Lost Crops of the Incas

[billw]

Sounds like maybe you didn't peel it? I get the stronger peppery/resiny flavors from the skin. I actually like it, but apparently a lot of people peel yacon to get rid of that.

I've also heard that they are stronger tasting when grown under drier conditions, but I can't test that myself.

Sunlight usually sweetens them up some.

I harvested a couple that I wanted to save to produce seeds before this weekend's wind storm (and, sure enough, it shredded the rest of them).



21 lb from 2 plants, leaving a couple pounds of storage tubers attached to the crowns to feed them in storage.

[!potatoes!]

yeah, i much prefer them peeled. and a couple weeks of curing can make them quite sweet, otherwise.

[GardenRN]

I always peel mine also... I get the apple/ carrot flavor I have heard described. Mild, but it seems like the more you eat the more you taste. Mixing them, chunked, into a fruit salad is nice. But I usually just eat them raw, sliced, and by themselves. Heads up...I have been getting $4/lb for them at the farmer's market. I usually keep one out for people to taste. This is the first year the Yacon has been for sale around here. I hoping giving a bunch away for people to taste will provide more of a demand so I can sell a much larger harvest next year.


Eric, are those from the crowns I sent you? I was wondering how they did for you! As far as overwintering...what I read was that if your area gets much below 30 you had better pull them inside to over winter. My method was to pull all the tubers off, cut the stems down to an inch or two, then put the whole thing in moist shredded paper and in a plastic bag. Leave the bag open and in the crisper drawer of the fridge. Check weekly for mold or problems during the winter. This ear I actually got a fridge (free from craigslist) for my basement just for keeping roots. I store the jerusalem artichokes in there as well. All of mine grew well this year that I held over from last, and this year they actually go to the correct height of about 7 feet tall as opposed to the first year where they never got more than 2.5-3 ft tall.

[billw]

So, lots of yacon growers here. How about the other four popular LCotI: oca, mashua, and ulluco?

Here are some harvests from the past two weeks:

Oca (Sunset variety - yield from one plant)



Mashua (Pilifera variety - one plant)



Ulluco (Pica de Pulga variety - one plant)



It won't be harvest time for these for a few weeks yet. These were all test pulls just to see how things are coming along.

[!potatoes!]

that's three, bill.

I'm just about to declare that this isn't the right place for oca. grown it for three or four years, but yield is pretty unimpressive, even when i go to great lengths for both season extension and to convince the plants to start tuberizing early. maybe other varieties than what i have would do better here? i've got a pink variety, the only one i've found available...

mashua, i got some of the ken aslett day-neutral kind a few years ago and they crashed and burned in the summer heat, even though i was at some elevation at the time, on the north side of a mountain...will probably try again at some point.

never found a source for ulluco...UNTIL NOW...

but I'm probably the biggest yacon grower in this region this year - had 260+ plants in the ground, i'll probably be harvesting tons when it's all through. $4/lb sounds nice, jeff, but I'm pretty happy with $2.25/lb, selling wholesale to groceries and restaurants. don't wanna sell 'em one at a time! will undoubtedly be moving into the value-added realm this year too...dehydrated yacon chips and syrup - there's a huge market for the syrup.

i do love those roots & tubers.

[billw]

that's three, bill.

The fourth is really a lost crop.

I think that there is some variation in the heat tolerance of oca cultivars. I suspect that the variety Mexican Red probably does better in warmer climates. How much warmer is the question.

Ulluco has a well-deserved reputation for being a difficult crop. It starts wilting pretty fast at temperatures below 37 or above 75 and doesn't even start dropping down stolons from the stems until after the equinox, so it is weeks behind oca in forming tubers. But, it is very tasty and looks great, so I hold out hope for a long, mild fall and good harvest.

I've been enjoying the recent news about yacon syrup. It strikes me funny that people who would probably run screaming from a bottle of high fructose corn syrup are excited to buy high fructose yacon syrup. But I have to admit, it even sounds a lot better to me.

[GardenRN]

that's three, bill.

$4/lb sounds nice, jeff, but I'm pretty happy with $2.25/lb, selling wholesale to groceries and restaurants. don't wanna sell 'em one at a time!

Don't blame you at all! I'd go wholesale in a minute if I had a buyer. I'm just not there yet with yield. I only had 8 plants which, total, produced about 2 very full plastic grocery bags full. (I don't know about poundage for sure). It was enough to throw on the stand at the market, but not enough to think about selling to a restaurant. Hopefully next year will be much better. I am expecting at least 40 plants.

We have food co ops popping up everywhere around here and a handful of Local-only grocery stores. Also a number of local-only restaurants. I think the market will be there. I am (almost positive) I am the only one in the area with Yacon. Thanks to you!!

I am using quite a bit this year to give away. I figure it will help create a market for it next year if people get a taste this year. We'll see.

[GardenRN]

And Bill, I've never grown any of those other ones. But I am always very interested in "long lost" or "forgotten" crops. I love the idea of keeping those alive. And this year my enthusiasm for tubers really took off. So all of these are really peaking my interest.

If anyone has any extras to sell/trade/whatever I'd LOVE to work out a deal!!

Special emphasis on the Ulluco (no idea how to pronounce that) but at the same time it's one I'd have to try to squeeze into my autumn months because the summer is so hot here. But I'd love to give it a try... we usually have good fall weather here from September lasting sometimes all the way into January.

[!potatoes!]

falling for tubers? we need to get you some groundnut, even if it wasn't lost or incan.

[billw]

If anyone has any extras to sell/trade/whatever I'd LOVE to work out a deal!!

Special emphasis on the Ulluco (no idea how to pronounce that) but at the same time it's one I'd have to try to squeeze into my autumn months because the summer is so hot here. But I'd love to give it a try... we usually have good fall weather here from September lasting sometimes all the way into January.

After double checking the forum guidelines, I suspect what I originally wrote here would have violated the self-promotion rules, so I removed it. I have some for sale/trade/whatever and will have more as harvest completes. PM me if you want more info.

Also, check out Sacred Succulents, which is where I originally got many of my varieties. They have an absolutely amazing selection of Andean roots and tubers and you should definitely seek them out if you haven't seen their catalog before.

[GardenRN]

Sounds good. Thanks!

I'd always rather trade on here first. It gives me a chance to get what I want while giving someone else something they will enjoy. Not to mention usually amounts to less money. I'm PM you...

[GardenRN]

BTW i could be wrong...but in knowing how this site goes, the self-promotion thing is probably more aimed at people coming on here with their only intent being to promote their website, sales /what have you...

[billw]

Yep, I haven't been here long enough to have a sense for it, so better safe than sorry.

So, back on the original topic... Have any of you folks growing multiple varieties of yacon had any seed set? I'm trying to do some crosses right now, but it looks like neither variety is producing much pollen.

[GardenRN]

I only have one variety and I have never even gotten a flower...

[Jardin du Fort]

Hey guys! What an interesting topic! I just took a quick peek in the book and found it Verrrry interrrrrestinggg. So far no one has mentioned amaranth, specifically the Kiwicha. That sounds to me like an ideal "grain" crop. Supposedly the Mexican amaranaths are "available" in the USA, while the Kiwicha is probably not. Is this so? Anybody have a lead on obtaining some? At 100,000 seeds per plant it should be easy to propagate.