anyone ever messed with a yacon?

[cynthia_h]

oh, and cynthia, a BIG container. the tubers radiate almost horizontally from the central mass of rhizomes like spokes of a wheel; the one I dug had a end-of-tuber-to-end-of-opposite-tuber diameter of about three/three and a half feet.

Wow. I was thinking a half-barrel, but...way too inadequate. Gotta rethink. I simply don't have any ground available.

Cynthia

[!potatoes!]

'It's times like these I wish I had a tissue culture lab in the basement...'

I guarantee I have said those exact words before, musta been back when I had a basement. I've been doing some hardwood cuttings this late-winter as part of a fruit class I'm taking, and it does scratch that itch a bit...

and yeah, cynthia, sorry to dampen your parade. they do seem to take space.

[!potatoes!]

update: yacon 2010!
[img]https://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j248/khoomeizhi/garden%20shots/IMG_6003.jpg[/img]

I went back into the pots I had separated and re-separated some chunks of rhizome, and I'm pretty sure I'll get plants from all 10 of those pots in the pic. still planning on giving away two or three to friends, so it's looking like I may have at least 7 plants going this year. glad I'm moving to a farm or it might not be feasible. been geeking out on perennial rootcrops in general during the last few months, and I'm happy to have this one in my collection.

[petalfuzz]

That is super awesome! I do hope you post pics of the tubers this year, it's so hard to imagine what a 3' tuber looks like! Good luck

[!potatoes!]

it's been a while, I thought I'd resurrect this thread, as we've started our 2011 yacon harvest.

last year we had six plants (after giving a few away), but most of the tubers got frozen (storing in a spot we didn't think would freeze), so I was too irritated about the whole thing to post about it. this year we had 20 plants, and they've done quite well with a layered leafmulch-and-comfrey mulch around them. dug six plants a few days ago and got most of two 5-gallon buckets full of tubers, and another half-bucket of rhizome for next year. will keep digging the rest as I get a chance - they store quite well in the ground where they grew unless the ground freezes deep enough to get them...pics will follow when I can, looks like we'll have several hundred pounds when all is said and dug.

I've found that the flavor is best if after washing the tubers off, you let them dry, and they sit at room temperature (even where the sun will hit them a bit) for a few days (or weeks - they last pretty well, though they soften a little after a while). the skin takes on a nice earthy-purple color after a bit, and the flavor gets both sweeter and more complex.

this past summer, I did try a tea of the leaves, which HGscott mentioned you could do earlier in this thread...it's startlingly, unpleasantly, bitter...so I imagine it's as good for you as they say. I think I'll stick to the tubers.

I will have some rhizome available for sale, for those with a long enough season, and relatively near to me (I'm in western NC, and don't really want to ship them far - I'd rather be more sure the quality stays super-high), either this fall or in the spring. message me if interested.

will update with pics as I get them together.

[garudamon11]

Wow this is awesome I wish I had a garden, I'm missing alot!!! My dad has diabetes and since Yacon contains undigestable but still tasty sugars (to humans) this would be a great treat for him!!

[!potatoes!]

just one picture for now:

[img]https://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j248/khoomeizhi/for%20web/yaconbucket.jpg[/img]

top view of a full 5-gal bucket of tubers. you can almost see, if you look closely, how they very nearly glow when they've just been dug and the sun hits them. while the skin is still pale and they're at their most water-filled. no real giants so far this year, though there are quite a few tubers that are easily more than a pound.

I think I'm going to sell some to myself (in my capacity as deli manager at the local food coop) and make a raw salad that mimics some recipes for jicama salad I've seen - with onions, carrots, maybe some granny smith or other sourish apple...should be good.

[GardenRN]

You have me totally sold on these! And since you don't live too far from me, I feel confident about getting them to grow in my garden.

[Tilde]

/drool


THANK YOU!

[PunkRotten]

I'll try them some day when I have more space. I have heard of yacon before, it is popular with the raw food diet crowd. I have never eaten it though.

[!potatoes!]

it's there ALREADY, tilde? that's early delivery!

I've still only harvested 6 of 20 plants. hoping to get out there to harvest more on sunday...selling some tubers to a restaraunt early next week...the salad I ended up making is really good - yacon, granny smith apple, red onion, dressed in lime juice, grated ginger, and cayenne.

really good. they're pretty awesome on their own, though, too.

[Tilde]

not yet, just anticipating a bUSY weekend.

Should I stuff it in a pot right away until its big enough to xplant to the yard?

[!potatoes!]

if your weather's not anticipated to be unfavorable for the foreseeable future, I'd just go straight into the ground.

[Tilde]

Going to be down in the sixties overnight for the next couple of weeks, but a chance of freeze until Jan 31, officially. Hasn't froze much in the last 15 years here ... my babying with the blankets aside .

Plus I'm not 100% sure where to plant it. Probably in the side yard which is a bit shady but won't look edibly obvious to the neighbors :p

[!potatoes!]

in my experience, while it's growing, no one who doesn't already know what it is will think it's anything edible. it could be the ultimate large-size bedding plant, for what it looks like.

[Tilde]

[!potatoes!]

oh, three cheers.

welcome to the club.

[Tilde]

is this rhizome only? northern peeps say its all over the farmer's markets, seem to think it can be started from the tuber like sweet potatoes.

[!potatoes!]

the tubers are storage only, and will not sprout. rhizome only. I've stored tubers and rhizomes in soil for months and months...only the rhizome start growing.

hopefully suiting up in a couple hours to go dig the remainder of my our yacon crop...ten plants probably means a couple hundred lbs of tubers. hope we've got enough buckets.

also, been sweetening about a half-bushel for two weeks now, going to juice them and see if I can make wine...this has got to be the most low-key christmas we've ever had.

[Lindsaylew82]

How did your wine adventures go?

I feel like I need to try these! Are you still Asheville? We may come visit your coop store some time to try it! Maybe purchase some Yacon!

This post is pretty inspiring!

[!potatoes!]

whoa - dredging up historical documents over here.

the wine was/is great - as a learning experience! long story, but I don't think I got enough sugar conversion for the yeast to have any idea how to deal with it, so it's still languishing....
oh wait. actually, now that I look at the date on this old post - that first batch was one that actually ended up being a yacon-cyser (hybrid mead/hard cider with yacon juice instead of cider). that one took a long time, but finally finished - and it's pretty weird, let's just say that. I did a later batch of straight yacon wine with juice that I boiled down to increase the concentration...that's the one that's languishing. I'll mess with it again someday...or I'll just keep filling the airlock up periodically. they were both pretty goofy low-expectation experiments, so I feel pretty alright about them...but I won't start any more batches of that any time soon!

got a hundred and change plants in the ground this year, and they're looking good so far - those that survived the raccoon-raids just after planting (going after fertilizer, not the plants: lesson learned). should have yacon in the store for a few months at least in the fall/winter. never did sell any plants this year, since I needed all I could get to plant, coming back from a rough year last year since we moved. holler at me mid-winter, I'll probably have rhizome to spare *crossed fingers*

[Lindsaylew82]

dredging up historical documents over here.

Ha!

You posted a picture in one of the other posts and I searched Yacon, and this one post came up!

Do you pronounce it like Bacon?

Just curious if you've (or anyone else trying it?) tried cooking it? And if so, how?

[!potatoes!]

I tend to say 'yeah-cahn', though it should probably be closer to 'yah-cone' considering where it comes from.

I've occasionally added it to soups or casseroles or whatnot, and did dried chips once. tends to keep a little bit of its crunch. it really shines as a raw fruit-like veggie, though. crunchy, sweet...in the dead of winter when most of the other home-grown salad ingredients are gone it's a welcome addition. I eat them just plain and peeled as a snack more often than not when they're around.