I grew two yacón plants this year, and since the first frost hit a few days ago killing the tops, it was time to dig up the plants and see what was there.
Both gave quite a substantial harvest! Frank in Belgium who gave me the tubers for these plants says they are the most productive plants in his garden, more productive than potatoes!
The roots are very fragile, and even knowing that I damaged them a bit. I think it was a mistake to use a digging fork instead of a spade, because the prongs of the fork too easily damaged the tubers.
These plants don’t seem very available in North America right now, but mostly thanks to Frank they are all over Europe.
The plants are very closely related to dhalias, the flower. If any of you have grown these in an area with a hard winter, you know they have to be brought indoors to protect from frost, and yacón is similar.
In the case of yacón, you eat the larger main tubers, and propagate it with the stem tubers. As I found out last year, the stem tubers will shrivel and die if they are separated from the plant stem before February.
According to Frank, after harvest and before eating, the plants need to sit uncovered for about 3-4 weeks in order to sweeten. After this they can be covered to help maintain moisture in storage, as well as be eaten. In my opinion, the taste is similar to melon. It’s high in the same sugar Jerusalem Artichokes contain, inulin, and so can give you gas in the same way. It can also be a good food for diabetics for the same reason.
I guess there are a couple of ways to prepare it, including cooking it lightly, but I think it tastes great raw and eaten as it is.
Try Seeds of Change…..I have seen it in their seed catalog. It reminds of a root vegetable I ate while in the Caribbean. Would love to grow it.
I have just become interested in trying this crop and might have a supplier in Canada but I think he is still trialing it. I hope it becomes available soon as I am excited to give it a go.
It’s not clear to me how many stem tubers I have, and in any case I would like to grow more than two plants next year. It’s hard to get a close look at the stem tubers, because I’m afraid of damaging them.
I’ve also already been in contact with a few other people who are interested, and they have priority.
I am however willing to share any extra stem tubers I might have, and if you’re interested then send me an email. I’m willing to try sending it to Canada or the US, especially to those who commit to trying to reshare it next year.
Of course if the tubers rot in storage, there won’t be any for anyone… I won’t know this until February.
Yes, that’s my possible canadian supplier’s problem (I suspect) right now too. Thanks for the offer but I totally understand local priority! Besides, I’m a patient person (sort of) when it comes to hunting down vegetables. Speaking of which, I’m off on a quest right now…
Hi there-
Thanks so much for posting such comprehensive info on this tuber. This is my first year growing them here in Florida. I have two questions for you if you are able to reply:
1. Did you have to wait until the flowers wilted away prior to scooping the tubers off the ground?
2. I have noticed two little growth spikes (cannot come up with a better description)coming from the ground right next to the main stem. Is that an indication, perhaps, that there is other tubers wanting to set leaves?
Thank you for taking the time to read this!
GardeningFool
Hi GardeningFool,
I’m not sure if you get frosts where you are, but yacon is very frost tender and that’s what causes it to wilt away. If you don’t get frosts, then I think you could go ahead and dig the tubers anyway, starting in November or so. I don’t think it’s been widely grown in mild climates, so you may have to experiment a bit.
The new growth spikes are almost certainly from the smaller stem-tubers formed along the base of the plant, used for propagation. My yacon is in winter storage, and I have noticed these are beginning to sprout on my plant too. These are a bit like potatoes, in that the ‘eyes’ will grow new plants and you can cut them into pieces as long as each piece has one eye. If you leave these in the ground, they will become next years plants, as long as you protect them from frost.
I’m sorry I can’t be more help. This was my first year growing them too.
Whoa! That was GREAT help! I now have to figure out how to dig out the edible tubers with damaging the edible parts…I’ve read in several sites that they damage easily.
I am going to give it a try and dig them out in a few weeks.
Thank you so very much for your help & such a quick reply!