Jerusalem artichoke

Helianthis tuberosis

I went for a walk with my mom back in the woods this afternoon to show her my overgrown secret garden. My parents never come back here. We have all this land, so many trees, waters, and species hiding here in our own backyard, but they don't come back here. Not since I was a little boy for my mom anyway, and my dad I don't even know.

For me though, walking in these woods is like tracing the lines on the palm of my hand. This afternoon the forest was smiley and sun dappled, perfect for a walk. Along the way I gave my mom a little natural history lesson pointing out sycamores, walnut, spicebush and wild paw paws, we even brought some back. Late summer wildflower are blooming along the river bank sun gaps too. Yellow daisy like sunflowers spindly and waving on the draft breezes. I looked them up and learned all about the mysterious Jerusalem Artichoke...

They are in the sunflower family and, neither related in any way to Jerusalem or artichokes. So, I have no idea how they got that idea, but some people also call them sunroot, sunchoke, earth apple, and tominabur. Did you know you can eat the root? They say it tastes like a potato but nuttier, best steamed, not boiled which makes them mushy because of so many carbohydrates. The carbohydrates come from inulin, and are harvested as a good source of fructose even in industry. They also contain lots of potassium, iron, and other nutrients, but be careful they are said to give gas to some people. The root is good for many teas, and in Germany they even make a liquor out of it.

The sunroot revealed, who knew!?