Yacon - Apple of the earth

dufflight · **Posted:** Thu Jan 07, 2010 10:49 am

First time growing these. The plant is a foot higher now after the rain.

Got this one from Daleys http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/Perennialveg/yacon.htm
The roots are ment to taste like apple and watermelon. Harvest in winter when the plant dies back.

earthbound · **Posted:** Fri Jan 08, 2010 6:02 pm

Yep, great plant the Yacon, I send tubers to a fair few people around Australia a few years back, now I have none, just ordered some more from Daleys though and I'll be more careful in keeping it alive in future.

There are two types of tuber, or a tuber and rhizome under the plant, the propagating rhizome bit looks a little like Jerusalem Artichoke in shape, right at the base of the stem. The edible tubers then project down into the ground and they look more like a sweet potato. They stay crisp and sweet underground for almost 12 months.

dufflight · **Posted:** Fri Jan 08, 2010 8:11 pm

I like the sound of the indigestible sugar in them. Sweets without the calorie count.

chillidude · **Posted:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 2:10 pm

thanks guys - bought one from Diggers and planted it in December. It has started to grow a little, but great to see/hear that others are having success with it. :thumb:

earthbound · **Posted:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:07 pm

Mine grew really well for many years, heres a crop from a couple of plants.

Attachment:

IMG_1267 (Medium).jpg [ 164.39 KiB | Viewed 12273 times ]

The hard thing is to know what to do with them, I've only ever really eaten them straight from the ground, you can make a yacon syrup that works well as a sugar substitute.

An online search for recipes doesn't lead very far.

chillidude · **Posted:** Fri Jan 15, 2010 11:12 am

Here's my little Yacon plant - only had about a month in the ground.

Good to see the other photos so I can see what should be happening - thanks guys

Snags · **Joined:** Wed Jul 07, 2010 10:52 pm **Posts:** 234

What's it taste like?

chillidude · **Posted:** Tue Nov 16, 2010 11:19 am

Dunno yet - the dog snapped the top off so it's not much bigger than before.

EB ?

dufflight · **Posted:** Thu Nov 18, 2010 8:40 am

Tastes like apple. Or like an apple thats not been in cold storage for a year and gas ripened.

chillidude · **Posted:** Fri Nov 19, 2010 4:03 pm

You're definitely inspiring me to leave it in the ground Duff - thanks !!

gnash · **Posted:** Sat Nov 20, 2010 9:44 am

Where did you get it from CD?

chillidude · **Posted:** Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:03 pm

Think it came over a with a few other things I got from Diggers - about 18 months ago

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