permaculture

[Allan Balliett <aballiett@frontiernet.net>]

I have to agree with Steve. The early literature (report to the 
king-type stuff) expounds on the tremendous wind produced by 
Jerusalem Artichokes. Such is my own experience. More recently, 
though, I've run into people who claim to not get gas from them and 
to actually relish eating them.

I wanted to point out that on my farm the 'low fertility' Jerusalem 
Artichokes are not very productive at all but somehow at about 
mid-season last year some started coming up in one of our 'very 
static compost piles' and when I dug them up after frost I found that 
their tubers were large and complex and there was literally a bushel 
of them per plant. My opinion now is that they will live without high 
fertility but they will markedly return what you put into them. This 
year, with most of those harvested planted out and well composted, I 
expect a pretty big crop, of flowers, if nothing else!

-Allan Balliett
Shepherdstown, WV