Alternative Root Crops
Alternative Root Crops
Alternative Root Crops
Although this leaflet is titled Alternative Root Crops, I am not going to stick strictly to the botanists
definition of a root, but am instead being much more lax and will be discussing all types of
underground storage organs including tubers, bulbs and corms.
The traditional root crops grown in Britain are potatoes, parsnips, carrots, beetroot, onions, turnips and
swede with lesser known plants such as Jerusalem artichokes, celeriac, Chinese artichokes, radishes
and winter radishes (mooli) playing a minor role. Of these, potatoes are by far the most important.
They are very high yielding and, because they have a mild flavour that goes well with many other
foods, they are widely used as a staple crop. They do have many disadvantages though, especially in
their high susceptibility to disease and in particular to blight (for which there is no acceptable organic
treatment as yet).
Most of these traditional crops have been selectively bred, sometimes over thousands of years, for
improved flavour and yields. Potatoes, for example, were extremely low-yielding when first introduced
from S. America. The wild carrot has a thin woody root that bears little comparison to the cultivated
plant. This selective breeding, however, has not been an unconditional success. Potatoes must be one of
our most disease-prone crops - you only have to look at them and they go down with blight. Carrots
suffer from root fly and violet root rot, assuming you can get them past the seedling stage without them
being eaten by slugs or overtaken by weeds.
Many of the plants mentioned in this leaflet, on the other hand, have never been bred as a food crop so
yields will often be rather lower. They are, however, usually much less prone to pests and diseases and
so are often easier to grow. They are also in general much more robust plants and can often be grown
in a semi-wild setting and just harvested as required. There is an added bonus to this, since with many
of the plants, such as Erythronium species, it is possible to grow them amongst other plants and so their
yield is an extra bonus from the land. For more information on this method of growing please see our
leaflet Why Perennials.
The plants detailed in the list below are rather a diverse bunch and as a result they have a variety of
cultivation needs. Unless the text says otherwise you can assume that the plant will succeed in full sun
or light shade in most well- drained soils and will yield much better if the soil is fairly rich in organic
matter. Unlike most of the information leaflets we issue, there are some species in this list that we have
not as yet grown but wish to obtain. This is clearly marked in the text - if by any chance you are
growing any of these plants then we certainly won't object if you send a root or three in our direction.
Apios
americana.
The GROUND NUT is a herbaceous climbing plant,
reaching about 4ft tall. It belongs to the pea and bean
family and, like many other members of that family, it
helps to enrich the soil with nitrogen by means of bacteria
which live on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. The
root, which is unusually high in protein, has a very
pleasant sweet taste when baked and is one of our
favourite roots. It can be cooked in many other ways and
can also be eaten raw, though it is rather a tough chew. Yields from the wild plant are fairly low,
though they are much better if the plant is left in the ground for 2 years before harvesting, There are a
number of cultivated forms being developed, however, that have much higher yields and the plant has
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been recommended for commercial cultivation. This species can be grown along the sunny edges of a
woodland garden and either allowed to twine its way into small shrubs or given some supports to climb
into. One correspondent says that this plant has some "anti nutritional factors, such as trypsin
inhibitors ... so it should be cooked before being eaten"
Camassia
quamash.
QUAMASH is a beautiful bulbous plant that grows
about 2ft tall and flowers in early summer. It belongs to
the onion family (though it does not taste like it) and the
flowers look a little bit like a bluebell. Plants can
succeed in short grass, so long as this is not to vigorous,
and can therefore be grown in the light shade of a tree
in the lawn. Do not cut the grass during the time when
the bulbs come into growth until they die down in mid
summer. Quamash bulbs are about the size of a small
onion, they are rich in starch and develop a very nice sweet flavour when slowly baked. They can also
be eaten raw but their texture is not then to my liking, being somewhat gummy. Quamash was a staple
food of the N. American Indians. Local tribes would move to the quamash fields in the early autumn
and, whilst some people harvested the bulbs, others would dig a pit, line it with boulders then fill it
with wood and set fire to it. The fire would heat the boulders and the harvested bulbs would then be
placed in the pit and the whole thing covered with earth and the bulbs left to cook slowly for 2 days.
The pit would then be opened and the Indians would feast on the bulbs until they could no longer fit
any more in their stomachs. Whatever was left would be dried and stored for winter use. We are
intending to experiment with growing quamash in an orchard - the plants will have died down before
the first apples are harvested and so will not get in the way. The bulbs should increase of their own
accord and then we can harvest them in much the same way as the Indians, though we might not eat
them in quite the same way!
Cyperus
esculentus.
TIGER NUTS are a noxious weed in the tropics, but are
also a cultivated crop and can sometimes be found on
sale in Britain. Plants grow about 2ft tall and prefer a
sunny position in a soil that is on the wet side. Plants
that I have grown have seemed to be quite hardy (forms
of the plant have become naturalised as far north as
Alaska) but yields have been disappointing so far. This
is at least partly because I have been having problems
getting the tubers to come into new growth in the spring. I normally harvest them after the first frosts
have cut back top growth and then store them in moist sand in a cool frost-free place. In late March I
pot them up and put them into a polytunnel, but they can take months before coming into growth and
consequently do not manage to get in a full growing season. I am probably making some elementary
mistake with the plant. but have yet to work out what it is. The tubers are small and rather fiddly but
they have a delicious sweet flavour. They can be eaten raw but are very chewy unless soaked
beforehand. Tiger nuts are unusual amongst roots in that they contain a relatively high level of oil and
this is sometimes extracted and used as a high-grade food oil.
Dioscorea
batatas.
This hardy YAM is cultivated in Japan as a root crop
but, although it grows very well here, it has never been
grown much in this country. A climbing plant reaching
8ft or more in height, it requires a sunny position in a
fertile well-drained soil and should be given some
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support on which to twine. If you have a deep rich soil then the root can be up to 3ft long and weigh
4lbs or more. Rich in starch, it is best baked but can also be boiled, added to stews etc. There is no
strong flavour, but the overall taste is very acceptable and it can be eaten in quantity as a staple crop. It
reminds me of a floury potato. You can propagate the plant by cutting off the top few inches of root
and replanting this. An easier method is to harvest the small tubercles (baby tubers that look a little like
small bulbs) that are formed in the leaf axils along the stems. Collect them in late summer, once they
are easily detached from the plant, and pot them up immediately in a cold greenhouse. They will
remain dormant in the winter and then come into growth in the spring. Plant them out in the summer
when they are in active growth.
Erythronium
species.
DOG'S TOOTH VIOLETS are dainty woodland bulbs.
They grow about 1ft tall and flower in early spring,
disappearing completely by early summer. Grow them
in light shade and consider also growing them under
trees in the orchard or on a lawn. Suitable varieties
increase very freely when well sited and the bulb, which
can be 3 inches long and about an inch wide, has a
pleasant sweet taste. It can be eaten raw or cooked. Any
of the species can be used, though these are quite
expensive to obtain and many people would consider
the plant too beautiful to eat. The cultivars White
Beauty and Pagoda are easily grown forms that are
relatively cheap to buy and usually divide freely in the
garden.
Helianthus
tuberosus.
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES are a fairly well-known
root crop that is occasionally cultivated. The plants are
very vigorous, growing up to 10ft tall, and some people
have been growing them successfully as part of a
woodland garden, planting them on the sunnier side of
the woodland. Slugs absolutely adore the young shoots
in spring, so give the plants some protection at this time
of the year. We find that a mulch of oak leafmould
works well. The main drawback of this root is that over
half of the carbohydrate it contains is in the form of inulin and this cannot be absorbed by the body. It
does mean that you can eat quite a lot of it without putting on weight, but it does also mean that many
people will find the inulin fermenting in their gut causing quite a bit of wind! The tubers can be eaten
raw or cooked and the flavour improves if they are left in the ground until frosted.
Lathyrus
tuberosus.
The TUBEROUS PEA has one of the nicest tubers I
have ever eaten, a view shared by many of the people
who have eaten it. Unfortunately the plant is rather low
yielding and so unless improved cultivars are developed
it will never become more than an occasional delicacy.
Grow the plant on the sunny side of a woodland, or
perhaps in a cultivated bed amongst shrubs. It grows
about 3ft tall and twines around available supports. It is
quite a weak climber, however, and is more likely to
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sprawl across the ground. A member of the pea and bean family, the plant will enrich the soil with
nitrogen.
Lilium
lancifolium.
The TIGER LILY is often grown in the flower garden but
in the Orient it is cultivated for its edible bulb. In fact
when grown as a root crop the Chinese actually pick off
the flower buds to stimulate the production of larger
bulbs. All other members of this genus also produce
edible bulbs, though these can often have a bitter flavour.
When baked, lily bulbs taste rather like potatoes. One
word of warning with this particular species - although
tolerant of virus disease, it can often act as a carrier of
these diseases and so becomes a vector infecting other
species. It is therefore wise to either grow this species
well away from your other lilies, or to avoid growing the
other species if you grow this one. The plant is easily
propagated by means of bulbils that form in the leaf axils.
Simply pot these up in the summer when they part easily
from the plant and then plant them out in the spring 18
months later. Allow some of the bulbils to fall to the ground to see of the plant will maintain itself
without your help.
Lomatium
cous.
This is a plant that I have not as yet grown but would like to obtain, It comes from western N. America
and grows on dry often open rocky slopes and flats. It is often found with sagebrush, is most common
in foothills and lowland areas but is occasionally found
above the treeline. The root is eaten cooked, it can also be
dried and ground into a flour and can then be mixed with
cereal flours or added to soups etc. When dug up in the
spring, it is said to have a parsnip-like flavour. I would
also be interested in obtaining any other members of this
genus, in particular L. geyeri and L. macrocarpum.
Known as BISCUIT ROOTS, they have celery-flavoured
roots that can be eaten raw or cooked. The N. American
Indians dried and ground them into a flour and then either
mixed it with cereal flours or added it to soups etc. They
also mixed the flour with water, flattened it into cakes
then sun-dried or baked them for use on journeys, the taste is said to be somewhat like stale biscuits.
Orogenia
linearifolia.
INDIAN POTATO is another plant that I would like to
obtain. It grows about 15cm tall on open mountain sides
and ridges, often in sandy or gravelly soils, and
especially near vernal snowbanks where it blooms as
soon as the snow melts. It is found in much of western
N. America. The root is said to have a pleasant crisp
taste, though the outer skin has a slightly bitter taste.
Available at almost any time of the year, its only
drawback is that it is a bit small and fiddly to harvest in quantity.
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Oxalis
tuberosa.
OCA has had a long history of cultivation in S. America
where it is one of the three most popular root crops. The
tuber can be 3 inches long and about an inch wide - yields
per plant are often not much below that from potatoes. The
plants are about as hardy as potatoes, tolerating light frosts
but dying down in harder frosts. In mild areas the tubers
can be left in the ground and harvested as required (so long
as the ground does not get too wet in the winter), but in
colder areas it is best to harvest them when the plant dies
down and store them in a cool frost-free place. The tubers
have a lemon flavour when first harvested but if you leave
them out in the sun for a week or so they become quite
sweet. Some cultivars, in fact, become so sweet that they
are eaten rather like a fruit in S. America. The main disadvantage of this plant is that it does not start to
form tubers until around the autumn equinox and so, if there is an early heavy frost, yields will be very
low.
Perideridia
gairdneri.
YAMPA is a plant that I have not as yet grown but
would dearly love to get my hands on. The root can be
eaten raw or cooked and is said to have a pleasant sweet
and nutty taste that can be eaten in quantity. The flavour
is said to be somewhat like a superior parsnip and the
dried root is said to be so nice that it is an almost
irresistible nibble. The root is best harvested when the
plant is dormant and can also be dried for later use or
ground into a flour and used in porridges, cakes etc. Yampa grows in woodland and wet meadows in its
native range, which stretches from California along the west of N. America to Saskatchewan in Canada
and so it should be perfectly hardy here.
Polymnia
edulis.
YACON is often cultivated for its edible root in S. America, where yields of 15 tons per acre have been
achieved. This frost-tender plant grows about 3ft tall and can be cultivated like potatoes, it requires a 6
- 7 month growing season so would probably not succeed
in the colder parts of the country. It is best started off in
pots even in the warmer areas. A fast-growing and tolerant
plant, it succeeds in poor soils though it yields better in
soils of at least reasonable quality and requires a sunny
position. The large root is crisp and juicy and in some
cultivars is also incredibly sweet, though the skin is often
bitter. In S. America it is eaten more like a fruit than a root.
The nutritional value is low, however, because much of the
carbohydrate in the root is in the form of inulin. The human
gut is unable to assimilate inulin and so it passes straight
through the digestive system. This makes it an ideal food if
you are on a diet to lose weight and want to eat enough to
fill yourself up! A gentle warning, however. Inulin causes
fermentation in the gut of some people, leading to the
expulsion of gases through the rear passage (I'm trying to
be delicate here!) Inulin can be easily converted to fructose,
a sugar that is safe for diabetics to use, and so it is
sometimes used to make a sweetener.
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Sagittaria
species.
Most if not all members of this genus produce edible tubers and a number of them are cultivated for
this, especially in the Orient. They succeed in wet soils but are
best in water 1 - 2ft deep. S. sagittifolia, the ARROWHEAD,
is a native species and this is the plant that is most frequently
cultivated. Its tubers can often be purchased in Chinese shops
in this country and this is one of the best ways of obtaining
plants, though the tubers need to be fresh if they are to grow
away before rotting. The tubers are starchy with a distinct
flavour that people have likened to potatoes, though I'm not
sure that I agree. There is a slight bitterness, but this is mainly
in the skin which is best removed after cooking. They make a
very acceptable stodge part of the meal. The tubers can also
be dried and ground into a flour, this flour can then be used as
a gruel etc or can be added to cereal flours and used in making
bread, biscuits or cakes. The tubers, which can be produced up to 1 metre from the plant, are best
harvested in the late summer as the leaves die down, they should not be eaten raw. Other species to try
include:- S. cuneata, the WAPATO, S. graminea; and S. latifolia, the DUCK POTATO.
Sium
sisarum.
SKIRRET grows about 4ft tall and used to be cultivated
for its edible root. This can be eaten raw or cooked and is
firm, sweet and floury but with a woody core. The plant
is very pest and disease-resistant. It requires plenty of
moisture in the growing season otherwise its root will
tend to be very fibrous. Make sure that you do not grow
the sub-species S. sisarum lancifolium since this is very
unlikely to produce good quality roots.
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Stachys
affinis.
CHINESE ARTICHOKES grow about 1ft tall and
dislike dry soils or shade. Their roots are rather small
and fiddly, though overall yields are quite good and
they have a pleasant flavour with a nice crisp juicy
texture. They can be eaten raw or cooked, I prefer them
chopped up and added to a mixed salad. Incidentally,
there is an easy way of cleaning small and fiddly roots.
You half fill a bucket with water, add a good quantity of
dirt so that you have a nice muddy mixture. You then
add all the roots that you want to wash and stir the
mixture for a few minutes. Then tip out the roots and
rinse them - they will be lovely and clean, ready for use.
Tropaeolum
tuberosum.
This beautiful climbing plant is only hardy in the milder
areas of the country, where it can reach a height of 6 ft or
more. It flowers freely in late summer and then dies down
with the first hard frosts in the autumn. It produces a
number of edible tubers near the soil surface and can be
quite heavy-yielding. In mild winter areas the tubers can
be left in the ground (though it would be a good idea to
mulch them), in colder areas they should be harvested and
stored in much the same way as dahlias. The tubers are
quite popular in S. America, but they are probably best
described as an acquired taste. The rather peppery flavour
is improved considerably if the tubers are cooked and
then frozen before eating them. (You can warm them up
again if you like!) We have also found that if the tubers are left in the ground and then harvested after
being frosted the flavour is much nicer. The tuber is considered by people in the Andes to lower the
sex-drive and many men refuse to eat it, whilst recommending it for women! Clinical trials have
indicated a reduction of up to 45% in some male hormones when the tuber forms a considerable part of
the diet, but no loss in fertility has been observed. The growing plant is very resistant to diseases and
insects, it contains nematocidal, bactericidal and insecticidal compounds. The main problem with
growing this plant in Britain is that the tubers are not formed until the shorter days of autumn and if
you get an early frost then yields can be very low. The cultivar Ken Aslett is probably the best form
available in this country, it comes into flower earlier and produces larger tubers than the species type.
Typha
latifolia.
Our native REEDMACE is potentially one of the most
productive rootcrops that can be grown. Not only that, its native
habitat is marshy ground and shallow water where it makes a
superb wild-life habitat. Thus instead of destroying valuable
habitats by draining our wetlands in order to grow more wheat
that is then used to build the huge grain mountains in Europe, we
could be growing this plant with a lot less work and getting
higher yields into the bargain. The root can be eaten raw or
cooked. It can be boiled and eaten like potatoes or macerated and
boiled to yield a sweet syrup. The root can also be dried, ground
into a flour and then used as a thickener in soups etc or added to
cereal flours. Rich in protein, this flour is used to make biscuits
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etc. Yields of 3 tonnes of flour per acre are possible, which compares very favourably with wheat. The
plant also has many other edible and non-edible uses which I will not enumerate here - ask us for a
fact-sheet on these species if you would like more details. T. angustifolia is a closely related native
plant with the same uses.
Database
The database has more details on these plants: Apios americana, Camassia quamash, Cyperus
esculentus, Dioscorea batatas, Helianthus tuberosus, Lathyrus tuberosus, Lilium lancifolium,
Lomatium cous, Orogenia linearifolia, Oxalis tuberosa, Perideridia gairdneri, Polymnia edulis, Psoralea
esculenta, Sagittaria cuneata, Sagittaria graminea, Sagittaria latifolia, Sagittaria sagittifolia, Sium
sisarum, Stachys affinis, Tropaeolum tuberosum, Typha angustifolia, Typha latifolia.
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