My Artichoke Imposter

Technically, my imposter has been identified as a Jerusalem Artichoke aka sunchokes. Now that I know what it is, I'll be sure not to plant it in my garden again. This is a plant that should be planted in its own space. If you need a privacy wall, this plant will do the trick!


Here's a few photos:

They shot up very quickly -
this is when they were "short"!

They grew taller than the house

A Parting of the Ways

Jack's beanstalk?
Nope. Jerusalem Artichokes.

They have pretty yellow flowers perched
on the top of the stalks

So, you may be wondering, how these are eaten. The roots of these plants are edible. They don't look too appetizing. Hubby has accused me of being closed-minded! The only reason I would want to eat these is if food was not plentiful. For me, this is more of a "survival" food than anything else.

One small root for mankind...
sorry, couldn't help myself   

Bowl full of roots

So, I went here and found a recipe for Jerusalem Artichoke Cheese Soup. I picked this recipe because the ingredients include butter, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. It's hard to go wrong with butter, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. I do realize that if food should become scarce, these ingredients would probably not be available. But, since I had all these ingredients in my fridge, that's what I tried.


Jerusalem artichokes are kind of like potatoes, but without the carbs. They also have lots of health benefits. The soup wasn't terrible, but it also didn't make me want to lick the bowl clean. It was better than I thought, and I'm sure I'll be searching out more recipes for Jerusalem artichoke.

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