Survival: Topinambur (aka "Jerusalem Artichocke")

Topinambur is survivaslists best friend:

- It grows like s....t, anywhere.....

- It is self-seeding

- It grows under conditions where the hardiest crops have to give up

- Tastes excellent

- Extremely nutritious

- Is very healthy

-The tubers can be harvested all year round (and the tubers are actually best kept in the ground right before you need them)

- Is not recognizable as food for garden looters

- Can be eaten raw

Nice "sunflower" :-)
Topinambur blooms between August and Octover

"There is something wrong with your sunflowers!!" my nosy neighbor loves to tell me (almost every season) "The flowers are way too small and you got no seeds!"

I just smile at that knowing that the "sunflowers" are actually Topinambur tubers (also known as "Earthapple") and that the 5 m strip of garden I have reserved for them probably yields between 10-18 kg of high calorie food: Hidden in plain sight!

Apart from food source: Topinambur is attractive to look at and gives a great deal of privacy.

Harvest time (all year round, right now it is February)

As said before: The tubers are best stored in the ground!

5 plants: 3, 5 kg of tubers.

Lets make soup: Wash `em!

Peel `em!

Cut them in to small chunks and fry them in olive oil together with onions and garlic.

Fry for about 10-15 minutes...

...until they start to get soft.

Prepare your soup base.

Boil for about 40 minutes.

Add bacon, salt and pepper.

Blend it (to whatever "chunky" grade you prefer!)

You can also use a potato masher.