Just harvested the first apios americana tubers.
Also known as the groundnut or potato bean this curious vegetable is a legume and shade- tolerant climber that produces strings of edible tubers up to about 2″ long:
I bought my original pea-sized tubers from the ART in Devon two years ago and grew them up a support made of reinforcing iron bar threaded through alcethene pipe and pushed into the ground; you can then easily tie wire mesh onto the hoops which stand about 2m high. The apios had been sorely neglected and were competing for both root space and space on the wire with a vigorous climbing berry. I didn’t harvest any last year, it is recommended to give them 2-3 years to get established- the tubers grow away and you can harvest at any time of the year, which is quite an advantage.
Oikos Tree Crops in the States supply larger varieties- but the cost of a plant passport to import them is expensive (which is why I havn’t done so yet.)
I saved most of the little tubers and ate about half a dozen of the larger ones- cooked for 15 minutes, tastes like potatoes with a nice nutty flavour. Quite exciting to finally get a small harvest of this promising crop- apparently with 15% protein content. Will definitely grow more next year and take more care of them! This might also be something that you could establish on the forest garden edge to climb into trees.
Congratulations on your successful production of groundnut (= hopniss = Apios americana). I found a large patch of this plant many years ago while doing some botanical work along the banks of a large stream that flows into Lake Erie (Pennsylvania USA) at the site of an ancient Indian village. Just last week I transplanted some tubers into some clearings in a patch of woods on the campus of the college where I teach biology and sustainability studies. How long were your groundnut plants in the ground before you were able to harvest them? I have no idea what to expect, and have also planted some with yound elderberry shrubs on our college farm? Did you start your plants as tubers or seedlings grown from seeds? Mike Campbell
Hi Mike mine started from small pea-sized tubers two years ago- this was the first time I had looked at them since really, so was glad to get a crop! Good idea to try to grow them up elders- good luck and hope you get a good yield!
I’d be interested in growing these if I could source seed (cant seem to find the on ART). How far do the tuber’s spread from the plant? Should I be worried about damaging neighbouring plants when harvesting them?
Hi Wayne yes I got mine from ART a few years ago, I guess they run out fairly quickly. They are pretty slow to spread- it depends on which plants you are growing them close to- allow I guess 8-12″ for other veg, 1-2ft from woody shrubs. Definitely worth growing, but no very productive at least for a few years, so you can’t give up on spuds just yet!