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By Mrs FM
Hartley.
Unusual
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Unusual
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More Unusual Veggies.
When I first had my Allotment, I decided to try and grow some unusual
Vegetables and hunted them out on the Internet and in Catalogues. In
more recent years though, I haven’t bothered so much, but now that I am
officially a Pensioner and not doing so many days a week voluntary work
after Lock Down, I have again decided to try growing some more different
Vegetables. Nearly all suppliers Catalogues can be found on the Net
these days making it much easier to find things, although it can
sometimes be difficult when you have decided on something, to find
someone who actually has them in stock when you want them. I have been
having this trouble with getting some “Apios Americana,” which I often
get confused with another plant sometimes called “The Cinnamon Vine.”
The proper name for this other plant though is Dioscorea Batatas.
Apios Americana goes under several names and is sometimes called “The
American Groundnut, Potato Bean, Hopniss, Indian Potato and Hodoimo.
The Groundnut comes from North America and naturally grows from southern
Canada right down to Florida and as far west as Colorado. A lot of
research was done on growing this vegetable as a crop in the 1980’s and
90’s which encouraged its cultivation and mass planting in Japan, but
presently it isn’t really grown on a commercial scale anywhere else.
With the Research, a lot was written on the health benefits of eating
American groundnut tubers and as a Crop they do have one big advantage
over growing other Root Crops such as Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes and Yams,
and that is that Apios is a Legume which as such, fixes its own
Nitrogen. This means that Plants don’t require the normal Nitrogen
Fertilizers to grow well.
Apios is a perennial Vine that produces both edible beans and large
edible tubers. As a Vine it will grow to between 1 and 6 metres long.
Its Leaves are about 2, or 3 inches long and consist of 5–7 leaflets.
Flowers, which are highly scented, are usually pink, purple, or
red-brown, and are produced in short, but dense, racemes about 3–5 long.
Of course, as Apios are Legumes, after the Flowers, they produce Pods
that are full of Seeds. The pods are small though at only 2–5 inches
long. Apios also produce edible Tubers that are in fact Rhizomes and not
actually Tubers, or Roots.
While browsing a Plant supplier’s website I also came across Crosne, or
Chinese Artichokes. I read the suppliers Blurb and then looked them up
on the Internet for further information. Apparently, the Latin name for
them is Stachys Affinis and they come originally from China, hence the
name, but they also go under several other names of Japanese Artichoke,
Knotroot and Artichoke Betony. However, although they come from Asia,
they do have close relatives around the World and we have one here in
the UK that is a Native called Stachys Officinalis. Many English Gardens
also have another, more ornamental relative, a ground hugging plant
called Stachys Byzantina that has grey, or silvery, furry leaves and a
purple flower that Bees love.
Crosne is a fully hardy, perennial, herbaceous plant that has edible
rhizomes which can be eaten raw, pickled, dried, or cooked. They have a
nutty flavour and can be used as a substitute for Water Chestnuts,
especially in stir Fries. However, as with Jerusalem Artichokes they can
be cooked in similar ways to the Potato, although, the Tubers are
somewhat smaller at only about 3 inches long and ¾ of an inch thick and
indeed they look a little like their namesake of the Jerusalem
Artichoke, but they are pure, pearly white. However, unlike the
Jerusalem Artichoke the Plants only grow to a maximum of some 4 feet in
height often being much smaller and at maturity they produce reddish, or
purple flowers. Like Jerusalem Artichokes though, you can leave a few
Tubers in the ground to give you a crop the following year, or you can
Re-plant them elsewhere anytime throughout the Winter and early Spring.
Chinese Artichokes have been cultivated in China since the 13th century
and they later spread to Europe. They were cultivated on a farm in
France for the first time in 1882 and that farm was in the region of
Crosne which gave rise to the Common name for the vegetable of Crosne.
After that, cultivation became more widespread in Europe as the
Vegetable became more popular, but by 1970 it lost its appeal due to
increasing problems with Viruses attacking it and the fact that it was
prone to running rampant wherever it grew and escaping the fields to
spread itself throughout the countryside. However, Crosne seem to be
regaining some popularity as people are becoming increasingly interested
in different vegetables from around the World and it can occasionally be
seen on sale in some specialist food shops.
Jerusalem Artichokes, or to give them their Latin name, Helianthus
Tuberosus are a Native plant of North America and as such were a staple
food of the early Native Americans before being taken to Europe in the
early 1600’s where they became more widely cultivated. Jerusalem
Artichokes are a member of the sunflower family and have no relationship
to Globe Artichokes other than the name which they share.
I have grown Jerusalem Artichokes for a number of years now and for a
long time didn’t realise that there were different varieties. For
several years I just grew the traditional variety and then came across “Fuseau,”
that was supposed to be a less knobbly type making it easier to cook
with. It also matured a little more quickly meaning that it needed a
shorter growing season and could therefore be planted later in the
Spring. Nearly all varieties grow very quickly though and will reach 7,
or 8 feet before flowering with a yellow Flower in the Autumn. Their
Stems are a little like Bamboo in as much as they are almost hollow,
segmented and they grow straight up. However, although the Stems are
quite tough to cut, they are not woody like Bamboo so you couldn’t
really make use of them in the same way. Indeed, when cut up they rot
down quite quickly in a compost heap.
After finding that other varieties of Jerusalem Artichokes were
available, I have been trying to get some Dwarf ones. However, what I
did end up buying was a Red skinned type. They were a silly price to buy
so I only bought 5 tubers, but they should multiply up in just one
season because you can re-plant any of your Harvest as seed Tubers in
the following Spring. The tubers have red skins, but still have the same
white flesh. Apparently Red Fuseau is one red skinned variety, but mine
were Red Gerard which are also much rounder and smoother. Both of these
red skinned types still have the same yellow flowers, but I understand
that there is also a red flowered type available. Jerusalem Artichokes
have had a bad Press for a long time, with the Nickname of “Fartichokes’”
due to the fact that they can cause flatulence. However, they seem to be
gaining in popularity and can sometimes be seen on sale along with other
odd Vegetables in certain specialist food shops. Indeed, they certainly
seem to be more widely available as Tubers to buy and grow yourself as
well.
Mashua, or Tropaeolum Tuberosum is another of my recent purchases that
was prompted by a Television programme on gardening where it was
mentioned and could be seen growing on somebodies Allotment. As its name
suggests it is an edible Tuber and is in fact, rather surprisingly a
cousin of the common garden Nasturtium. It originates in the Andes
region of South America and can be found growing in Peru, Bolivia,
Ecuador and Columbia. As might be assumed it grows at relatively high
altitudes and has a natural resistance to pests which comes from certain
chemicals that it contains which can be used to make a pesticide spray.
Because of these naturally occurring chemicals it does have a strong
flavour that becomes milder when cooked like a Turnip does, although it
can be eaten raw in Salads like a Radish. The Tubers are quite rich in
various dietary minerals.
Mashua is a Deciduous, but Perennial Climber, although the tubers that
the plant grows from will need some sort of protection from frost over
Winter as it is not hardy. When the Tubers are harvested it is a good
idea to store a few in a frost-free place over winter. These can then be
started into growth as the next Season comes around. In theory, where a
Garden is very sheltered such as in a Town, or City, it may be possible
to leave some Tubers in the Ground over Winter especially if a thick
Mulch is used to cover them. This might be Wood Chip, or Straw and
should be covered with a Water-Proof membrane.
Mashua grows to some 2, or 3m in height and has a spread of less than
1m. It has small, but glaucous leaves and is sometimes grown as an
ornamental for the brightly coloured flowers that it has from midsummer
until the first frosts. The flowers are like little Ice Cream Cones and
consist of the two colours, orange and yellow. They are not only
attractive to us, but they are also attractive to wildlife.
Plants are otherwise quite tough and will grow well up a sunny and
sheltered wall, liking full Sun and well-drained soil.
And finally, I bought another unusual vegetable, Earth Chestnuts to give
them their common name. Their Latin name sounds almost as though it has
been made up by a Child as they are called “Bunium Bulbocastanum.”
Another name sometimes given to them is the Great Earth-nut. They are “Umbellifers,”
like Cow Parsley and Ammi, or even Wild Carrots. This basically means
that when they flower in the Summer, they produce Umbels of white
Flowers, which along with the following Seeds Heads look a bit like
Umbrellas as the name suggests. Buniums grow very much like any other
root crop including Carrots and Parsnips, but the Roots that you dig up
and eat are rather different as they look like a string of Beads that
are about Pea Nut sized. When these are small, they should be cooked and
then they taste pleasantly like Sweet Chestnuts.
The foliage of Bunium looks similar to that of a Carrot, or a little
like Flat leafed Parsley which is not surprising as these too are
Umbellifers. Indeed the Leaves can be harvested and eaten like Parsley.
They do suffer from one, or two problems and one is that they are
susceptible to “Carrot root fly.” They also need a Sheltered spot that
is out of the direct sun and they will not stand very cold weather
wanting winter temperatures of no lower than minus10 degrees. They are
actually Herbaceous Perennials which means that they will die down but
should, given enough protection, come again the following year.
 
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