Two Less Common Vegetables To Try

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30211, 16 August 1963, Page 6

Two Less Common Vegetables To Try

Instead of restricting your garden to the everyday vegetables that you have always grown—and that everyone else grows —try introducing one or two less common kinds each year.

Two that are commonly grown in some other countries are the Jerusalem artichoke and the kohlrabi. The Jerusalem artichoke does not come from Jerusalem, but from North America and is in fact a tuberous kind of sunflower. It is an easy vegetable to grow from tubers and when mature is dug in the same way as potatoes. The flavour is sweet and of unusual taste that may not appeal to everyone.

Planting can begin any time now, as soon as the ground has dried, and can continue until the beginning of November.

Although an easy crop to grow, cropping can be

greatly increased by incorporating liberal quantities of organic matter. Plant four inches deep and with 15 Inches between tubers; three pounds will. plant a 50-foot row. To prevent greening of the tubers it will be necessary to earth them up as you do with potatoes. This plant is a vigorous grower and can attain the height of five feet or more and so can be used to provide protection against prevailing winds tor other crops Staking and tying may be necessary in exposed areas to prevent damage to the crop. When digging the tubers make sure that you do not leave any in the ground as those left will sprout again the following season. Wash and peel the artichoke and place them in boiling water to which salt has been added. Boil until just soft, strain and place into a heated dish and add butter. Kohl-rabi which literally means cabbage turnip, is grown tor the bulbous swollen stem which develops above the ground. When well grown and harvested before it is fully mature, it is a very tasty and nutritious vegetable eaten raw or cooked. The flavour is distinctive and has been said to resemble something that is half-way between cabbage and turnip. Seed is usually sown or spaced at about half-inch intervals along the row and the resulting seedlings thinned to three inches apart or they can be transplanted when they reach the same height. Cultural requirements are not extensive. Organic matter should be applied to the soil as you would for other kinds of brassicas and lime should also be applied.

Keep the plants growing all the time and do not let them be checked or the resulting vegetable will tend to be woody. Harvest before they are fully mature, any time after they have reached the size of a tennis ball.