February, 4th Week - Jerusalem Artichokes
Dirty Nails writes from personal experience, having supplied his family of four over the years with enough fresh produce to eat their fill. His book combines his love of gardening with the natural pleasures of being outdoors and 'in amongst it'. The author seeks to de-mystify the art of kitchen and allotment gardening, making the thrills, spills, triumphs and tribulations accessible to all-comers, whatever their level of gardening experience.
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES
Dirty Nails likes to get his Jerusalem artichokes into the ground as soon as it is workable in the New Year, but any time until mid-March will suffice. He plants his at the back of the veg patch, in a line that won’t cast shade on other crops. Jerusalem artichokes are very dense of growth, and thus ideal for screening off unsightly compost heaps or fences.
Dirty Nails incorporates leaf-mould and grass clippings by digging them into the soil. He plants his artichokes, saved from a previous crop or simply bought from the grocers, 1 foot (30 cm) apart and 5 inches (12½ cm) deep. This root vegetable will grow in the poorest conditions, but a little tender loving care will repay with a fine crop of knobbly tubers.
All the plants need is to be kept watered and weed-free. Earth-up around the base when there is about a foot of growth. Cut off a third of the tops after midsummer, to prevent wind-rock. At the end of August Dirty Nails always reduces the top growth by half.
Harvesting can commence any time from November. One plant is dug at a time, and the bounty stored in boxes of damp sand until needed. Ten plants should keep a family of four comfortably supplied all winter.
NATURAL HISTORY IN THE GARDEN
Song Thrush
VEGETABLE SNIPPETS
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES DEMYSTIFIED
