Jerusalem artichoke are high in vitamins A, C, B6 and fibre. Check here for detailed information from the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. 

The Canadian Food Guide recommends that roughly half of the food on your plate should be fruits and vegetables.

Jerusalem artichoke tubers should be planted into the garden in early spring. Transplants are not recommended.

They prefer cooler temperatures and can be planted well before your last expected spring frost date, as soon as soil has thawed.

• Knowing the last expected spring frost date for your location will help you plan when to sow seeds. The date is based on averages and varies according to where you live – it is as early as mid-May for Saskatoon, Estevan and Swift Current, SK, while Yellowknife is May 30 and the Moosonee region in Manitoba is June 10. Find the date of the last spring frost at this link: https://climateatlas.ca/map/canada/lastspring_baseline# Click on where you live on the map.
  
  

The average days to maturity for most Jerusalem artichoke cultivars is 130.  Shorter growing seasons will result in smaller tubers. 

• Saskatoon has around 130 frost-free days throughout the spring and summer for plants to grow. In Yellowknife, you can expect around 111 frost-free days. Check your seed package for your days to maturity or days to harvest information and compare it with your local average frost free days.
• The frost-free season is the total number of days (on average) when there is no frost. It starts on the date of the last frost in spring and ends on the date of the first frost in fall. To find out the length of the frost-free season where you live, click on this link and find your location on the map: https://climateatlas.ca/map/canada/ffp_baseline# 
• Note that these are current estimates and we expect our growing season to get warmer, longer, and drier as our climate continues to change.

Site selection

While not technically a perennial vegetable, Jerusalem artichoke tubers overwinter in cold climates. Even the tiniest bit of root left in the soil after harvest will grow the following year. They spread easily and quickly and can become a nuisance if left unchecked.  

Tubers should be contained or dug out at the end of each growing season to help prevent the plants from becoming extremely invasive. It's a good idea to select a permanent site for Jerusalem artichoke. 

Planting instructions

Tubers can either be overwintered in the soil or planted early in spring; as soon as the soil is workable. 

Plant tubers 10 cm deep, 30-35 cm apart within the row and 60-100 cm apart between rows.  Each tuber piece must have at least two eyes or buds for planting. 

Don't forget to label what you planted. It's also helpful to draw a map to help you track planting locations and success each year. This information is critical if you're rotating your crops to help prevent insect and disease issues.

There are a wide variety of named Jerusalem artichoke cultivars available however it is a challenge to find suppliers that will actually sell these named cultivars.  A general rule of thumb is that cultivated varieties tend to yield white tubers that are produced near the main stem for ease of harvest whereas wild types tend to be the reddish skinned tubers that more elongated and spread out at the base of the plant at the termination of long rhizomes. 

Some of the more common red skinned cultivars that might be available include ‘Red Fuseau’, ‘Garnet’, ‘Boston Red’, ‘Gurney’s Red’, ‘Dave’s Shrine’ and ‘Sunroot 1000’. 

White skinned cultivars include ‘Columbia’ (early maturing), ‘Challenger’ (matures mid-season) and ‘Oregon White’ (late maturing cultivar)  

‘French Mammoth White’ are knobbier than average tubers but are produced in clusters under plant. 

‘Clearwater’ tubers have fewer knobs and are relatively long. 

The Jerusalem artichoke known as ‘Sugar Ball’ produces tubers that are nearly knob-free. 

‘Skorospelka’ is a Jerusalem artichoke originating in Russia that has large fat knobby tubers concentrated under the plant which is desirable for ease of harvest.

More on-line seed suppliers are offering Jerusalem artichokes as are some local greenhouses and seed suppliers. 

Jerusalem artichokes can sometimes be found at local farmers markets. 

Hill plants once they reach 30cm in height: this will help provide stability to the stem. 

Once plants have emerged, mulch the area around the plant with straw to help conserve moisture, reduce weed growth and regulate soil temperature.  Extremely high soil temperatures reduce yields. 

To optimize tuber production, we recommended cutting stems back to 1.5m in late summer and removing flower heads.  In this way, excess water and nutrients will not be lost to top growth but will be focused on bulking up tubers.  

One Jerusalem artichoke plant yields approximately 400g (1 lb)/plant, depending on the cultivar.  Like potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes respond well to nitrogen fertilizer.  However, over-fertilizing Jerusalem artichokes will encourage excessive top growth and compromise tuber production.  Top dressing plants in early spring with compost or well-rotted manure at least every two years will provide adequate fertility.

Actively growing Jerusalem artichokes prefer 2.5 cm moisture/week in well-drained soils.

Jerusalem artichokes are grown from tubers not seeds. Fall planting tubers works well.

Although Jerusalem artichokes need 130 days to maturity, they can still be grown in a shorter growing season. 

They are very tolerant of cold, so to get an early start on spring planting, pre-warm your soil once the snow has melted by laying a sheet of clear plastic on top of the soil to warm the soil. Studies show that clear plastic works better than black plastic to warm soil. Be sure to anchor the edges so the plastic does not blow away. Remove the plastic before planting.

See our preservation section for more videos.

Origin of the name Jerusalem Artichoke:

Samuel de Champlain, a French explorer to North America, wrote in 1603 that Algonquin Indians “served cultivated roots that tasted like artichokes.”  It is traditionally accepted that the ‘artichoke’ part of the name comes from the flavour.  The origin of the ‘Jerusalem’ part of the name is more complex.  It is possible that ‘Jerusalem’ is a twisted form of the Italian word for sunflower, ‘girasole’, thereby referring to the flowers of this plant.  A second theory is that the Jerusalem part of the name originated in France.    Around the same time that this “new food” was being introduced into France, there was great interest in an exhibition that had been put on in France by a group of Brazilian people from the Topinambous tribe.  In order to stir up interest in the “Canada potato”, the name of ‘topinambour’ was adopted to refer to this new vegetable.  At some point in history, ‘topinambour’ was mistaken for ‘Jerusalem’.  A third theory about the history of Jerusalem in the name relates back to a 17th century gardener named Petrus Hondins of Ter-Heusen, Holland.  It was from Ter-Heusen that the ‘Canada potato’ was first introduced into England in 1617.  The corruption of the word ‘Ter-Heusen’ may have been the origin of Jerusalem.  Finally, the Jerusalem name could simply be a word that originated with early pilgrims in the United States who referred to their new home as ‘new Jerusalem’.  The origin of the name may be a mystery but two things are certain; Jerusalem artichokes do not originate from the Jerusalem area nor are they botanically related to the artichoke.

Seed saving is not recommended.

Jerusalem artichoke plants flower abundantly but seldom set seed.  This is because Jerusalem artichoke is self-incompatible and needs another compatible variety to set seeds. We have no information about compatible cultivars at this time.

Use a garden fork to loosen the soil deeply near the plants and then pull the plant from the soil. The tubers will be attached to the main stem. This task is easier if you hilled your Jerusalem artichokes earlier in the season.

The skin of vegetables protects it from bacteria. If you intend to store your Jerusalem artichoke, store only the ones that have not been damaged during harvest and eat or cook those that were cut or heavily scuffed.

Once harvested, you can knock the soil off the tubers for long term storage. Don't scrub the tubers as the soil will scratch the protective coating. For long term cold storage, you can store them "dirty". If you want to store them in the fridge, soak your tubers in the sink until you can gently rub off the dirt.

Ideal storage conditions for Jerusalem artichoke are 0˚C at 90-95% relative humidity.  Jerusalem artichoke tubers are thin-skinned and do not store well unless kept moist in a root cellar or bagged in the refrigerator.  Harvested tubers should be refrigerated for short term storage.   

For long term storage, tubers store best if kept in moist sand in a cool place.  Tubers should not be washed prior to storage as the skin is easily damaged.  Any damage to the outer skin will encourage moisture loss, disease invasion and tuber rot. 

• See our cold storage page for detailed advice on finding a suitable storage location and choosing storage methods

Other preservation methods we recommend include freezing, fermenting, dehydrating (drying) or canning.

• Download entire series here

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