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Oca Harvest December 2016

dogwooddaysdogwooddays Posts: 258
in Fruit & veg

Hi, I've been harvesting my oca tubers this week and studying the 14 varieties I've been growing as a volunteer for The Guild of Oca Breeders. I'm interested to know how other people have found their oca harvests and how harvests of other tubers have been.  I'm hoping to grow mashua, ulluco and yacon in 2017 and would be grateful for any advice on these crops too.

I love oca for its amazing colours, edible leaves and tasty tubers. I've been writing about growing and harvesting my crop on my blog this week at:

https://dogwooddays.net/2016/12/16/confessions-of-an-ocaholic/

image

This is a sample of my oca harvest image

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Posts

  • dogwooddaysdogwooddays Posts: 258

    Hi, aym280, yes I roast them with only a little oil. You can eat them raw, but I'm not that keen, but they're lovely boiled or roasted, or in stir fries image

  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 7,708

    I don't know these vegetables at all. Are oca similar to jerusalem artichokes?

    Interesting website BTWimage

    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • dogwooddaysdogwooddays Posts: 258

    Thanks Topbird image They are tubers, but need to be lifted and stored inside over winter or they are likely to rot, whereas I leave my Jerusalem artichokes in over winter. They are Oxalis tuberosa rather than Helianthus tuberosus, so related to sorrel rather than sunflowers, but both are great tubers to grow in pots, garden or allotment (although I wouldn't grow JA in open ground as I find them rather invasive). Hope that helps. Oca is a lovely and cheap crop as, like JA, you can save tubers for the next year. image

  • dogwooddaysdogwooddays Posts: 258

    Hi aym280, it's from the Andes. There's a bit of history in my blog post as well as info about buying, growing and cooking :-) 

  • LauraSquirrelLauraSquirrel Posts: 24

    I grew oca for the first time this year, well I thought I was growing oca but now I'm not 100% sure as they were bigger than I thought they would be, some as long as my finger! I've only dug the first pot of 3 up so far but had way more than I expected, I roasted them in the oven and they were lovely :D Very tempted to give them a try again next year! I planted nasturtiums in the pots with them to make the pots a bit prettier and they looked lovely :)

  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 35,802

    http://www.realseeds.co.uk/unusualtubers.html

    Try that link aym

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 35,802

    Yes its been going on through the day aym.

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • dogwooddaysdogwooddays Posts: 258

    Hi, I use real seeds too - they have a lovely selection and are a great company. Do you have any photos LauraSquirrel?

  • divingbritdivingbrit Posts: 4

    My first year with Oca, planted 5 in a pot, good amount of foliage, (3ft high) harvested this week, multiplies by about X6, So not really enough to feed a family of four, but will resow in the spring .

  • dogwooddaysdogwooddays Posts: 258

    image That's why the Guild of Oca Breeders are trying to breed a heavier cropper. My crops weren't great this year, but I have had heavier crops  in the past, enough for several decent meals from 5 tubers :-) 

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