I had woken up this morning with the best of intentions: to plant all of the remaining Jerusalem artichoke tubers at the allotment. However….
It looked like rain and I didn’t want to go out leaving my washing on the line. So, I needed to wait for that to dry. And I had the evening meal in the slow cooker which would have spoiled if I had gone out and left it. On the other hand, seeing that the purple sprouting broccoli needed picking but was not going to be eaten in the next day or so, I decided to blanch and freeze that.
And just as well I wasn’t 10 miles away at the allotment at lunchtime as I got a text from the school to say I hadn’t paid for my daughter’s lunches this week. Oops!
Still, that meant the cheque got taken round today on the way out. And I still got an hour and a half of digging and ground clearance in. And I planted three of the tubers.
The plan is to plant them right across the back of my plot. That way I hope to have a nice row of flowers lining the edge of the allotment over the summer – and in future years I will know exactly where to plant them again (being one of those vegetables which you can grow in the same spot year on year) 🙂
© Helen Butt, March 2014
Growing out of chaos 
lovely post Helen and thank you for sharing
Hope you’ve had a good day! Am going to read all the posts on my reader list in a little while…
Watch out! Jerusalem artichokes are fantastic but they spread like mad. From an original six in a bed lined with paving slabs we got around two hundred tubers the first year. They are pretty hard to keep a hand on and even from the slab bed bed they pushed through the corners and walked across my plot. They also make tiny tubers that are very hard to track down. Now we dig them out and don’t replant and we still get tons!
Unfortunately, I don’t have enough material to stop them from spreading, but I am hoping that at least if they are at the back of the plot they will be easier to manage.
Great news that you didn’t need to buy any tubers to replant in the second year. Seems whoever planted potatoes on my plot before me has left me a similar legacy with them – though clearly that does need to change!
You’ll never need to buy more. But do keep an eye on them. You probably don’t need too many this year. Spread them out. The plants themselves are stunning. Very tall and yellow!
Thanks for your advice. I’m looking forward to seeing the flowers 🙂
They are gorgeous!!