Photo by Radix of a selection of Andean Root Crops
There are few plant people whom I admire more than Radix Rhizowen so I was giddy when he agreed to let me grill him about his hobby of growing and eating rare root crops. I'm pretty sure that the first time I encountered this intrepid unearther of all things tuberous was when I was googling something like oca. I was transported into the hilarious, well researched and fascinating world of his blog radix4roots.
For a floraphile like myself, it is highly enabling and I disappeared down the rabbit hole of his tales for as long as my children would permit. I was also compelled to try and source some of these fascinating roots for myself - no easy task. Crops like oca, yacon (which spell check keeps trying to change to bacon by the way) and the Apios are just not commonly grown and those examples are of more well known rare root crops. However, in 2013, there were posts on Nephrolepsis cordifolia - a fern with edible tubers, Aandegopin, and Soh-phlang. That's not to leave out Mashua - the marmite of roots - as he calls it owing to its mixed taste reviews.
So where does this intrepid root explorer reside? Radix over to you.
Ulluco from radix4roots and a related article Crap Crop of the Incas: My on-off-on affair with high altitude Andean crops
So where does this intrepid root explorer reside? Radix over to you.
I garden on the outskirts of Liskeard, a small town close to the
edge of Bodmin Moor, which is in Cornwall, the most southerly county in the UK.
We're at about 50 N, but the weather is mild due to the presence of the Gulf
Stream. Mild is, of course, a relative term and it can be cool and wet on any
day of the year. The defining characteristic of our climate is its
unpredictability, although it usually rains a lot. Grass often grows year round
in Cornwall and there is even a little tea cultivated here.
Radix4roots - Whoopee for Wapato
Radix4roots - Whoopee for Wapato
I've always enjoyed growing plants and eating has an enduring
fascination for me, so exploring the world of edible plants is just a
combination of these two powerful themes in my life. Root crops are among the
most satisfying crops to grow - something about excavating them is like
unearthing buried treasure - that denouement never loses its appeal for me.
Unearthing roots is probably an instinctive behavior; there's some evidence to
suggest that the harvesting (and cooking) of wild roots and played an important
role in human evolution.
Reading your blog is
like taking a botanical world tour. Would you say that there was a region that
has given you more material and if so why?
I would have to say South America. The range of edible roots
tubers cultivated there seems to me to be outstanding. Anyone who is familiar
with the book 'Lost Crops of the Incas' will be aware of this. Although my
interest in Andean root and tuber crops predates its publication, it certainly
did nothing to divert me from my chosen path. That said, there are many
fascinating species lurking in Asia, Africa and elsewhere that deserve further
investigation. I subscribe to the view that one should do the necessary
research and try and match the plant to one's growing conditions, but you don't
know until you've tried: prepare to be surprised on a regular basis. Plants and
their unknowable antics are the perfect antidote to smug self-congratulation. I
wouldn't have it any other way.
Ulluco from radix4roots and a related article Crap Crop of the Incas: My on-off-on affair with high altitude Andean crops
In the A-Z of roots
that you have grown, what would you say is your most and least (can I guess)
favourite, as well as the rarest and strangest root you’ve grown? Any
surprising success or failures?
My list of favourites fluctuates with what has currently caught
my interest. During oca season, I become ocasessive and as I hunt for the
seedling volunteers; I actually find I can see them before my eyes as I go to
sleep. Now that oca seed production has been cracked, it can only be a matter
of time before a day-neutral plant turns up. When it does, oca's future will be
assured and I'll probably move on to pastures new. .
Radix4roots - Mauka: Expansa by name, Expansive by Nature
Radix4roots - Mauka: Expansa by name, Expansive by Nature
I like mauka for its sheer rarity, rather unusual plant
architecture and surprisingly hardy disposition. It doesn't taste too bad
either. Ulluco almost never fails to frustrate and disappoint. I’d love to have
another go with anchote (Coccinia abyssinica) as it grew surprisingly well in
an appalling summer and seemed to tuberise at a sensible time. My dream is to create a properly reliable,
hardy, cool weather tolerant sweetpotato. Correction: that's one of my dreams.
Why do you think
this sort of amateur plant experimenting and development is important?
Amateurs (read enthusiasts) can make progress by collaborating
to create new crops and sharing their successes and methods with like-minded
individuals, wherever they may be. Take oca - growing several thousand plants
from seed is well within the realms of possibility and will certainly increase
the likelihood of a day-neutral mutant turning up. A group of enthusiasts can
share this burden and participants can enjoy the fruits (or roots) of their
collective labours.
Radix4roots - Yacon: Don't try this at home
Radix4roots - Yacon: Don't try this at home
This must surely be a golden age for motivated amateurs to develop
new varieties and domesticate new crops. How their efforts are to be protected
from hostile expropriation remains to be seen.
What project is
capturing your imagination at present?
I suppose oca is. Other
interests are hybridizing squashes and developing reliable chillies for our
climate.
My aim is to have a wonderfully rich, diverse and productive
suite of crops that will thrive here with minimum intervention. Nothing new or
original in that, but I suspect that in the future we'll need a wider range of
food plants as climatic fluctuations make old stalwarts less reliable. This may
involve developing new varieties of old crops (like oca) or domesticating new
ones. There's no point waiting for
commercial concerns to do this, we need to act now. Aside from anything else, I find this work
feeds my intellect and my imagination in a way that few other activities do.
Radix4roots - Achote: Out of Africa
Radix4roots - Achote: Out of Africa
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