toss it! Give it away!
I know that’s what I’ve been doing. I can feel the water beginning to flow!!!
When a fire starts to…
Another part of the logjam has been to clean additional space in the house. I just had to find the time to work on cleaning it up too, and I did!
And like that, another part of the jam is gone! Splish splash away—woohoo!
Felix in the sorting area—trying to get my attention. Oftentimes I wonder if I’ve turned into Mrs. Jellyby in Bleak House by Charles Dickens. Am I practicing “telescopic philanthropy” as I grow unusual and uncommon plants hoping to keep some of them in commerce? Do I care about the plant world at the expense of my own affairs? Nah, not in my case, but this can be an issue.
Nothing like having Felix help me. Since I was gone for many weeks this summer, I’m working as much as I can to make up for it. Felix missed me and now he misses me more. Days at home with him are precious.
Prescribed fire anyone?
Sure looks like I need one, doesn’t it?
I cannot wait to get in there with the pruners and the chainsaw! This winter the garden is going to be cut back harder than it was last year.
When a first starts to burn, right, and it starts to spread
Last week the chaos began, and I hustled there too. First we had the crazy atmospheric river dump on us. I enjoy rain a lot, but days of it, uh, not my idea of a beautiful fall day.
But that rain won’t dampen anything in me either.
She gon’ bring that attitude home
Who don’t wanna do nothing with their life
Then I sort of lightly helped doing an activity that is common for my friends and I. Along with Sean and Preston, I helped out on what was the last day of a garden move for our friend Evan. We dug a few things, took cuttings, grabbed some seeds, and generally admired the garden our friend had made. This can be a lovely group activity, and I highly recommend helping a friend get through this process.
I’m glad we were all there together since it felt very supportive. Other friends of ours helped too over the last few weeks and I’m grateful they did.
When a fire starts to…
After having had freezing cold feet for an entire day after being outside last Sunday, and the day before at home, and I finally put down some money and ordered these attractive (and warm) boots for the next few months. Yet another log from the log jam removed!
BAM!!
Change. Change is good.
And all of the crops are being sown! It’s like a whirlwind. That little backup will take a few more weeks to ease, but it’s a small issue. I feel better this week.
When a fire starts to burn, right, and it starts to spread
I think I earned this sweater this week—or I should get one like it.
She gon’ bring that attitude home
I cleaned a ton of seeds this week. (I’m not always starting trouble or thinking about how I can stir the pot again.)
Some seeds are easier to clean than others. (Some people have thinner skin than others.)
I worked on an email list too. (Naming the names.)
Who don’t wanna do nothing with their life
Created from recycled materials, I have to say that this style would work well for me. It’s likely I’ll buy something like it this winter. I’m not sure I want to wear recycled water bottles, crushed oyster shells and cotton, but that is what this one consists of and it’s kind of surreal to me. I DO love oysters.
Memento mori. It’s never too late to remember the inevitable.
It’s no wonder that most traditional garden writing bores me. Here I go, rafting down my own stream of consciousness as I round the bend. Howling with laughter and sinking into exhaustion as I go…
Mislabeled and unknown Streptocarpus hybrid. Kind of a mut like the rest of us. I’m not going to judge. Crazy human attraction created it too.
Sorting plants meant finding plants to sell, trade or raffle at events. Oh the many stories fluttering around my mind right now of all of the sharing and caring that’s been done at my hands, and the hands of others, and all that love that is in my garden and home!
Who don’t wanna do nothing with their life
Oh those busy anxious animal hands of ours. Oh how we hate to tell people we’ve killed something they’ve shared with us.
(She sits and stares off into space wondering how many victims there still are to discover in her autumn garden cleanup.)
Still unsure of my Irish heritage, but willing to embrace it more with wool sweaters, colcannon, dulse, oysters, spots of Irish whisky, and letting my sharp tongue run free.
When a fire starts to…
Continuing on this journey through “my style” (hell, at this point I need a damn Pinterest board) my other task to loosen up the jam was to get some of my favorite Irish cream.
While I don’t have nearly any chronic pain now, this can still be a wonderful treat when the weather is cold.
Along with this I’m cleaning out the pantry. With the plants all in bed, I can cook again, and entertain.
I may even go to an Irish pub again to listen to music and enjoy dancing as I once did. (No beer for me. Sorry. Allergic. I just need a fully belly and happy heart to dance.)
When a fire starts to…
Reuniting Alfie with the woman who helped to rescue him was another task this week. He was a feral kitten rescued at a farm on Sauvie Island, and is not like my other cats. Cistus Nursery is on the same island, and at that time, my coworker had a second job at the farm, so he was the one to ask me if I wanted a kitten.
I’d recently lost my last feral cat Mona, so I decided to replace her with a cat who needed to be rescued.
YES OF COURSE I WANTED A KITTEN!!!
And that is how Alfie came into my life—our little linebacker, a heavy sack of potatoes, a bully, and a sweetheart.
I’d promised my coworker Kris that I’d bring the little pile of bricks (he is incredibly heavy) so we made the date last week, and I’m glad that I did. It was Election Day and we all needed a distraction.
When a fire starts to burn, right, and it starts to spread
Alfie was not very helpful during his brief visit in the greenhouse. While he was in there with Kris and I, he found a snail and was proud of himself. As a mostly feral cat, he preferred hiding, so I took him back to the Jeep until his other mother arrived.
This made Election Day a bit less stressful. It was self-care of the highest level. I love my cats. They keep my life full and oddly grounded. I still have a few more things to catch up on, but this week I got a lot accomplished.
She gon’ bring that attitude home.
But it’s a balance. Life is a lot for all of us right now and the anxiety out there is palpable.
Who don’t wanna do nothing with their life
So keep going and be the change that you want. Set those logjams on fire, and strategically get things done.
And don’t forgot to dance.
When a fire starts to…
When a fire starts to burn, right, and it starts to spread
Amateur Bot-ann-ist 