by oowolf » Tue 21 Dec 2004, 18:27:09
For survival in northern US I recommend: Salsify-a biennial that winters over. Has more protein than potato. Burdock another biennial, same nutritionally as potato, winters over but tends to get woody 2nd year. You can't kill it. Jerusalem Artichoke-an "invasive" perennial, produces knobby potato-like tubers. Naturalizes and needs only occasional thinning. Tubers don't store long, dig as needed. Scorzonera SCORTZ-A-NEERA -an eastern European root perennial will grow for 5 years, winters over and can be dug anytime-even in spring/early summer when few other crops are available. A great survival crop, grows looong so needs deep loose soil. The skin has to be removed. Mangel-wurzel-a neglected biennial in the beet family. Somewhay insipid taste but roots get huge, grow on the surface like beets, and winter over in the ground. Perennial Russian Kale-get from Peters Seed Research-Most plants will not winterkill, but will return for up to 5 years. These are all EASY to grow, in fact they all will escape into the wild and thrive there.