Logo primary
Logo secondary
Denver Berth Gardens
Denver Berth Gardens
Details
Commenced:
01/06/2013
Submitted:
04/08/2015
Last updated:
11/02/2016
Location:
2815 S. Cook St., Denver, Colorado, US
Phone:
8155357387
Website:
https://www.facebook.com/IntelligentRebellion2015
Climate zone:
Cool Temperate





My Projects

(projects i'm involved in)


Followers
Amanda Macon Emily Goeke Marina Maillo Palma Michael Tiffe Sara Elbohy

Back to Denver Berth Gardens

Jerusalem Artichoke - Real Deal Resilient

Project: Denver Berth Gardens

Posted by John Lee about 8 years ago

   A consistent goal in my gardens is lining or boxing in any growing spaces with perennial borders.  This helps reduce soil and water erosion, provides a grass and weed barrier to the growing plots, and improves levels of organic matter in the soil in and around the beds.  Not only that, but it creates much less work from season to season as these plants mature and leave less room (and need) for annual crops and tilling.

   Some of you may be familiar with Jerusalem artichokes (or as I call them, J'arts), but 2015 was my first season growing them and today I turned out a 9" square area about 4" deep in one of the three areas I planted.  

   In Spring 2015, I picked up a single, small J'art tuber with three lobes to it from the the Growhaus' Seed Swap.  Going with my intuition and against the advisement of the urban farmer from whom I'd received the tuber, I split it into three nubs to plant in three different areas.

   To my elation, all three sprouted and put on a beautiful 6'-7' stalk of sunflowers with a peculiar, spicy smell I can't describe, but it is a welcome note in the palate of scents about the garden.  Only one of three planted areas were dug up today, but the yield shocked me!  One (0.5 oz or so) portion of a tuber formed a complex, tangled mass of tubers in it's first season, weighing 2 lbs 11.7 oz.

   If the other two planted areas yield similarly, I will have just shy of 8 lbs from a 1.5 oz first year planting, or over 8500% gain in weight in the first year.  If that percentage sounds impossible to you, it does to me too!  Although at a recent Restoration Agriculture workshop with Mark Shepard, a guest speaker named Wayne Dorband, Dr. of Ecolonomics, discussed research into different steppe climate crops and their economic viability in ecologically-sound farming systems - can you guess what crop he named as the victor for land production?  Jerusalem artichoke.

   J'arts are 10% protien and contain inulins which are polymer chains of fructose molecules (sugar)...  I know, so boring.  Fructose happens to perform two functions really well though, both of which might be of interest to you.  1) Unlike Sucrose, fructose can be processed easily by diabetics, particularly those with type 2 diabetes.  2) Inulin (and fructose) are concentrated sugars which makes them sweet, but prime energy stores to survive cold weather.  This is the reason J'arts are so cold climate hardy and thus a prime option for cold climate permies and gardeners.

   The real kicker is that this plant asked nothing of me whatsoever.  The particular plant whose tubers were harvested today had grass, violets, violas, and lilac invading the root zone from one direction, while boxed in from the other direction by perennial oregano and bee balm, with arugula seeded as ground cover directly over the tuber zone which to my delight looks to have perennialized.  The hardiness of all of these plants can be attributed to my tough love gardening.  Sage, thyme, lavender, and moss rose are all new additions to this garden edge, just on the other side of the bee balm, who seem to be happy and snug as well.

   Some folks' jaws drop when I tell them how little I care for plants that NEED care.  If you are like me and want to plant, then (other than enjoying observing growth) pretty much forget about it until harvest comes along, J'arts or Jerusalem artichoke are a resilience winner!

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to comment.

Courses Taught Here!
Project Badges
Urban Residential Community Demonstration Educational
Administrators
John Lee - Admin
Team Members

Report Denver Berth Gardens

Reason:

or cancel

Hide Denver Berth Gardens

Reason:

or cancel

Hide Jerusalem Artichoke - Real Deal Resilient

Reason:

or cancel

Legend of Badges

Note: The various badges displayed in people profiles are largely honesty-based self-proclamations by the individuals themselves. There are reporting functions users can use if they know of blatant misrepresentation (for both people and projects). Legitimacy, competency and reputation for all people and projects can be evidenced and/or developed through their providing regular updates on permaculture work they’re involved in, before/after photographs, etc. A spirit of objective nurturing of both people and projects through knowledge/encouragement/inspiration/resource sharing is the aim of the Worldwide Permaculture Network.

Member

Member

A member is a permaculturist who has never taken a PDC course. These cannot become PDC teachers. Members may be novice or highly experienced permaculturists or anywhere in between. Watch their updates for evaluation.

Male memberFemale member

Permaculture Matchmaker

One of these badges will show if you select your gender and the "I'm single, looking for a permaculture partner" option in your profile.

unverified

PDC

People who claim to have taken a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course somewhere in the world.

verified

PDC Verified

People who have entered an email address for the teacher of their PDC course, and have had their PDC status verified by that teacher. Watch their updates for evaluation.

pri_verified

PRI PDC

People who’ve taken a Permaculture Research Institute PDC somewhere in the world.

pdc_teacher

PDC Teacher

People who claim to teach some version of PDC somewhere in the world.

pri_teacher

PRI Teacher

With the exception of the ‘Member’ who has never taken a PDC, all of the above can apply to become a PRI PDC Teacher. PRI PDC Teachers are those who the PRI recognise, through a vetting board, as determined and competent to teach the full 72-hour course as developed by Permaculture founder Bill Mollison – covering all the topics of The Designers’ Manual as well as possible (i.e. not cherry picking only aspects the teacher feels most interested or competent in). Such teachers also commit to focussing on the design science, and not including subjective spiritual/metaphysical elements. The reason these items are not included in the PDC curriculum is because they are “belief” based. Permaculture Design education concerns itself with teaching good design based on strategies and techniques which are scientifically provable.

PRI PDC Teachers may be given teaching and/or consultancy offerings as they become available as the network grows.

pri_teacher

Aid Worker

The individual with this badge is indicating they are, have, or would like to be involved in permaculture aid work. As such, the individual may or may not have permaculture aid worker experience. Watch their updates for evaluation.

pri_teacher

Consultant

The individual with this badge is indicating they are, have, or would like to do paid permaculture design consultancy work. As such, the individual may or may not have permaculture consultancy experience. Watch their updates for evaluation.

community

Community Project

Community projects are projects that help develop sustainable community interaction and increase localised resiliency.

Report Jerusalem Artichoke - Real Deal Resilient

Reason:

or cancel