Have you thought about growing Jerusalem artichokes in your garden?

Jerusalem artichokes are not well known in Australia but they definitely deserve to be. They grow as a tuber on a tall shrub-like plant, which has colourful yellow flowers. Artichokes are planted in spring and are harvested in autumn.

A 2 cm artichoke can produce 2 - 3 kilograms of delicious bulbous roots that are creamy yellow in colour. I planted artichokes about 20 cm apart in two rows that were 50 cm apart.

In 2010 I planted my first artichokes in a very shady area and was delighted with the size and quantity of artichokes I harvested. In 2011 I planted my first real crop in full sunlight, mulched the soil and did nothing more until harvest. This is a really easy crop to grow.

I have just harvested 120 kg of artichokes and sold most of them to Food Connect in Brisbane. Some were sold at our local, Green Shed market. It probably took less than half an hour to plant the artichokes, which I saved from the previous year's crop and stored in a box of dry potting mix. Harvesting artichokes is a bit like harvesting potatoes. It is fairly time consuming because, as well as digging them up, it is necessary to clean the artichokes and dry them. However I didn't mind doing this because from 10 sq metres of land, I grew 120 kilograms of artichokes, which sold for $5 per kilo. This gave me a return of $600, which isn't a bad return on about 6 hours' work. Food Connect have agreed to take my artichokes next year, so I will plant twice the area next spring.

Because Jerusalem Artichokes aren't often used in Australia here's a bit about how to cook them. I was totally surprised at how delicious they are so I've been experimenting a bit. I have found that artichokes are best friends with sage, thyme, butter, bay leaves, cream, breadcrumbs, cheese and anything smoked. They have a rich nutty flavour and can be eaten raw or cooked.

To make a delicious artichoke sauce that goes over pasta or rice, I sauteed 1 cup of very finely sliced artichokes in a mixture of oil and butter with a selection of onions, garlic, spring onions, capsicum, leeks and celery for about five minutes. I added 1 can of coconut milk and cooked for 20 minutes until the artichokes were soft. I believe I could have used water or milk instead of the coconut milk. I stirred 1 tablespoon of flour into a cup of water and added that to the artichoke mixture and continued to cook the mixture until it boiled. I then blended everything to make a creamy sauce, which I served over pasta. It would have been just as good with rice.

I've also made a thick, rich soup by boiling artichokes and potatoes until they were soft. I added my special mountain salt, ground pepper and bay leaves from my own tree. Wanting to serve a really delicious soup, I added some chicken stock and a cup of cream to the mixture and sprinkled it with some finely chopped parsley. That's a really delicious soup and it was so easy to make.

To serve as a vegetable side dish with steamed smoked trout, I sauted artichokes, garlic and onions in butter in a frying pan which has a lid. I turned them regularly until they were browned on both sides and then placed the lid on the pan and cooked for 25 minutes until they were soft.

Artichokes from the garden are a real taste sensation but beware: they're called fartichokes in some countries! I am reliably informed that this problem can be overcome by soaking the artichokes in milk before cooking.
Written by Bev Buckley
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