Right now at Angelica Organic Farm, it's not only the lush weed crop (rain + warmth = weed-a-saurus) who are ushering in the new decade, but also our first flush of SUNFLOWERS, which are a grand way to start 2010.
Behold, a snapshot of the life cycle of the joyful sunflower:
Sunflowers are a summer flower and take a few months to mature in these parts - we planted these in October. They have really prospered with the regular rain we've been getting, followed by sun and humidity.
They are natural weed suppressors (although a few still get in, partic. the wild radish!), so they can be handy planted prior to other crops for helping break the weed cycle.
We sell our sunflowers from our farmers' market stalls - Collingwood Children's Farm this Saturday or on Sunday at the Lavandula Summer Harvest Picnic (Shepherd's Flat next to Hepburn Springs)
We also grow Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus), a tasty relation to the sunflower. Although delicious and nutritious, they aren't extremely well known vegetables, so I decided to explain a little about these knobbly little gems below...
Jerusalem Artichokes October 2009
Jerusalem Artichokes early January 2010
You can actually see a resemblance to the sunflower plants from the foliage of our Jerusalem artichokes above,
however, the actual artichoke is a tuber growing under the soil. When they flower, the flowers look like miniature sunflowers and like the sunflower, it is a member of the daisy family - a lovely way to end summer/start autumn before their eventual harvest. They are a root vegetable which grow similarly to potatoes and look a bit like a knobbly, pink-skinned ginger (I'll post pics. of the flowers and tubers as this current crop progresses ). They have a sweet, nutty flavour reminiscent of a cross between potatoes and water chestnuts.
Jerusalem artichokes are also called the 'sunroot' or 'sunchoke' and originate in the U.S.A.. They were first cultivated by the Native Americans long before
the arrival of the Europeans.
Despite its name, the Jerusalem artichoke has no relation to Jerusalem, and it is not a type of artichoke either. The origin of the name is uncertain. I've read that Italian settlers in the U.S.A. called the plant 'girasole', the Italian word for sunflower because of their resemblance and it is speculated that over time the name 'girasole' may have been corrupted to Jerusalem.
The taste of its edible tuber is what gave it the name 'artichoke'.
Jerusalem artichokes are most well know in French cuisine for the gorgeous, silky, soup that can be made from them.
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