Re: [gardeners] In the Garden - January 4, 1999
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 05 Jan 1999 11:26:13 -0600
The jicama plant is a very large vine with purple flowers (some would say
blue flowers but they look purple to me) and big bean pods, it would make an
attractive ornamental trained over a trellis IMHO.. The edible part is a root
ball that is just under the surface of the ground. The hort people say that
the longer the vine lives the bigger the root on it but guess we won't find
that out. I intend to leave at least one root in the ground for next years
crop to grow from.
George
Linda Baranowski-Smith wrote:
> George wrote, in part:
>
> >The chile plants and uncovered tomatoes bit the dust last night as did
> >the jicama. Good news on the jicama, my unusual stuff to grow in 1998,
> >got fruits, veggies, or whatever they are. Scratched around yesterday
> >and found several jicama that are big as softballs. Guess the plant is a
> >viable grower for this zone (9B), which is good as we like them sliced
> >thin in stir fry and also in salads. Not bad just as a crunchy to eat.
>
> George,
>
> Jicamas are one of those things we northerners see in the stores but I
> haven't the slightest idea of how they grow. When you say "scratched
> around...and found... jicama," does this mean they grow underground?
>
> Linda (too frozen to look up the answer)
>
> Linda in NW Ohio near Toledo/Lake Erie, USDA Zone 5
> llbs@mail.glasscity.net