Has anyone tried oca ?

cjb02

I have some oca seeds/tubers. I am ready for planting and I "think" i know what I am doing?

I got the seeds/tubers from here . Realseeds

I have read a couple of articles, here and here.

I was just wondering if any one here had tried them and what did they think of them? I haven't even eaten one yet, will have to wait till next year. Are there any hints or tips?

Ta

Chris

relay

I came accross a forum where someone had grown them & they said they were completely tasteless & unappealing to eat. I have to admit i find these sort of unusual crops fun to grow and i might even try myself.

Lotus-eater

Never tried it, but I did see Yacon (on the same real seed link) on Gardeners World the other day and it looked very interesting. But looking at the real seed link it says its actually no calorific value at all, which seems a bit strange, so maybe not so good.
They've sold out anyway this year.

Sorry a bit OT

cjb02

Thanks for answering folks

I am going to be positive and still try them as it is just some thing different.
I suppose it could be the variety as to why they are not very tasty. I hope I have a good variety but I will find out next year.

relay

I'm sure you're right about variety. I wouldn't take what i read elsewhere about them as being a 'given' as such. I quite like the idea of Yacon as well but since Gardeners World showed them on Friday they have sold out everywhere. LOL

cjb02

I also like the yacon idea too. I didnt see gardeners world so I have just watched it on gardeners world on the Iplayer.

the company featured was Edulis. This is there web site.

http://www.edulis.co.uk/

I have emailed them asking if they sell it and how much etc... I wait with baited breath. Realseeds sell yacon but they have sold out. Thanks I would imagine to gardeners world.

bugs

Hi cjb02

I grew it last year for the first time, and have saved tubers to replant (so far so good!). Also from Real Seeds, who are just great - we had the Pure White variety but most accounts suggest the colour doesn't mean a different flavour. Our new tubers are just in pots at the moment but we have a few spare tubers that began to sprout before we could finish them and we will try planting those straight out in the ground - last year we grew them all in pots as we had so few tubers.

As for the taste I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The sound of a "lemony" or "sorrel" like taste put me off, but they were actually quite complex tasting, and quite a nice texture too. Boiled, they very strongly resemble little new potatoes, with a slightly crunchier (but still tender) texture. We put a lot of them in stews this winter, along with Jerusalem artichokes, parsnip, carrots and pumpkin or sweet potato, and they add a nice variety. If you are going to do this don't add them till later as they cook in less than 15 mins (and I believe you can eat them raw too). Also nice in stir fries. We will need to experiment more with growing conditions and recipes.

If I were only going to grow one "root veg" it would be parsnips, young carrots or something else, but as something extra to add variety to the plate and back up against other crop failures I'm really happy with them.

We also managed to bag some Yacon from Real Seeds (spotted it before the GW rush I guess!) and that does sound exciting too.

Hints and tips...they are frost tender but not really delicate. Fleece them, or move the pots indoors if necessary. The plants may form the odd tiny tuber where the greenery touches the ground.

Most of all, and you'll have seen this on your Real Seeds info sheet, they are daylight sensitive and won't start forming tubers until well in to the autumn. I have read (on the Allotments 4 All forum) that you can trick the plants in to forming tubers, by covering them with thick black plastic for a couple of hours a day from late summer (eg early evening or morning) so it "believes" autumn has come and it's time to tuberise, if that's a word.

Sorry to have waffled a bit...I hope some of this helps!

cjb02

Hi Bugs,

thanks for the reply. They do sound interesting and you didnt waffle.

you are the first person I have found that has actually grown the oca themselves.

I like the black bin liner idea. I have not put them in to pots yet but this weekend that will be done and once all sign of frost is gone they are going in to the ground.

Can I ask what sort of crop did you get. Were there lots of tubers per plant or a small amount? comparable to spuds?

i will be trying the yacon next year i hope.

bugs

Thank you cjb02...I've got more waffle than Birds Eye so I'm always worried I go on too much!

Can I ask what sort of crop did you get. Were there lots of tubers per plant or a small amount? comparable to spuds?

You can, indeed. Whether I can answer is another question! I recall that of our tubs, we got 9oz in one, and 5 oz in another, and after that we stopped measuring, so not comparable to what you might expect from even new potatoes. However, I think our pots/containers were much too small for the resulting plants - some of them were in those black tubs that florists sell (and which you can sometimes bag at Morrisons, 8 for 99p..sometimes on 2-for-1 as well) and some in black builders buckets, but the plants are vigorous and want to form tubers where the plant touches the ground too. Real Seeds I think said their very best produce 1/2 a kilo each? But the information has gone from the website, so I'm not sure.

I like them for their variety, ease (they just grew and grew and put up with being nibbled by chickens too :rolleyes:) and also, prettiness, plus the fact that they are one more alternative to add a bit of diversity and "insurance" against other crops going awry.

Hope that helps. I appear to be waffling again! Other places you might try for a bit more info are the Allotments for All wiki/forum (I think Real Seeds' original supplier posted on there and that's where I spotted the advice on covering with black stuff) and this site for cooking ideas - apparently it was sold commercially in the UK for a while under the name chioca: http://www.exoticfarm.com/chioca.html

Good luck with your crop - what type are you growing, by the way?

cjb02

Thanks again Bugs. waffling is fine, found your comments very interesting. I was going to grow in pots, but now I am not. I have started them off in pots and when they are starting to grow i will put them in to the ground. I feel this might be best practice.
It will be interesting to watch them grow. I wont try the black bin bag idea though as they will planted in some elses garden so I would not be able to put the bag on and off again each day.
It is nice to hear from some one who has actually grown them and is speaking from experience. I like trying different plants just from a diversity issue. The website references are also good. I will have a route round the allotments site later on.

As for variety. I have no idea at the mo. I dont have the bag they came in and I was sure it just said oca on it anyway. may be, may be not?

CJB

cjb02

Had a look at allotments for all. Great site. I found some threads about oca and they proved to be worth reading. There seems to be quite a few folks out there trying the crop.

thanks again

CJB