Some lesser grown veggies

[orflo]

oca,orange

oca,red

yacon
amorphophallus rivierii

cyclanthera brachystachya:achocca 'fat baby'

cyclanthera pedata
Frank

[DeanRIowa]

Where did you get the "cyclanthera"?

How is it grown and how do you prepare it?

[orflo]

I don't remember exactly where I got the cyclanthera, but I have seeds if you are interested, I think they are also available at realseeds, a very good English seed company. I use them as cucumbers, they have a stronger cucumber taste and are easier to grow, and they can also be used in hot dishes, they retain their taste when heated.
Culture is quite easy, grow them as cucumbers, but they ripen earlier, they can be easily grown outside over here, they prefer some sort of a trellis for climbing.
Frank

[gdionelli]

Those look interesting. Anyone here ever grown agretti? I have memories of eating it 25 years ago in Italy. I'm thinking of trying to grow it this year. Just wondering if I'll be successful!

[orflo]

I know agretti , over here it is more known as salsola, which is part of the latin name (salsola soda), I grew it a few years ago, the taste is nice, but I had to grow it in the greenhouse in order to get the seeds, and my greenhouse was already quite crowded, so I didn't grow it again, but one day I will,
Frank

[FlipTX]

I read somewhere that the cyclanthera can grow 30 foot vines... is that true? Wow!

[orflo]

The cyclanthera can indeed be very invasive, I would'nt be amazed if it would become 30 feet, even in northern Belgium I grow them outside, grown in the greenhouse they take over the place.But they're decorative, especially with the fruits, everyone asks me:what's that? The other striking plants in my garden are the grain amarants, they get lots of attention too.
Frank

[potager]

Wouw, interesting. I've been growing Oca and Achocha as well

Oca photo
Achocha photo

As I see it, your two oca has other colors than mine. Where did you get it?

And another question: I am not sure how your winter climate is. What about the Yacon (which I am also growing this year) - is it hardy, otherwise how do you store it during the winter?

[orflo]

Nice pics ,Brian,I also got a creamy white oca version, maybe we can exchange, we don't live that far apart.
I am growing the yacon for about seven years now, I'm really very fond of it, marvellous plants and amazing productivity. What you need to do when harvesting:
dig out the root 'block' as a whole, the tubers are quite vulnerable, so you will have some broken ones, but try to be very careful (I eat the broken ones first). Transport the 'block' to a frost free place, a cellar or whatever , not too humid, a storage room for potatoes is fine (oh, and cut the stems, I harvest after the first frost). Just make sure it is kept together, conservation is so much better (up to July sometimes), it can weigh a lot, 15-20 kgs. is no exception over here. When you have stored the block, you can eat the big tubers, I mostly leave them for 2-3 weeks, they really sweeten up while being stored (or lay them in the sun as you can do with the ocas, it speeds up the process), keep them really frost-free. In spring you can plant out the small tubers at the top of the block, they begin their growth from about end of February, depending on the temperature in the storage room. Of all these lesser grown stuff (I have lots more), this is my favourite,I can't say anything bad about them,but, it's not hardy throughout a 'normal' winter,
Frank

[potager]

Interesting, Frank. Can't wait to see what's under my Yacon plant (the plant itself is not that big, actually).

I'll PM my mail info to you about the oca.

[garnetmoth]

Hello! I grew Oca for the first time this year, im anxiously awaiting time to harvest them!

I didnt get around to Yacon this year, but want to next year, thanks so much for the advice on storage! Yacon look easy to clean too. we grew Jerusalem Artichokes, and they were hard to clean.