Ways to Eat Yacon or Peruvian Ground Pear

 THE GOOD EARTH

How to Grow and Use Yacon: Peruvian Ground Apple

Scientific Name: Smallanthus sonchifolius

Common Name: Yacon, Peruvian ground apple

Family: Asteraceae-same as daisies and sunflowers.

Plant Height & Width: 1.5m x 0.5m

If you look at the flowers they are like much smaller versions of sunflowers.

Here’s a tuber that tastes similar to a nashi pear, looks something like sweet potato on the outside, and the sugars from it aren’t absorbed by the body.

Not only that, the tubers contain a lot of juice, and the sugars that make it sweet is not absorbed by the body so you can't put on the kilos! How good is that?  

Then there’s the fact that it’s easy to grow, and has small flowers that resemble sunflowers and you just can’t buy it from the supermarket or fruit and veg store.

Yacon plant growing in Margaret's garden

How to Grow Yacon from Tubers?

Yacon has two types of tubers unlike ginger or turmeric.

• The tubers that you plant are attached to the main stem and are much smaller and pinkish in colour. I planted mine in early September and October was the time that it sprouted in my Sydney garden.
• If you were to receive some brown tubers that look like a brown sweet potato, that's what you eat and not what you plant. 
• The edible tubers spread from the clump sideways meaning you need at least 1/2 metre  of space to produce sizeable clumps.
• Can be planted in any district as they can withstand frost.

When to Harvest?

Yacon is a herbaceous perennial meaning it has a dormant period that starts when the leaves die down in late autumn. 

This is the time when the tubers are ready to harvest. Simply fork up the entire crop, and harvest the large brown tubers to eat fresh, and use the small reddish rhizomes at the top to replant for next year’s crop.

What Can You Do With Yacon?

Eat it of course but how,  is the thing so here are some of Margaret's tips.

• Yacon is sweet and crunchy and is great eaten fresh.
• Ever heard of Yacon chips? That's right you can make chips out of this tubber.
• Just cut up into chip sizes and drizzle some oil over the top and bake in the oven.
• Try using it in salads like Waldorf salad and wherever you would use fresh pears.
• Use it in stir fries.
• You can also juice it or cook down the juice to make syrup and use it as a sweetener.

Fun Tip from Margaret

• Running short of toilet paper, try large soft fluffy leaves like those of the Yacon plant.

But there's more uses, have a listen to the podcast.

I'm talking with Margaret Mossakowska of www.mosshouse.com.au

If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Lilies That Are Pineapple and Sage That Is Just Sage

Introducing a new contributor who has some sage advice in plant of the Week, a crunchy but sweet root veggie in vegetable heroes, No shade for outside dining in Design Elements plus Talking Flowers is back with pineapple lily flowers to delight.

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Sage as Herbal

Herbs are great plants to grow in the garden because they’re so useful in cooking.
But perhaps you’re not using your herbs to fullest?

Even if you just made a tea, you’re expanding the usefulness of that herb.
But what kind of benefits would you get from just drinking a freshly made herbal tea?
Let’s find out … I'm talking to new contributor Simone Jeffries, a naturopath, nutritionist and herbalist. www.simonejeffriesnaturopath.com.au

Sage is Salvia officinalis which you may already know, means it’s the one for medicinal use.
There’s no point buying a Pineapple sage plant and using it’s leaves, it just has to be the medicinal sage which is also the culinary sage. 
There are heaps of benefits of drinking Sage tea but Sage tea is an acquired taste.

Put 6 fresh leaves in a cup of boiling water and let steep for a minimum of 5 minutes.

Somone says "Sip throughout the day for control of night sweats for post-menopausal ladies."
So, if you really want the benefits, then you’ve just got to drink it as Simone says, maybe add a dash of honey.
For sore throats: Make a strong tea and lemon juice and honey and gargle it.

If you have any questions either for me or Simone why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

VEGETABLE HEROES

Yacon is in the Daisy or Asteraceae family.

Scientifically speaking: Smallanthus sonchifolius (syn Polymnia sonchifolia)

Yacon is sometimes called, Peruvian ground apple, strawberry jicama, Bolivian sunroot, llacon, ground-pear, and pear of the earth.

We’ll stick to Yacon-which is the name this vegetable mostly goes by

Yacon is native to the Andes- Colombia and Ecuador but did you know that until as recently as the early 2000s, yacón was hardly known outside of South America?

You probably won’t see it any time soon in your veggie shop but you can buy Yacon tea or Yacon syrup.

So what does this plant look like and which part do you eat?

Yacon is a hardy, attractive herbaceous perennial from which you get quite a few tubers.

The plant grows to 1.5 to 2 m tall with light green angular leaves that look a bit like a milk thistle’s leaves or even a Jerusalem artichoke.

When it flowers, you’ll have male and female daisy-like yellow to orange flowers that are pollinated by insects.

Each plant forms a underground clump of 4 to 20 fleshy large tuberous roots.

The plant itself is extremely hardy tolerating hot summers, drought and poor soils.

The part that you eat is underground.

Yacon tubers look a bit like sweet potatoes, but they have a much sweeter taste and crunchy flesh.

The tubers are very sweet, juicy and almost calorie free but more on that later.

I would say that the tubers taste like a cross between apple and watermelon, but with more sweetness.

Generally it’s a bit tricky describing the taste of a new food, but everyone agrees on the crunchiness.

If you can grow Jerusalem artichokes or Parsnips, you can grow Yacon.

PLANTING DETAILS

Yacon has a long growing season-up to 7 months so generally suits temperate to tropical areas.

But you can grow it in cooler districts.

Yacon can be planted all year round in frost-free areas as it is day-length neutral.

In tropical areas grow Yacon during the dry season before the wet sets in.

It appears to be drought tolerant compared to other vegetable crops and so far, pest-free.

Planting in Cool Climates

• For cold areas of Australia the rhizomes can be started in styrofoam boxes in a greenhouse or on a warm verandah, usually in spring, and planted out when frost is past.
• Split the tubers into individual shoots with their tubers attached and plant into smaller pots.
• Yacon plants are quite sensitive to temperature, so plant them out when you would tomatoes.
• Normally you plant the large tubers into large pots and wait for shoots to start growing from each smaller tuber.

Two Types of Tubers

Yacon actually produces two types of underground tubers, reddish rhizomes directly at the base of the stem that can be eaten but are a bit stringy and tough so they’re mainly used for propagation.

Then there’s the larger brown or purple tubers-these are the ones you eat.

Prepare the soil by loosening well with a fork and working in compost.

To plant, cover a large rhizome/tuber which has several sprouts, with soil to a depth of 3 cm.  Space them 0.5m apart.

But you might just want to start with one plant which you can buy online or some garden centres.

Mulch well because yacon will grow up through the mulch, just like potatoes.

The stems of this plant are brittle so if you haven’t got a wind break tip prune the stems to make the plant lower and more bush.

Because this plant creates dense shade when it grows you probably won’t have to do any weeding. Bonus!

TIP: Yacon grows fast even in poor soils but gives you much bigger tubers in rich, friable, well-drained soil.

So when do you pick this strange vegetable?

• The plant takes 6 - 7 months to reach maturity.
• You know when it’s ready when the top growth withers and dies back.
• This is when you dig up the tuber.
• The tubers look a bit like dahlia or sweet potato tubers, and on average should weigh about 300 g but can weigh up to 2 kg.
• The tubers continue to sweeten as the plant dies back so the main harvest should only take place once all the top growth is dead.
• If you planted your tubers in November they’ll be usually be ready by the end of May.
• Don't leave it too long though, especially in areas that have mild winters, as the plant will start to shoot again as the weather warms up and the days get longer.
• When digging them up, separate the reddish rhizomes from the tubers and wash off any soil, taking care not to break the skin.
• The reddish rhizomes are kept out of the sun and covered with slightly damp sand, sawdust or coco-peat to stop them drying out and put aside for replanting in a dark, dry place.
• These offsets are then replanted for the next season.
• The plant needs to be dug carefully to avoid damage to the crisp tubers. After separation from the central stem undamaged tubers can be stored in a cool, dark and dry place with good air circulation for some months.

If your plant flowers don’t bother with any seeds you might bet because they’re mostly un-viable.

Yacon is almost always propagated from cuttings or tubers.

Why the tubers keep sweetening during storage is because of starch conversion.

You can put them in the sun for a couple of weeks to speed up the sweetening process.

The tubers can be eaten raw as a refreshing treat on their own, finely sliced and mixed into salads, boiled or baked, fried as chips or prepared as a pickle.

There’s plenty of eating tips, too many to mention, but I’ll post them on the website. For those without a computer, write in to me and I’ll send you a fact sheet.

EATING TIPS:

First remove the outer brown skin and inner white skin by peeling with a knife as the skin has a resinous taste.

Inside is amber coloured sweet crunchy flesh.

Like all tubers there are no seeds to remove, so it is quick and easy to prepare.

Chop the tuber into chunks and add it to green salads where they impart a great flavour and texture. I

When cut into long strips, they make an interesting addition to a plate of raw vegetable crudites for dipping into your favourite guacamole or cream cheese dip.

It can also be boiled, steamed or baked with other vegies. In cooking they stay sweet and slightly crisp.

If boiled 'in the jacket' the skin separates from the flesh and can be peeled off like a boiled egg.

Yacon can also be used in a dessert crumble or pie with apples, pears or choko.

In the Andes, they are grated and squeezed through a cloth to yield a sweet refreshing drink. The juice can also be boiled down to produce a syrup. In South America the juice is concentrated to form dark brown blocks of sugar called chancaca. The young stem can be used as a cooked vegetable.

Why is it good for you?

Nutritionally yacon is low in calories but it is said to be high in potassium.

Yacon tubers store carbohydrate in the form of inulin, a type of fructose, which is a suitable food for type II diabetics.

Plants with the sugar inulin such as Jerusalem artichokes and yacon can be useful additions to diet of people with type II diabetes.

AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!

TALKING FLOWERS

Pineapple Lily: Eucomis comosa

Grows in the wettest parts of South Africa where it orginates.

Member of the Asparagaceae family.

Pineapple lily is a bulbous perennial with a basal rosette of lime-green leaves.

Mercedes will say, Mr Pineapple Lily, because it starts from a bulb.

The thick stem  carries hundreds of small star-shaped flowers with a tuft of green bracts at the top.

This sort of looks like a pineapple top, hence it's common name.
The Pineapple Lily as a cut flower will last for several weeks in the vase.
Cut the stem straight across, because the flower arises from a plant with a bulb, therefore Mr Pineapple Lily.
Remember to always use filtered water.

I'm talking with Mercedes Sarmini of www.flowersbymercedes.com.au

Video was recorded live during the broadcast of Real World Gardener at 2rrr 88.5 fm radio studios 

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Garden Walkways

Today’s garden challenge is for those gardeners that don’t want hard surface garden paths.
Concrete, brick or other types of paving for paths can be a bit harsh in areas where the garden is quite natural.
In this segment, garden designer Peter Nixon explores some softer alternatives.
Let’s find out…

I'm talking with Peter Nixon, garden designer.
Peter’s not a fan of pebbles on paths.

Instead why not try a combo of bark chips and shell grit, or decomposed granite, perhaps Lillydale topping and bark or woody mulch.

You would need to run the plate compactor over these surfaces to compact the path.

If you have any questions about what to do for your garden paths in your garden, or have some information to share, write in
realworldgardener@gmail.com