<<<Living in SW Ireland, a country that is normally extremely suitable for
root crops (and grass as in grass fed meat) and often little else, I think
it might be a good idea to try these crops out on a fairly small scale.
Don't throw what crops you have overboard to bet your all on these new Andes
crops.
I know quite a few people in the US who have problems even growing potatoes
because of high temperatures.
That said, almost all the Andes crops I have tried in Ireland have been
rather successful for me. Potato, oca and mashua grow like weeds. Yacon is
fantastically productive. Achocha is the only cucurbit that self seeds for
us outside and this is not a root crop. We are also doing well with maka
(tuber) quinoa (seed/grain outperforms wheat and barley) two crops that you
don't mention Alan.
I know people who trialed uluco here and were not impressed with the results
and chichi, mauka (unless this is maka/ Lepidium) and topotopo are unknown
to me. Would not mind trying them out.
John
What is the most successful root-based agriculture in the world? It
all comes from the Andes in South America. Like the ones who gave us
the potatoes, now give us oca, mash, achocha, ulluco, bacon, chichi,
mauka, topotopo — one crop after another, none of which are known
pretty much by anyone who gardens in the United States. That means we
have the opportunity to take what is an Andean, high-altitude,
sustainable food system — not based on meat, but based on roots. And
we can incorporate it as part of the native food system that was here
and develop an organic, sustainable food system that's tested out by
hundreds, if not thousands of generations of people.
—Alan Kapuler
The plants Alan mentions are very hard to find in the US. It would be
good to compile a list of nurseries that have this material available.
I got oca One Green World a few years ago.