We dug about ten lbs of sunchokes a couple of days ago and I am planning
on pickling a bunch of them today. The ones we pickled last year were
popular with the descendants so we will do it again.

Note: Sunchokes used to be called Jerusalem artichokes, they're native
to the United States and were a staple food for Plains Indians. Be aware
that if you plant them they are very invasive.

On Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:57:35 -0600, George Shirley
> wrote:

>We dug about ten lbs of sunchokes a couple of days ago and I am planning
>on pickling a bunch of them today. The ones we pickled last year were
>popular with the descendants so we will do it again.
>
>Note: Sunchokes used to be called Jerusalem artichokes, they're native
>to the United States and were a staple food for Plains Indians. Be aware
>that if you plant them they are very invasive.

And, if you eat them they are very repulsive (to any of the folks
around you) ;-).

Ross.

On 1/8/2012 10:49 AM, Ross@home wrote:
> On Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:57:35 -0600, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> We dug about ten lbs of sunchokes a couple of days ago and I am planning
>> on pickling a bunch of them today. The ones we pickled last year were
>> popular with the descendants so we will do it again.
>>
>> Note: Sunchokes used to be called Jerusalem artichokes, they're native
>> to the United States and were a staple food for Plains Indians. Be aware
>> that if you plant them they are very invasive.
>
> And, if you eat them they are very repulsive (to any of the folks
> around you) ;-).
>
> Ross.
Not when they're pickled Ross, no gas left in them then. Used as a food,
cooked from the raw state, yes - tremendous gastric problems, usually
gas. And very repulsive. I guess my First Nations ancestors didn't mind
that to much as they were out in the open a lot. <G>

We've not had any problems with them once they're pickled though.

How's the weather in the frozen North?

Sunny and 70F here at the moment with scattered rain showers.

George

On Sun, 08 Jan 2012 12:00:12 -0600, George Shirley
> wrote:

>On 1/8/2012 10:49 AM, Ross@home wrote:
>> On Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:57:35 -0600, George Shirley
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> We dug about ten lbs of sunchokes a couple of days ago and I am planning
>>> on pickling a bunch of them today. The ones we pickled last year were
>>> popular with the descendants so we will do it again.
>>>
>>> Note: Sunchokes used to be called Jerusalem artichokes, they're native
>>> to the United States and were a staple food for Plains Indians. Be aware
>>> that if you plant them they are very invasive.
>>
>> And, if you eat them they are very repulsive (to any of the folks
>> around you) ;-).
>>
>> Ross.
>Not when they're pickled Ross, no gas left in them then. Used as a food,
>cooked from the raw state, yes - tremendous gastric problems, usually
>gas. And very repulsive. I guess my First Nations ancestors didn't mind
>that to much as they were out in the open a lot. <G>
>
>We've not had any problems with them once they're pickled though.

We have several patches of them here on the farm and have tried them
different ways, all with the same potent results. I think we might
just try to pickle some next summer. Do you pickle them the same way
as those most wonderful of vegetables, beets (sorry Barb)? Cook, peel,
pickling liquid, BWB 30 min.?
>
>How's the weather in the frozen North?

Not very frozen. Warmest winter since record keeping began.
>
>Sunny and 70F here at the moment with scattered rain showers.

We've had a few days with temperatures up near 50ºF. Less than an inch
of snow total and none has stayed on the ground for more than a few
days. Funny thing is, the area 50 miles west of us has had over 40cm
of snow just in January. Right now here, it's 38ºF and sunny. Talking
to my neighbour yesterday and he was thinking he might have to start
cutting his lawn. The biggest problem with this weather is some of the
plants think it's spring. The buds on our lilac bushes are swelling to
bursting point and the needles on our tamarack trees have already
burst their buds. That'll wreak havoc when a big freeze does come and
I'm sure it will.

Ross.

George Shirley wrote:
> Ross@home wrote:
>> George Shirley > wrote:
>
>>> Note: Sunchokes used to be called Jerusalem artichokes, they're native
>>> to the United States and were a staple food for Plains Indians. Be aware
>>> that if you plant them they are very invasive.
>>
>> And, if you eat them they are very repulsive (to any of the folks
>> around you) ;-).
>
> Not when they're pickled Ross, no gas left in them then. Used as a food,
> cooked from the raw state, yes - tremendous gastric problems, usually
> gas. And very repulsive. I guess my First Nations ancestors didn't mind
> that to much as they were out in the open a lot. <G>

In the books that go through the journals of the Lewis and Clark
expedition there's a point where they all eat the local vegitable and
they are all sick for a couple of days. They had been on a meat-only
diet for weeks before that. I wonder if it was the fiber effects of
sunchokes?

On 1/9/2012 10:50 AM, Ross@home wrote:
> On Sun, 08 Jan 2012 12:00:12 -0600, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> On 1/8/2012 10:49 AM, Ross@home wrote:
>>> On Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:57:35 -0600, George Shirley
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> We dug about ten lbs of sunchokes a couple of days ago and I am planning
>>>> on pickling a bunch of them today. The ones we pickled last year were
>>>> popular with the descendants so we will do it again.
>>>>
>>>> Note: Sunchokes used to be called Jerusalem artichokes, they're native
>>>> to the United States and were a staple food for Plains Indians. Be aware
>>>> that if you plant them they are very invasive.
>>>
>>> And, if you eat them they are very repulsive (to any of the folks
>>> around you) ;-).
>>>
>>> Ross.
>> Not when they're pickled Ross, no gas left in them then. Used as a food,
>> cooked from the raw state, yes - tremendous gastric problems, usually
>> gas. And very repulsive. I guess my First Nations ancestors didn't mind
>> that to much as they were out in the open a lot.<G>
>>
>> We've not had any problems with them once they're pickled though.
>
> We have several patches of them here on the farm and have tried them
> different ways, all with the same potent results. I think we might
> just try to pickle some next summer. Do you pickle them the same way
> as those most wonderful of vegetables, beets (sorry Barb)? Cook, peel,
> pickling liquid, BWB 30 min.?

This URL will take you to the recipe I use, worked fine last year so
using it again this year.
>>
>> How's the weather in the frozen North?
>
> Not very frozen. Warmest winter since record keeping began.
>>
>> Sunny and 70F here at the moment with scattered rain showers.
>
> We've had a few days with temperatures up near 50ºF. Less than an inch
> of snow total and none has stayed on the ground for more than a few
> days. Funny thing is, the area 50 miles west of us has had over 40cm
> of snow just in January. Right now here, it's 38ºF and sunny. Talking
> to my neighbour yesterday and he was thinking he might have to start
> cutting his lawn. The biggest problem with this weather is some of the
> plants think it's spring. The buds on our lilac bushes are swelling to
> bursting point and the needles on our tamarack trees have already
> burst their buds. That'll wreak havoc when a big freeze does come and
> I'm sure it will.
>
> Ross.
Right now we are receiving a lot of well-needed rainfall, about two
inches so far today and more to come. We are about 40 inches behind for
2010 and 2011, maybe this year we will catch up, I hope not all at once.

I despise cold weather, I am subject to angina due to lots of heart and
cardiac system problems going back to 1987. Cold makes me hurt so I
avoid it. I wanted to retire to Belize (former British Honduras) but DW
says no, no, got to be close to descendants. Shucks, it's only a
two-hour flight from Houston, I'm sure they would want to visit us there
in the winter. <G> Used to go down there back in sixties and seventies
with a friend/client who had dual citizenship. Good hunting and fishing,
nice people, a battalion of Royal Marines and an RAF squadron to look
after the bad guys next door. Watched an House Hunters International TV
show the other day about Belize and Jeez Louise! land prices have shot
through the roof. I wish I had bought some beachfront land back in the
sixties, I would be a millionaire now. Probably could have had a real
nice garden there too.

On 1/9/2012 3:59 PM, Doug Freyburger wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
>> Ross@home wrote:
>>> George > wrote:
>>
>>>> Note: Sunchokes used to be called Jerusalem artichokes, they're native
>>>> to the United States and were a staple food for Plains Indians. Be aware
>>>> that if you plant them they are very invasive.
>>>
>>> And, if you eat them they are very repulsive (to any of the folks
>>> around you) ;-).
>>
>> Not when they're pickled Ross, no gas left in them then. Used as a food,
>> cooked from the raw state, yes - tremendous gastric problems, usually
>> gas. And very repulsive. I guess my First Nations ancestors didn't mind
>> that to much as they were out in the open a lot.<G>
>
> In the books that go through the journals of the Lewis and Clark
> expedition there's a point where they all eat the local vegitable and
> they are all sick for a couple of days. They had been on a meat-only
> diet for weeks before that. I wonder if it was the fiber effects of
> sunchokes?
I would suspect so, the Plains First Nations folk ate them a lot, along
with a lot of other native vegetation. My mother, half Cherokee, loved
"dock" in the spring, even with the boiling and dumping water and
reboiling. I never did like it myself. Dad, half Choctaw, didn't like it
either so we mutually abhorred the stuff. Mom even taught me how to
treat acorns to make meal to cook. Didn't like that either but know how
to do both if times get bad again. My ancestors were a mixture of
Eastern U.S. Native Americans and English, we have some strange cravings
due to that mixture. I have read where Plains Natives would eat the
prairie grass from the first stomach of plains bison. Seems they had
found out it had the vitamin C and other such things they needed. Need
means make do with what you have at hand I reckon.

On Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:26:56 -0600, George Shirley
> wrote:

>On 1/9/2012 10:50 AM, Ross@home wrote:

>> We have several patches of them here on the farm and have tried them
>> different ways, all with the same potent results. I think we might
>> just try to pickle some next summer. Do you pickle them the same way
>> as those most wonderful of vegetables, beets (sorry Barb)? Cook, peel,
>> pickling liquid, BWB 30 min.?
>
>This URL will take you to the recipe I use, worked fine last year so
>using it again this year.

Won't need it for a few months yet George but, there was no URL
included in the post.

Ross.

On 1/12/2012 10:47 AM, Ross@home wrote:
> On Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:26:56 -0600, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> On 1/9/2012 10:50 AM, Ross@home wrote:
>
>>> We have several patches of them here on the farm and have tried them
>>> different ways, all with the same potent results. I think we might
>>> just try to pickle some next summer. Do you pickle them the same way
>>> as those most wonderful of vegetables, beets (sorry Barb)? Cook, peel,
>>> pickling liquid, BWB 30 min.?
>>
>> This URL will take you to the recipe I use, worked fine last year so
>> using it again this year.
>
> Won't need it for a few months yet George but, there was no URL
> included in the post.
>
> Ross.
I never pretended to be perfect. <G> Forgot to include it. I'm currently
adapting the recipe to my own method of canning which includes the use
of Pickle Crisp versus brining.

On Jan 9, 11:31*pm, George Shirley > wrote:
> On 1/9/2012 3:59 PM, Doug Freyburger wrote:
>
> > George Shirley wrote:
> >> Ross@home wrote:
> >>> George > * wrote:
>
> >>>> Note: Sunchokes used to be called Jerusalem artichokes, they're native
> >>>> to the United States and were a staple food for Plains Indians. Be aware
> >>>> that if you plant them they are very invasive.
>
> >>> And, if you eat them they are very repulsive (to any of the folks
> >>> around you) ;-).
>
> >> Not when they're pickled Ross, no gas left in them then. Used as a food,
> >> cooked from the raw state, yes - tremendous gastric problems, usually
> >> gas. And very repulsive. I guess my First Nations ancestors didn't mind
> >> that to much as they were out in the open a lot.<G>
>
> > In the books that go through the journals of the Lewis and Clark
> > expedition there's a point where they all eat the local vegitable and
> > they are all sick for a couple of days. *They had been on a meat-only
> > diet for weeks before that. *I wonder if it was the fiber effects of
> > sunchokes?
>
> I would suspect so, the Plains First Nations folk ate them a lot, along
> with a lot of other native vegetation. My mother, half Cherokee, loved
> "dock" in the spring, even with the boiling and dumping water and
> reboiling. I never did like it myself. Dad, half Choctaw, didn't like it
> either so we mutually abhorred the stuff. Mom even taught me how to
> treat acorns to make meal to cook. Didn't like that either but know how
> to do both if times get bad again. My ancestors were a mixture of
> Eastern U.S. Native Americans and English, we have some strange cravings
> due to that mixture. I have read where Plains Natives would eat the
> prairie grass from the first stomach of plains bison. Seems they had
> found out it had the vitamin C and other such things they needed. Need
> means make do with what you have at hand I reckon.

Is there somewhere to find out about the various things that were
eaten then, how they were prepared and so on? Google got me nowhere.


NT

On 1/20/2012 5:20 AM, NT wrote:
> On Jan 9, 11:31 pm, George > wrote:
>> On 1/9/2012 3:59 PM, Doug Freyburger wrote:
>>
>>> George Shirley wrote:
>>>> Ross@home wrote:
>>>>> George > wrote:
>>
>>>>>> Note: Sunchokes used to be called Jerusalem artichokes, they're native
>>>>>> to the United States and were a staple food for Plains Indians. Be aware
>>>>>> that if you plant them they are very invasive.
>>
>>>>> And, if you eat them they are very repulsive (to any of the folks
>>>>> around you) ;-).
>>
>>>> Not when they're pickled Ross, no gas left in them then. Used as a food,
>>>> cooked from the raw state, yes - tremendous gastric problems, usually
>>>> gas. And very repulsive. I guess my First Nations ancestors didn't mind
>>>> that to much as they were out in the open a lot.<G>
>>
>>> In the books that go through the journals of the Lewis and Clark
>>> expedition there's a point where they all eat the local vegitable and
>>> they are all sick for a couple of days. They had been on a meat-only
>>> diet for weeks before that. I wonder if it was the fiber effects of
>>> sunchokes?
>>
>> I would suspect so, the Plains First Nations folk ate them a lot, along
>> with a lot of other native vegetation. My mother, half Cherokee, loved
>> "dock" in the spring, even with the boiling and dumping water and
>> reboiling. I never did like it myself. Dad, half Choctaw, didn't like it
>> either so we mutually abhorred the stuff. Mom even taught me how to
>> treat acorns to make meal to cook. Didn't like that either but know how
>> to do both if times get bad again. My ancestors were a mixture of
>> Eastern U.S. Native Americans and English, we have some strange cravings
>> due to that mixture. I have read where Plains Natives would eat the
>> prairie grass from the first stomach of plains bison. Seems they had
>> found out it had the vitamin C and other such things they needed. Need
>> means make do with what you have at hand I reckon.
>
> Is there somewhere to find out about the various things that were
> eaten then, how they were prepared and so on? Google got me nowhere.
>
>
> NT
Mother Earth News and the Firefox Journals will help out. My knowledge
is from my ancestors and I have passed it down to my descendants.

The gas comes from sugar molecules which don't get digested until low
in the gut where they produce the gas. I forget if they are the short
or the long sugar molecules which do that. Same ones in beans. I wrote
to Agricutoure Canada a few years ago suggesting they select for low
occurance of the offending sugar to produce a strain which does not
cause gas. It would be a good cheap foodsource. I have them in my yard
and like to nibble. They can be dug up in spring and eaten after the
frost is out of the ground and there is nothing else to eat.