Grow, Harvest, Eat Yacon on Real World Gardener

 THE GOOD EARTH How to Grow and Use Yacon: Peruvian Ground Apple <p style="font-weight:400;">Scientific Name: Smallanthus sonchifolius</p> <p style="font-weight:400;">Common Name: Yacon, Peruvian ground apple</p> <p style="font-weight:400;">Family: Asteraceae-same as daisies and sunflowers.</p> <p style="font-weight:400;">Plant Height & Width: 1.5m x 0.5m</p> <p style="font-weight:400;"> </p> <p style="font-weight:400;">If you look at the flowers they are like much smaller versions of sunflowers.</p> <p>Here’s a tuber that tastes similar to a nashi pear, looks something like sweet potato on the outside, and the sugars from it aren’t absorbed by the body.</p> <p style="font-weight:400;">Not only that, the tubers contain a lot of juice, and the sugars that make it sweet is not absorbed by the body so you can't put on the kilos! How good is that?   Then there’s the fact that it’s easy to grow, and has small flowers that resemble sunflowers and you just can’t buy it from the supermarket or fruit and veg store.</p> <p style="font-weight:400;"> </p> <a href='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qh392jK3yCywee4O8AmFhSlCbw55P5HliVy4KUa19mV7DlSVitNu9yLoeAcwOsQj8xz_xzLpLXQ7NoDbaTkgPS5NeVqFAD_MY5fnubVWPsX3aV7yRzPgMHM1nzmmRxQ2aRdIt1JtnhYkwv47Jj_uhBuAXCKX8VEDhHWZQDPCYhyytkZwTUBziIWC3A/s3121/yacon_flowers.jpg'></a> Yacon plant growing in Margaret's garden How to Grow Yacon from Tubers? <p style="font-weight:400;">Yacon has two types of tubers unlike ginger or turmeric.</p> <ul><li>The tubers that you plant are attached to the main stem and are much smaller and pinkish in colour. I planted mine in early September and October was the time that it sprouted in my Sydney garden.</li> <li>If you were to receive some brown tubers that look like a brown sweet potato, that's what you eat and not what you plant. </li> <li>The edible tubers spread from the clump sideways meaning you need at least 1/2 metre  of space to produce sizeable clumps.</li> <li>Can be planted in any district as they can withstand frost.