A little more I found on Yacon and the second harvest.
http://greenharvest.com.au/Plants/Information/Yacon.html
http://www.ehow.com/way_5906976_yacon-planting-directions.html
A link discussing renal toxicity related to eating Yacon leaves. I haven’t fully researched it but it states the onset was after prolonged exposure. (eating) May still be edible but check out the article and be careful.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20951787
That is interesting that you could grow potatoes in pure biochar! that is very cool! Were you able to participate in the trial with @OneYardRevolution and I?
I've never tried Yacon, might have to look into it and give it a try. I have cramps too, sometimes my whole body will get caught up and I actually will be sick to my stomach. I started taking Magnesium along with the potassium and it seems to help. Thanks for the info on the Yacon, I'll be looking it up! Flavor wise, what do they taste like?
Thanks for adding more information. I will be putting mine in a raised bed next spring. Most of what I saw so far. Said they do not store well. And I saw a video in south America that they were drying the leaves. I do not speak Spanish. So have no clue what they were going to do with the dry leaves. Rick Larson on youtube just harvested his from compost in the ground last week. They were huge. It seems so far only 3 of us in colder areas are sharing information so far.
I was no where as nice as you with the rizomes, the smallest part took off for me. My wicking bed did awesome with them.
http://www.earthclinic.com/cures/muscle_cramps.html this is my favorite web site for health, many ways to get healthy with trail and error user feedback results. Awesome site. Read and use your brain, but awesome methods.
Here are my links on Yacon -> http://www.pinterest.com/mart85yahoocom/yacon-sweet-low-calorie/
Interesting info mate. Maybe do some in the black tubs give them a bit more space. starting them under the tunnel sounds like a good idea too. I have just had a bowl of butter nut soup got to say it was fine for a year old squash.
It was nice to have something turn up in a Google alert for yacon that was actually about growing it, instead of yet another hawker of yacon syrup!
When we harvest, we lever the whole clump out of the ground and then just give it a good hard spray with the hose. That cleans them up pretty fast. Yours might be a little more challenging because it was grown in a pot.
Breaking up the crown is an art. Ideally, you want to break it up in such a way that you minimize exposed flesh, so you look for narrow parts to cut or break. We’ve found that rhizome chunks with five growing tips give us the best results.
Be careful eating the leaves. Some research has found them to be toxic to the kidneys and possibly the liver as well:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20951787
Enjoy!
Yacon sound very interesting. I think I should give them a go.
what the hell with those maters?
sorry bout the cramps
Interesting plant, J!
Thanks for info about it.
Sorry for your cramps. I read further down in the comment field that you take magnesium as well.
Magnesium supplements helped me a lot with my issues. My body felt like it was 100 years before I started with it. The lack I had of magnesium may have been the reason why I`ve always been hungry for magnesium rich vegs and nuts . Like beans, peas and all kinds of nuts. (I eat beans and nuts every day) lol..
All the best,
Halvor.
I see others told you about magnesium for muscle cramps, actually a good balance of calcium, potassium and magnesium is important.
So from what I can understand Yacon is a prebiotic, feeding the good guys we have in our guts (probiotic). So to me it would also mean we don't digest the sugars in them and it would be good for diabetics (sorry I'm a nutrition geek among other things LOL), really interesting facts, do you find them hard to digest? Thanks for sharing and I hope you find some relief from your muscle cramps, I know about pain, not fun!!!
I saw you comment on this Yacon on another post-I had never heard of it-but my people were farmers and I love growing my own stuff-
also with the diabetes thing and the whole refined sugar deal I am very interested in this plant-
you seem to really know your farming-thanks for posting-
How are the tomatoes going now Jay ?
Great clip on the yacon.. Haven't looked into using the leaves yet but will now..
Cheers mate..
I've always heard Yacon called "The Apple of the Andes" To us it taste like an apple. I like it raw, and cut up on my salads. Gives it a awesome crunch. You can also juice it but I don't care for the syrup at all. I much prefer it raw or oven roasted chips.
Ive know a couple of people that had no success with mineral supplements for their cramp but had almost immediate success by increasing their water intake.
So as simple as it may be try and drink more and see if you just need more hydration
Enjoyed your video & sub thank you this will be my first year growing them