8 Must-Grow Tubers for Self-Sufficiency!

[@freedomforestlife]

Was so much fun having you here Huw - thank you so much for visiting and for spreading the knowledge of these beautiful indigenous crops 💚🙏✌🌿

[@mambatta]

Do you supply the seeds for the plants in this video

[@NnekaOchonogor]

Been waiting impatiently for this video and it did not disappoint. Well done!!!

[@freedomforestlife]

@ glad you enjoyed it Nneka 💚✌️🌿

[@freedomforestlife]

@@mambatta we may be selling Yacon early in the year, we post in February if so, stay in touch 💚✌️🌿

[@mambatta]

@freedomforestlife what about mashua

[@ml.5377]

Peru here... The Andes have awesome products and they are incredibly versatile. We leave oca in the sun to make it sweeter, just like sweet potatoes. Great video!

[@geeyah7278]

Can you give us some plant names that are versatile and delicious ?

[@heikek2134]

Listing the names for those who are wondering - hope I got them right, please let me know if something isn't correct! Yacón (Smallanthus sonchifolius) Mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum) Oca (Oxalis tuberosa) Canna (Canna indica) Dahlia (Dahlia, I think all plants in this genus are edible, though they have been selected for their flowers rather than taste for decades, so not all of them are tasty) Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) Sweet potaoe (Ipomoea batatas, variety T65 grows well in cooler climate) Taro (Colocasia esculenta)

[@indigo14-d3w]

Thank you. A useful list that i keep referring to. I believe the Canna species shown in the video is C. edulis. I cant link the source but "Achira (Canna discolor),... is a close relative of the common garden canna (Canna indica) varieties that are grown for their flowers... Achira is an impressive ornamental, growing as tall as eight feet, with large, tropical looking leaves and showy flowers (although not as showy as the flowers of ornamental cannas, which are considerably larger). It also happens to produce large, edible rhizomes that can reach nearly three feet (91 cm) in length. ... Taxonomy of achira is uncertain and it seems like it might get worse before it gets better. The most recent work indicates that achira is a cultivated form of Canna discolor. The better known scientific name for achira, Canna edulis, is, therefore, a synonym. Because that is a relatively new development, you will find more information about achira by searching for C. edulis than C. discolor."

[@AndreaDingbatt]

Thank you very much again for listing all of these!!❤😊

[@AndreaDingbatt]

​@@indigo14-d3w❤ Thank You!!

[@rodhatte]

I've got a book called "Lost Crops of the Incas: Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation", that I absolutely LOVE! It can be quite expensive (I've seen it sell for over 200 pounds... Used), but I managed to source it for 50 pounds. It not only tells about which crops they grew, but also about how a people, who never went hungry, because they had more crops than all of Europe and Asia together went from never being hungry to starving, because the conquistadors deemed their crops "unchristian" and therefore devilish, and should not be cultured or eaten. I love this video. This is valuable information, that gardeners, farmers and cooks should know about.

[@sarahj2743]

Can you do some perrenial vegetable tours for cold climates? Perhaps in Scandinavia as you are in the Uk? Cold climate gardeners always searching..

[@Debbie-henri]

I grew Yacon for 2 years here in Scotland. However, I found they were very susceptible to slug damage and had to keep them in containers placed on top of galvanised wire props/bins. Oca doesn't seem to be attacked by anything much. Indeed, slugs appear to steer clear of them. From this year's harvest, only one tuber was damaged by what looks like worm damage. (I think, however, that tuber may have been a little bit rotten snyway, and the worm took advantage of that. All other tubers are intact). Here, in Scotland, where soils incline to be be very stony and wet, I found Oca does much better, producing larger tubers in a deep container of compost. Indeed, it made a very beautiful container plant for attractive greenery. I tried Sweet Potatoes here, but they were too small to bother with. I did have a Taro plant (bought as a tuber from Morrisons at a time when they were experimenting with exotic produce, but didn't offer advice how to cook it),;and it made a wonderful houseplant, tolerating a bright indoor room very well.

[@pattheplanter]

If you have a Chinese supermarket nearby, eddoes should be much happier grown outdoors than taro.

[@HadassahHaman]

O.M.G.!!!! Incredible video! Such lovely people with an incredible garden! Thank you for sharing...😊 ❤🫑🥬🍓❤🫛🥔🧅🍈❤🥒🫘🫑🥬❤

[@leselle777]

Good Day. A tip. Regarding the tarrow plant. It is nutrious when you eat the tuber or dasheen as we call it and also the stem and leaves are edible. You peel the stems, wash both stems and leaves to make stauted veg with oil and aromatics or you make callallo by adding ocroes, pumpkin, aromatics, coconut milk and blend everything into a green mash after it is cooked of course....eat it over rice. Thank you and have fun.

[@rawforyou5514]

Fantastic information. Would like to see a follow up, later on!!!

[@kerryl4031]

Love yacon but mine never got that big or lush - they were eaten by slugs and then wasps were chewing the base of the stems! How super that food forest is! Thank you.

[@JenniferLavenderPhotography]

Fascinating! What a gorgeous place! So smart!

[@HuwRichards]

Very!!

[@carolturner3850]

Yacon and Jerusalem artichokes ferment well too, I add garlic or ginger or lemon in a 4% brine

[@andreahorsch286]

Love growing sweet potatoes and im zone 6. Actually had our first poblem with the stems being eaten by deer this year. Consisering how to improve our fencing next year.

[@Firevine]

It's interesting to hear of where I live, known for brutal heat, getting as cold or colder than Wales. Here in the state of Georgia, it's been getting below that -5C/23F mark pretty regularly. Lows as low as -13C/7F a couple of years ago even. It's made gardening...interesting when we're 85F one day and 21F the next. I tried Yacon and Oca this past year. Neither took well to the summer heat. Cannas did absolutely amazing. I planted eight smallish little rhizomes and got about 40 pounds worth of rhizomes back. Plus tons of hummingbirds flicking to them. Drove the cats crazy. 😂

[@BaronShawThiessen]

I'm in the mid ga area. Yeah Cannas do well, but I'm interested in the oca. Do you know a variety that works for us?

[@Firevine]

@@BaronShawThiessen I do not. This was my first time trying. I'm definitely going to give it another go.

[@rashadeemiller6910]

All my favourites 😋🌱🌿💚!!!!

[@DeeplyRootedGarden]

what a incredible garden, think i need to add yacon to my planner for next year 😀

[@jillbeans1573]

So interesting Thank you

[@kiwichocaholic]

sweet potatoes or kumera as we call them are yummy roated, mashed or made into fries. Great in soups to. Yams (the bright red/orange tubers) are yummy in stir fry as well...I thinly slice them. I have also cooked them in orange juice & honey...love them roasted. The leaves are very tasty to eat and can put in salads.

[@trilliarobinson7862]

Try growing Jicama - I've had some success in my Auckland garden. They produce a tuber which can be munched on raw, with a slight apple flavour. They are a climbing vine, so best grown at the back of a border, up a trellis, or where there is room for them to trail. Also Caigua - bad crop last year, but good the year before ! Another climber, this time producing curious little curled prickly fruit. They can be eaten raw, with a pea-like taste, used in stir-fries, or pickled.

[@rosedoucet2188]

Now to find a variety that can survive winter in Atlantic Canada 😁

[@bloodlove93]

look into a greenhouse? vevor has small ones...or just live somewhere better.

[@evanopenshaw8452]

@@bloodlove93 those prices seem too good to be true, have you owned one?

[@tinnerste2507]

I'd love to hear some ideas too I get to -10 regularly and a few weeks in the year -20 Cole varieties die more winters than not in my climate. I can grow a ton of different alliums and potatoes survive if planted deep and covered in mulch also sun chokes do well . They don't produce, much but day lilies taste great and come up in February . I can't build a greenhouse because I have a historical protected property. Im keen to try more hotbeds as I have a couple cows.

[@WeAreAllOneNature]

I think jerusalem artichoke is your best bet. Tough as nails.

[@smikewz]

love my sunchokes. recently i was gifted a bunch of Macha tubers, so hope i can keep them frost free to plant in the spring.

[@miimo_channel]

phenomenal job yet again 🫶

[@julieteveee]

I would add a note and a caution regarding Jerusalem artichokes or sunchokes; 1. They are better tasting certain times of year and 2. they ARE yummy but don't eat too many at once especially if you are not used to them, they are also jokingly called "fartichokes" if your biome isn't accustomed to digesting them they can cause substantial gas!

[@davidshinn6501]

Well that's interesting.I now realise that strange plant I see growing on my Madeira visits is Taro. Every day's a school day.

[@Sim_JFD]

Can't spell incredible without edible!

[@RawLondonGardener]

Interesting video, top stuff 👍🏽

[@helenalderson6608]

I've been growing yacòn for a few years. I got a rhizome and planted it in a container. I'll harvest a tuber when needed for a salad and periodically harvest everything and divide the rhizome and propagate new plants. They need more rain/water in the summer. We have dry summers and wet winters (10a -Style, mild winter, rare frost), so they need support during the dry months. Mine flourish in the winter

[@The_Argent]

Older, tougher sweet potato vines and leaves also make excellent pig and chicken food.

[@hoosierpioneer]

Could you please list the proper spelling of each, and with scientific name if possible? I want to source these correctly. Thank you.

[@heikek2134]

Yacón (Smallanthus sonchifolius) Mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum) Oca (Oxalis tuberosa) Canna (Canna indica) Dahlia (Dahlia, I think all plants in this genus are edible, though they have been selected for their flowers rather than taste for decades, so not all of them are tasty) Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) Sweet potaoe (Ipomoea batatas, variety T65 grows well in cooler climate) Taro (Colocasia esculenta)

[@dodgygoose3054]

@@heikek2134 Thank you

[@rumi885]

It would indeed be useful because the names are all different in each country yet are the same plant. Also, I don’t understand why some plants/seeds just aren’t available or importable in my country (Belgium)

[@nixnox4852]

I'll also add that lists also help non-native speakers know what spelling to use to search

[@AndreaDingbatt]

​@@heikek2134❤Thank You very Much!!😊

[@derekmorris7128]

I wonder if they have tried Apios americana, also known as ground nut or hopness? It is a quite cold hardy vining plant native to most of the eastern US and produces tubers that taste like a cross of potato and peanut. It was also used by native Americans just like the jerusalem artichoke.

[@davidmundy-ig1nb]

Wonderful

[@TheSquidworm]

The oca is also yummy halved and fried in a pan. They're popular in NZ

[@cherylhowker1792]

Thanks hew, started to follow these lovely people about a month ago and nan what they do is amazing in my eyes, so much and so much I would like to learn. We did sweet potatoes this year and I’m very happy with what I got that I’ll be planting them again next year. The others my issue would be the unknown texture/taste and how to use. May be worth looking into the yacon tho. That looked good in my option and the white one before, can’t remember the name

[@KK-FL]

Here in Florida we have a “weed” called Florida betony that has edible tubers. It’s so great for the bees too. I let it grow anywhere it wants to.

[@EarthedUp]

Stachys floridiana? We grow stachys affinis, which I think is very similar.

[@KK-FL]

@@EarthedUp yep, that's the one!

[@bearsbreeches]

Many thanks (i lost my yakon) will try again

[@anishahuemer1728]

hearing so much about edible plants from all over the world - although it is interesting - it makes me think about which one could be the next invasive neophyt in my region. just feel quite unsure about it ...

[@HuwRichards]

I think it's good to be cautious but also people worry too much about "Invasive" - particularly as none of these sucker or really set seed

[@mmmp5kw3]

Hi Huw, really enjoyed the video as usual. I was wondering if you could give any advice on growing shallots from seed you have saved. I’ve been growing my own garlic and shallots saved from the seed of the year before for around 6 years now. My garlic gets better and better each year I save it, where as my shallots have gotten smaller and smaller each year to the point where I’m going to have to re-buy sets for the first time in 6 years. Is this something that tends to happen with saving your own shallot as seed or have you have more enduring success with saving your own shallots for seed? If you have any experience to share on this I would be most grateful.

[@tacticalpoet]

Hope you coped ok in the storm, I'm aware of the power cuts and fallen trees around Aberystwyth

[@قناةطبخالمغربيالاصيل]

مسبرة موفقةحفظك الته زرعاك 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼💚💚💚🌹🌹🎄🎄🎂🎂👍🏼🎈🍽🍽🍺🍺🍺

[@mambatta]

Huw I've looked on line to get some tuba for mashua to grow in my Allotment but no one seems to have it

[@HuwRichards]

I will be selling it soon, stay tuned!

[@cherylmosher6026]

How can you preserve these tubers over the winter?

[@heikek2134]

Jerusalem artichokes can be harvested fresh throughout winter until March as long as the ground isn't frozen, but they don't store well. I grew Yacon and Oca in buckets and stored the buckets in a slightly protected place, a polytunnel, garage or cool basement works well. I harvested the last Yacon tubers from buckets in the end of January. They stayed fresh surprisingly long just in a bowl on the kitchen counter. Sweet potatoes can be stored for weeks or even a few months at room temperature as well and probably even longer if you keep them in a cool place.

[@bernadettemccluskey2812]

Inspirational video! Sorry to ask, but are any of them gassy (like Jerusalem artichoke)? and do any of them spread?

[@rumi885]

My yacon sadly died last winter when we suddenly had-10degrees celcius 😢

[@MistressOP]

I wonder if you can make a tequila from yacon when distilled. I think I'm going to give yacon a try.

[@adrianwalker1242]

I like the way you think....

[@GforBee]

Yacon first plant. Not Yuca or Cassava as they are poisonous raw.

[@gardeningwithkay]

I don’t know how they can eat yacon raw, I grow yacon and each year I try to eat it raw, it’s like a laxative. The whole night I’m on the toilet emptying everything in my gut🙈😬 I even cook eat in my soups and it taste wonderful but the toilet activity afterwards is just too much 😂. The only way my body takes it is by dehydrating it into slices to boil as tea to drink.. just such a fascinating veg.

[@adrianwalker1242]

Are these readily available for purchase?

[@HuwRichards]

Some are, others less so, but are becoming increasingly common!

[@EarthedUp]

We have mashua, oca, and sunchoke tubers for sale online now. Canna isn't reliably hardy here in Derbyshire.

[@adrianwalker1242]

@EarthedUp Thank you

[@YenniHope]

I have heard, that you can't grow ocas, yacons and mashuas up in the north - because they need dark hours to produce yield. I wonder if anyone has tried growing them with covering for nights, and how punctual you need to be with them.

[@bloodlove93]

idk anything about that but shade cloth exists and is useful for many things in farming, huge range too ,something like 10-80% shade depending how much light and heat you want.

[@nicholasayres3265]

I live in West Yorkshire and grow both oca and yacon very well, together with Chinese artichoke and Jerusalem artichoke. We had a large amount of excellent tasting oca for Xmas lunch. Our oca variety has a very strong lemon taste when roasted, which is how I recommend cooking it. The oca leaves give a lemon flavour to salads, and you will have loads of them! BTW, slugs do like oca and will have a real chomp. Unfortunately oca do not store well. The yacon needs huge amounts of water and if grown in a container, the bigger the container the better. If in doubt, water your yacon.

[@YenniHope]

@ I live in Finland - we basically have no nights in summer and ocas anns yacons need dark hours to produce yield. But good to know leaves are edible too.

[@stellaluuk2713]

Squirrels are a big problem for me here in Ontario, Canada! They eat everything from potatoes and sweet potatoes to onions and garlic. No bulb or tuber is safe!

[@bloodlove93]

um...metal fencing? like chicken wire or something? my motto is if your foods being stolen then you aren't trying hard enough to secure it. repellents sound or light auto activated alarms nets fences traps poison etc etc...there's innumerable options to protect your crop,even from gophers and moles with tubers if you try. just think and go shopping, find something to cover the area and protect it. or have an open garden and let nature take what it likes and you keep remaining...i prefer leaving wildlife to live as it has before my food appeared, id rather eat or sell my produce personally vs losing it to animals that survived just fine and now only prefer my tastier food as opposed to their old diet....I'm not growing to make random animals meals tastier sorry not sorry.

[@thenextpoetician6328]

info that zone 4a gardens can't benefit from. ;) Fun to watch though.

[@paulagoddard7078]

What a shame there weren't eight UK native, or at least European, plants. Could have included parsley roots for example.

[@FuzzyHealing-td7cn]

yes this video is great BUT...... .... where do we buy Taro and Sweet Potato that will grow well in the UK? ..... and what about the canna??, and which dhalia do they recommend? Yacon, oca, mashua and jerusalem artichokes are relatively easy to find in comparison.... Why don't they sell the ones they find that work? That could be a good source of income Also they need a much better photographer for their gardening business, those images on their website really are not a good advert But why not focus on distributing strains and landraces that they have found work well here in the UK I really hope they read this - can someone forward it to them? i can't use the freedom forest life contact form because I dont use "mail" - if they put their actual email on their website, then it would be a lot easier to communicate with them directly

[@aramisortsbottcher8201]

Why did the potato win?

[@TheWizardOfTheFens]

I’m not 100% sure of introducing non native species to our eco system. History is littered with such disasters that were initially seen as being beneficial.

[@Yomanchamcru]

Better take the potatoes back then.

[@jimmyfaulkner5746]

This bloke says every sentence like hes asking a question

[@johnmorgan5495]

Huw , Please stop using the word "Bunch". You used it the other day during an interview on your Regenerative video where you said " I hear you have planted a bunch of nut trees " ! Its such childish and obviously American use of language.

[@ajb.822]

While I don't disrespect your opinion, or you for having one, as someone who comes from a heritage of criticism and pickiness, I caution against that. It's unhealthy to foster in ourselves, and to indulge in expressing it over very small things, esp. those which really aren't any of our business, draws us deeper into a very bad, imprisoning habit. "Bunch" may be slang and may be American in origen, but ultimately isn't that different than "a whole host of" or "a great many" or "quite a few", is it ? We all know what he means, and we aren't the boss of Huw... .

[@BonBin-m3b]

Huw can do what he wants

[@HuwRichards]

It's interesting how people get triggered over a bunch of different things, and you choose this😂

[@navarre7991]

What an odd bunch

[@SamSung-fp2vj]

I become fed up of people speaking American to increase their viewers... The Americans don't translate to English for the same. May be also keep in mind a lot of English speakers are not realising when they are speaking American... I have had to correct my children a few times as they have slipped up. And very annoyingly for me, americanisms come to mind often first, and I need to correct before I speak!! Many English speakers have narrowed their vocabulary over the years and the last generation or so, added in the americanisms they restrict themselves so much, sad times... Our language is full of amazing words being lost 😢 ... Back to gardening in x part of England (what the bleep are zones, we NEVER used zones!! Gardeners world of 1970s... )