Oca

[chriscross1966]

Anyone else growing it this year.... I had a firkle around in my patch today and found a little tuber near the surface.... ate it raw on the spot and very nice it was too... the description of the taste as "lemony new potato" is pretty accurate but it doesn't do the texture justice.... almost as crisp as a radish though a fraction more floury.... it'll be lovely in salads raw, and I can see it being great in a stirfry ..... I'm hoping that if I find some bigger ones when I do the harvest proper that they'll turn out to roast well.... it's still got pretty much all its foliage so it'll be a while yet, you're supposed to leave it until 2 weeks after frost kills the foliage.. the plants don't die but the frost triggers it to take everything out of the top growth and shove it in the tubers so you have to wait.....

If I get a decent crop and (therefore) it's worth doing (and people are interested) I'll have some up for swaps come Christmas/New Year time....

chrisc

[zazen999]

Aye, but make that 4 weeks not 2. They really do double in size between 2 weeks after being cut down by frosts and 4.

They collapse overnight - possibly tonight might be that night!!!

[FROSTYFRECKLE]

Mine started dying back last week and on the top was a few tubers (approx 3" long) so had them last weekend, roasted. Rather tasty. Tempted to have a root around tomorrow

[chriscross1966]

Thanks fore the tip Zazen!.... So that will be Christmas then.... the family are in for a lot of homegrown veggies for variious meals....various potatos in the roasties, PFA and Welsh onions in the potato salad on boxingday, lots of pickles (onions, gherkins, picallilli, red cabbage, beetroot), looks like Oca will be on the table somewhen, there's squashes and onions aplenty in the garage, there might be a few leeks left , outside chance of some late cabbages if they're still standing and I'm praying for Brussel sprouts....but they're still a bit tiddly due to my incompetance....

chrisc

[sarraceniac]

We still haven't had a glimmer of frost in sunny Scarborough, it is the sea air. I did bury down and find a couple of tubers yesterday but they are very small. Tasty though. I just crunched them raw. But I am probably the only gardener round here who actually wants a hard frost.

[zazen999]

You'll know when they are ready - the haulms look dreadful for ages after the collapse; if you let them pretty much disintegrate then the tubers are ready.

We did have a harder frost earlier last year; and by now I think I was just ready to harvest mine.

And anyway - an hour up the lottie on Christmas Day is a delight to behold - peace and quiet and nobody else about.

[Pompeylottie]

whats Oca, 'scuse my ignorance!

[zazen999]

Growing Oca (Oxalis tuberosa) in the UK

[Jeanied]

Fab - thanks for asking the question Pompeylottie - I really want to try these next year as I love that kind of veggie and they sound really interesting to grow!

[Pompeylottie]

sounds interesting to grow, I 've just seen you can buy tubers from Real Seeds so will give it a go next year, always like to try a couple of new things every year. Thanks for the info.

[zazen999]

Well, hold your horses then! Don't buy any tubers; there will be a fair few coming out of my garden as I have 4 plants from volunteers [I sold the rest on ebay last year] and once I have them, I'll post on here and you can send me a SAE for some.