The motherland of the earth apple (topinambur or Jerusalem artichoke) is Northern America, where it grows in the wild and was brought under cultivation by the Indians prior to the European conquest. The first European country to get acquainted with this vegetable was England – in the year 1610. Then it was France where the earth apple acquired its name “topinambur” (derived from the name of Brazilian Indians – Tupinamba). The earth apple turned out to be very fruitful, so that in 20 years after it was discovered it became affordable at the English markets. However, in the 18th century, the spread of potatoes decreased the consumption of the earth apple.
The real motherland of the Jerusalem artichoke is Northern America, where it grows abundantly in the wild near the Great Lakes. The topinambur or sunchoke is closely related to sunflowers. The adult plant is rather big; it has a 6-13 feet straight and strong stem, which can withstand any wind. The stem is covered with beautiful wide leaves and has multiple side shoots (especially if it is an isolated bush or a thin planting). By the end of the summer, one or several beautiful yellow flowers blossom at the top.
The topinambur’s life cycle resembles that of the potato. In the spring, the plant grows out of the tuber; by the fall, it forms new tubers and dies back in the winter. However, unlike the thermophilic potato, it can easily survive the winter, since the topinambur is uniquely frost-resistant. The green plant withstands light frosts up to -5 Centigrade, whereas the buried tubers covered with snow can withstand frosts up to -40. The tubers have irregular shapes with outgrowths and knolls. Their weight ranges from 10 to 300 grams, 150 grams on the average. They are bedded compactly and not too deep in the earth. The Jerusalem artichoke is capable of producing huge amounts of crops. Its fresh yield is registered as more than 2000 centners per hectare, while the tuber yield is 1500 centners per hectare. Of course, it is the record-breaking crop yield, whereas the usual average fresh yield is 350-500 centners per hectare and the average tuber yield is 250 centners per hectare.
The cultivation of a topinambur is a very simple process. The Jerusalem artichoke should be planted in the cultivated land or after a deep plowing of the new soil. After that, you can forget about it until the fall. The Jerusalem artichoke sprouts in the middle of May, it grows very fast and by the end of June, its height is more than 3 feet. It starts sprawling multiple side shoots and closes it completely shading the soil, even if it is a thin planting. By creating a think shade, the topinambur suppresses all the weed. Thus, you don’t have to worry about weeding, since the soil remains almost completely clean; only some week and small weed will try to survive reaching for the light. It also concerns the couch grass – if there is something of it, it won’t expand in such a shade. The Jerusalem artichoke doesn’t have any diseases or pests.
The topinambur’s calorie content can be compared with the potato (they both have 16% of carbohydrates), and its nutritive value even exceeds that of the potato (the potato has 2% of protein and topinambur has about 3%). While the content of vitamins В1, В2, С and microelements in the Jerusalem artichoke is much more considerable. Then why do we need potatoes after all? Unfortunately, it is obvious that the potato is much tastier. The taste of the raw topinambur’s tubers reminds of cabbage stump, though they are softer and sweeter. The spring Jerusalem artichoke that spent the winter in the soil is tastier and sweeter than that harvested in the fall. There are a lot of different delicious dishes that contain cooked Jerusalem artichoke, but it will never hold a candle to potatoes. If you consider problems connected with the storage (while the potato doesn’t have any), you come to realize that despite all the advantages and a good nutritive value, the Jerusalem artichoke doesn’t take the place of the potato in people’s nutrition, and it will never take it.
