Cynthia: Do you know what this is?

No.

It's not a rock.

No, it's not a clump of dirt.

This is a Jerusalem artichoke, also known as a Sunchoke or a fart-a-choke.

This is the best plant if you're lazy.

It thrives on neglect, it thrives on drought.

It will take over.

So wherever you put it, make sure that you want it there for life.

I got this about a month ago.

It's already starting to bud, and all I'm gonna do is find a nice, Ooh.

This is soft dirt.

This is lovely dirt.

A nice place where I can let the artichokes roam free.

They can be a little invasive, but they're delicious to eat.

And so I'm gonna put it up against this wall that doesn't get very much water because they are drought tolerant.

I'm gonna plant them about three feet apart.

Buds facing up.

Four to six inches in the ground, and I'm just gonna lightly cover it up.

All right.

Plan is now I just let 'em grow until summer and we'll check back.

Okay, so Jerusalem artichokes, they're a little bit of a late bloomer, but they do look like a sunflower and sometimes people get 'em confused as a sunflower and they like to grow up in these chunks.

But you can see that they're a little late bloomers.

They're gonna keep growing and then they'll have some beautiful yellow flowers here soon.

We planted these artichokes, these Jerusalem artichokes, just over like four or five months ago, so it hasn't been terribly long.

But next year, because they are perennial, I'll leave some of the root in the ground is gonna get big, beautiful and luscious.

Just how like my plants, especially in October.

It is time to harvest the Jerusalem artichoke.

A hard freeze came in.

It looks like death, prime time.

However, if you're not ready to eat the Jerusalem artichoke, just leave it in the ground.

It is a great way to preserve the Jerusalem artichoke.

You can dig it up all winter long, as long as the ground's not totally frozen and enjoy without having to store.

Something else cool about Jerusalem Artichoke is they are gonna continue to spread.

So just know, in this area, I have planted it here for a very reason that I don't really care about this side of the house.

So I wanted something that will continue to thrive and grow and that I can harvest.

Ideally, you have a fork.

I broke mine digging up dahlias.

So now I'm gonna use a shovel.

This is not the ideal.

I'm gonna dig far away.

'cause what you don't wanna do is to slice the bulb.

So I'm gonna dig really soft and gen, oh, I'm coming into 'em.

Use my hand.

I'm gonna try to do a gentle lift.

Gently gonna lift.

And you can see this just started as one little tiny clump and is now spread.

Now you can see all the artichokes that I have grown.

Now sunchokes have something in them that if you don't cook them properly, they're also known as fart-a-chokes, right?

So sunchoke, artichoke, fart-a-chock.

That's because if not cooked properly, it's gonna give you gas.

Alright?

Now as far as cooking Jerusalem artichoke, the biggest thing is just scrubbing off all the dirt.

I'll use my kitchen scrubber.

Get it nice and clean.

The great news is you don't have to peel it.

Think of it as like a potato.

I like roasting it.

That's my favorite way of cooking it.

I'll cook it for about 30 to 45 minutes with the other vegetables.

Some people like it as mashed potatoes.

Some people will put it in soups in the wintertime, there's a lot of ways that you could do it.

Just make sure that you cook it longer than you would other vegetables so that you're not gonna be gassy.

You are gonna make yourself sick.

No, I'm like, no.

Thanks so much for watching Modern Gardner.

Until next time.