oca oxalis

[sarraceniac]

I just got some seed oca oxalis. Now I know it's a bit obscure but as this forum is mainly about veggies I wondered if anybody had grown it. The only info I got was 'plant after all frost and don't harvest until late November or early December.' Any veg experts on here know anything else about it, apart from the fact that it is Peruvian. (Google told me that but I don't fancy going up the Andes to plant it. )

[Snadger]

There you go sarraceniac!

Oca (Oxalis Tuberosa), a vegetable tuber crop from the Andes (known as Yam in New Zealand)

Chinese artichoke is it's other name if I remember rightly? Never heard of growing it from seed though as it's usually propagated by mini tubers, a bit like it's bigger cousin the Jerusalem Artichoke!

[zazen999]

From seed...interesting. I grew it this year - tasted ok but you need alot of tubers to make anything worth cooking. They are really small. I don't think we get long enough summers to make it worthwhile - more's the pity

They do set seed, rarely apparently. I grew mine from tubers but for the same space, i'd get about 10kg if not more of spuds - so I won't be growing it again.

[sarraceniac]

I said I got some seed oca oxalis not I got some oca oxalis seed. Lol. Just as seed potatoes are potatoes used for seeding (i.e. other potatoes) so I assumed that seed oca oxalis means tubers for seeding. Potatoes also set seed I understand but I never heard of anybody actually trying to grow from them. Thanks for the information Snadger and Zazen, I do have loads of room and according to the web site you found Snadger (which will be very useful), they are quite decorative, so I shall look forward to trying them. I'm bored with spuds anyway. Just sorry that they don't crop heavier.

[Seahorse]

I tried some last year but without great success. However, I still think they're an interesting crop and shall persist. If it helps at all, I got a better (if still minimal!) yield in my sheltered town garden than on either my more exposed lotttie or in my warm greenhouse.

[Snadger]

......... Potatoes also set seed I understand but I never heard of anybody actually trying to grow from them...............

You have now!

There's a few of us on the vine doing a bit of experimenting with 'real' potato seed this year!

Sorry for the confusion sarraceniac!

[sarraceniac]

Looks like I found the right forum for my new projects with veggies. Never could get a palm to fruit anyway, lol.

[Two_Sheds]

Oca (Oxalis tuberosa) - Comes from S. America. At least as hardy as the potato and grown in a similar way except it doesn't need to be earthed up and does not suffer all the diseases that potatoes do.
The tubers do not form till autumn so yields can be low if you get early hard frosts, unless you protect the plants.
When freshly harvested the tubers have a pleasant acid-lemon flavour and can be eaten raw or cooked. By storing them in the light, the tubers become sweet and some varieties in S. America become so sweet that they are eaten as a fruit.



Stachys affinis, Chinese Artichoke (from China, and part of the mint family)
Quite a pleasant mild flavour and easily digested, but fairly small and fiddly. A nutty artichoke-like flavour it can be eaten raw on its own, be added to salads or be lightly cooked. Yields are about 1kg per square metre. A famine food, they are only used when all else fails.
The tubers are very hardy and can be left in the ground over winter. It is virtually impossible to find all the tubers, and they begin to sprout at about 5°c. Plants take 5 - 7 months to develop their tubers, so start them early.



Stachys affinis - Plants For A Future database report

[Snadger]

It appears I'm getting my oxalis and ny stachys mixed up! Look similar though!

[zazen999]

And again...

If my Oca tubers were half as big as those in the picture - I'd be growing them every year.

Perhaps I'll try some in the more sheltered, less clayey soil out near the canal...the lottie is heavy clay and not sheltered at all. I'll report back in a year or so!

[sarraceniac]

Clay is what worries me. When I first moved here I bought a load of decent topsoil and have regularly dug in organic matter. But although I now have a good foot of excellent soil, I know that about a foot down is clay. I'll just have to see what happens I think. I may container grow a couple of tubers to compare.

[sarraceniac]

Well here they are. Later than usual I think because we had a very mild November and early December. But once the frost came, it really came. I suppose they only quadrupled in volume and weight from the ones planted back in late April. As I want to keep some back for sowing this season, I have 3 times as many for eating. I was hoping to give some away but looks like they are not the world's most profuse croppers. But for grapes who keep asking what they are like on various threads, I show a piccie.

We are having a chicken and prawn stir fry with home grown veggies for dinner, even down to our own bean shoots with the noodles and I think a few of these, sliced and thrown into the wok will be a rare 'treat?'. I've munched one raw - very nice, and tried someone else's, roast with honey, beautiful, but this will be the first time I've cooked them. And, yes, I do the cooking in this house, but only because I hate cleaning.

[chriscross1966]

Must go and have a dig around for my crop next chance I get

[zazen999]

I knew there was something else I had to dig around for at the lottie.

[greasyfire]

Oca (Oxalis Tuberosa), a vegetable tuber crop from the Andes (known as Yam in New Zealand)
try this website