Oca Harvested

Last week we had a day that was warmer than it had been in the previous days, I think it got as high as 7°C. Compared to the weather we've had it was almost tropical. The temperature had dropped below freezing on several occasions and as a result the tops of my oca plants have died off, so it was a perfect time to harvest them! If you haven't heard of oca then here is the Wikpedia link.

Oca is a crop from South America that forms tubers under ground that grow when the days start getting shorter. If I had to compare it to anything it would have to be the potato even though it does have it's own taste. It can also be eaten raw and has a slight sweet flavour and crisp, almost radish like, texture. In this years crop the tubers are much smaller than last year and as a result I doubt that much of it will reach the table, although I will have plenty stored to plant out next year. I have also purchased another South American tuber crop called Yacón to grow next year, which will probably be the feature of one of my next posts