Transplanting Sunchokes

Sunchokes Coming Up

Last spring, in the beginning of June 2014, I bought some sunchokes, a native, Michigan root vegetable from the Allen Street Farmer's Market in Lansing and I planted them in my yard. Most of the bulbs got dug up and eaten by squirrels, but 3 plants survived and grew to a height of about 6 feet during the summer. Today, I went out to mow the lawn, and I noticed the plants had proliferated. I dug up 7 bulbs with a trowel to take over to my community garden plot and transplant in a sunny place. Sunchokes are also known as Jerusalem Artichokes. Here is a link to a Wikipedia article about these plants: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_artichoke

Sunchokes Dug Up For Transplanting

 Here are my sunchoke bulbs dug up and ready to plant. I could cook and eat them at this size, but I want to have a bigger yield. When I was in college at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, I was a student in the dietetics program and we prepared local, roasted sunchokes, mixed with potatoes, and they were delicious! We simply washed and sliced them into 1/4-1/2 inch coins, tossed them with sliced yellow potatoes, olive oil, coarse salt, and Italian seasoning, and then roasted them in the oven on a sheet pan at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes. They were nutty and buttery.

In a Nice, Sunny New Home