Jerusalem Artichokes and other garden additions

When I was away at my last women's weekend, I was chatting with a woman I've known for a few years through my Transition Towns network (was a lovely surprise seeing her there), and we got to talking about our garden efforts. She was saying she had a load of Jerusalem Artichokes that they have been enjoying, and take minimal work to grow, and offered for me to come around and take some away. So yesterday, after feeling mostly better, the kids and I popped around to her place for a visit.

I recall finding these in my organic vegetable box a few years back. I first thought they were ginger root, but upon snapping a piece off I realised it wasn't. A phone call to my mum had her IDing it in one of her vegetable encyclopedia type books.

I found this interesting article that has a good explanation about how it grows and what conditions it likes and dislikes. I do have a suitable area in the garden where I can put them, so any tubers left behind that decide to sprout up, can do so without concern of it taking over the area. I roasted some up for dinner and will keep some for trying a few other ways and that should still leave a good amount to plant out in a wee while.

I also came away with some wild strawberries, nasturtium seeds, and miner's lettuce. Pretty rapt about having some edible ground covers to pop in.