Yacon Propagation Crown Cuttings (Smallanthus sonchifolius) Organically grown Yakon - Yacón - Peruvian Ground Apple - Bolivian Sunroot Sunchoke
Regular price
$4.99
Sale
Yacon – otherwise known as the Peruvian ground apple, strawberry jicama, Bolivian sunroot, llacon, sweet-root and ground pear. We eat its sweet, juicy tubers raw, cooked or added to juices. I love this winter sweet treat with its great crunchy crispness; it tastes to me like nashi pear and can be used to create great meals. It also works well as an animal forage plant. The plant looks good in the garden too, with little daisy-like flowers. The edible tubers (there are two types of yacon tubers, those for propagation and those for eating) resemble dahlia or sweet potato tubers. They weigh on average around 300g but can reach up to 2 kg: enough to feed all of the family and the neighbors as well!
The Yacon is easy to prepare but it’s worth noting that there are two ‘skins’. I remove the outer brown skin and inner white skin by peeling with a knife or vegetable peeler to reveal the amber colored, sweet crunchy flesh. I treat this plant both as a vegetable and fruit. Try it sliced with orange blossom water sprinkled on top for a refreshing dessert, cut into chunks and add to your Waldorf salad instead of apple, or dip it in melted chocolate for a real sweet treat. Just a hint – if you are not serving it immediately after peeling, soaking in lemon or vinegar will stop the Yacon oxidizing.
Yacon is so versatile that it can also be boiled, steamed or baked with other vegies. Cooked, they stay sweet and slightly crisp. If boiled ‘in the jacket’ the skin separates from the flesh and can be peeled off like a boiled egg. Yacon can also be used in a dessert crumble or pie with apples, pears or choko. The tubers juice well in an electric juicer and I use them to sweeten other juice combinations as well. The young stem can be used as a cooked vegetable.
The other great thing about Yacon is that it’s low in calories. The tubers store carbohydrate in the form of inulin, an indigestible sugar, which is a suitable food for type II diabetics. If you don’t want to eat it yourself, Yacon has potential as a forage crop for animals as the leaves have a high protein content and when cut, the foliage sprouts again from the underground stems. The tubers may be a good cattle feed: inulin is rapidly metabolized by ruminants. What a plant!
Sold here are the propagation tubers for growing your own! The propagation tubers are cut into pieces and ready to be planted just like potatoes. Plant indoors in pots and then set out after last danger of frost is passed for the best harvest!
The Yacon is easy to prepare but it’s worth noting that there are two ‘skins’. I remove the outer brown skin and inner white skin by peeling with a knife or vegetable peeler to reveal the amber colored, sweet crunchy flesh. I treat this plant both as a vegetable and fruit. Try it sliced with orange blossom water sprinkled on top for a refreshing dessert, cut into chunks and add to your Waldorf salad instead of apple, or dip it in melted chocolate for a real sweet treat. Just a hint – if you are not serving it immediately after peeling, soaking in lemon or vinegar will stop the Yacon oxidizing.
Yacon is so versatile that it can also be boiled, steamed or baked with other vegies. Cooked, they stay sweet and slightly crisp. If boiled ‘in the jacket’ the skin separates from the flesh and can be peeled off like a boiled egg. Yacon can also be used in a dessert crumble or pie with apples, pears or choko. The tubers juice well in an electric juicer and I use them to sweeten other juice combinations as well. The young stem can be used as a cooked vegetable.
The other great thing about Yacon is that it’s low in calories. The tubers store carbohydrate in the form of inulin, an indigestible sugar, which is a suitable food for type II diabetics. If you don’t want to eat it yourself, Yacon has potential as a forage crop for animals as the leaves have a high protein content and when cut, the foliage sprouts again from the underground stems. The tubers may be a good cattle feed: inulin is rapidly metabolized by ruminants. What a plant!
Sold here are the propagation tubers for growing your own! The propagation tubers are cut into pieces and ready to be planted just like potatoes. Plant indoors in pots and then set out after last danger of frost is passed for the best harvest!