Garden & Food: Crosnes de Japon

This year we are growing these strange looking things - Chinese or Japanese artichokes.  They are very popular to grow here in France.  Allegedly - I've never seen them in the shops, garden centres or market.  But maybe I wasn't looking.  Although more than likely after the first go at eating them we'll know why.  The Other half is convinced this will just be another rather smelly adventure akin to Jerusalem artichokes.

Hopefully I'll have a recipe or two later on in the year.

I have planted them out - three rows 45cm apart, 7-8cm down - at the top end of my first bed.  This bed is gong to be the leek patch this year and I rarely have enough plants for a full bed; if I do that means we have too many leeks!!  The crosnes are perennial so in theory will come back year after year as long as I leave a few tubers in the ground.  Presumably they will thrive and be impossible to eradicate if they are disgusting and will simply turn up their toes if they are a yummy treat.

I do have a crop rotation plan which is broadly kept to, but it is easy to accommodate a few fixed features; only the tomato/chili and corn/melon/squash beds are usually over-full so when they come to be in the crosnes bed, I'll just have to put a few plants somewhere else.

Other things new for this year are less challenging - asparagus pea and purple podded peas.  I'll post about those in due course.