2023 Preorders ship late Fall, 2023. Back by popular demand for those planning ahead of the winter rush. Get them while they last!
Sunflower relative indigenous to North America that produces beautiful yellow flowers and an edible, potato-like tuber highly prized by chefs worldwide. Shiawasee is an early flowering and fruiting variety averaging 8-10 ft. tall, selected from the wild along a stream in central Michigan. Produces medium-sized long, thin tubers that are easy to harvest, growing just under the soil's surface. With thin brown (edible) “skins” and very few nobs, the tubers are easy to clean taste delicious. Sweetest in Spring. USDA hardiness zones 3-9.
You may also like the varieties "Waldspinel" and "Manitoba."
IMPORTANT:
Timing and climate matter. Sunchoke tubers sprout best after an extended period of moist cold storage. Sunchokes are resilient! But without this cold period, we have found that tubers we purchased from other farms in warm, dry climates never sprouted on our farm (USDA Zone 5b). We have cold winters and -- while this means our seed tuber inventory is sometimes frozen in the ground during peak availability -- it also means your sunchokes are ready to go come spring!
Customers from Northern climates with cold winters should plant tubers in-ground as soon as possible this fall and overwinter them for Spring 2024 growth.
Live in a warm-winter climate? Consider 1. refrigerating the tubers in moist (not wet) peat moss or sand for several months and checking often for signs of developing dehydration (add water) or mold (rinse, dry, and repackage) or 2. purchasing in late 2023/early 2024 (while supplies last).