Monday, December 7, 2009

Jerusalem artichokes

We went out and dug up some Jerusalem artichokes this afternoon.  Boy that was cold!  I am sharing some starts with a couple of folks on my Whizbang Chicken Plucker yahoo group.  : )

Okay I can hear you thinking---what in the world?  This is one strange woman!  And you may be correct.  he he he!

More about Whizbang Chicken pluckers later............back to the artichoke story.

We dug them up, and of course they are muddy from the damp ground.  Ed washed them in the bucket outside to get 50% of the dirt off them.  Then I brought them inside and washed each little tuber with a soft brush.  Then spread them to dry on a towel in the kitchen.  Tomorrow I will box them up and send them off.

Here are some photos of the process.  Minus the digging part, I never think to take the camera outside with me!


Here they are in the sink being washed.



After being washed.


Drying on the towel.



Okay now to explain the Whizbang Chicken pluckers group.  A fella named Herrick Kimball has written a book on how to make a tub style chicken plucker.  He calls it the Whizbang Chicken Plucker.  There is a yahoo group for folks to exchange ideas and chat about raising poultry and such.

We ordered the book and just got it last week.  Ed is going to build one for making things much easier on us when we butcher the poultry.
Here is a link to more information if you like to look.  http://www.whizbangbooks.blogspot.com/

And if you want to see one in action check out this YouTube video.  : ) www.youtube.com/watcg?v=G-pbRxllpuw

We also went to the local hardware store and bought some of that pipe insulation for the water pipes that go to the water pump.  Our water was froze this morning.  We stopped at a place that sells firewood and bought a small amount to get us through until the cord we ordered gets here in a few days.  Stopped at the PO to pick up the flat rate boxes for mailing out the chokes tomorrow too.  I will use Clicknship online to print the postage in the morning and then just put them in the mailbox for our mailman to pick up.  Handy isn't it?

There you have the story of a cold winter day at Bountiful Acres Homestead.  : )

2 comments:

Mr. and Mrs. Hoosier Homesteader said...

How do you cook your Jerusalem artichokes? I've never tasted them, but was interested in growing them. How do you keep them from spreading uncontrollably?

Deborah Swinson said...

Hi Mary,
We usually saute them in butter or olive oil and eat them with a little salt, or boil them like a potato.

The way to keep them from spreading is to not ever ever till them up. We just have a row on the edge of our garden and just harvest what we want and leave the rest in the ground.