yacon

I dug up some large tubers from one yacon plant and pruned the dead stems from another bush as they beginning to look unsightly.  In the top picture I placed a nasturrtium flower to compare the size.  The long green chilli I plucked accidentally and that will give you some idea how big the tubers are.  There are still a couple of yacon plants, with leaves looking barely alive, and in the picture there are a couple of the yellow flowers making a brave last stand before the cold send them withered and black.
The yacon needs loamy soil with plenty of humus and watering in summer.  In poor soil the plant will grow, sometimes to a metre high but will produce very small tubers.
I put aside tubers with shoots for next season.  Growing yacon is like growing dahlias. Look out for snails when the new leaves appear.  Yacon are good, baked, fried or boiled and when sliced thinly will cook quickly in a stir-fry.  It has a sweetish flavour and does well roasted with potatoes and Jerusalem artichoke.  This is a South American plant and quite rare in this country.