Why Jerusalem artichokes pack a real punch

Neither an artichoke, nor from Jerusalem, these bulbous tubers are easy to grow and offer pretty flowers and a delicious vegetable

As an ethnobotanist, I am forever fascinated by how we have come to eat the crops we do. Despite there being an estimated 50,000 edible plant species on Earth, most of us exist on the harvests from fewer than 100 species, meaning we are missing out on 99.8% of the options available. In fact, 60% of the calories that fuel humanity come from the seeds of just three grass species: wheat, rice and corn. Having grown and tasted hundreds of these alternative edibles, I can confirm that there are sometimes very good reasons why some just haven’t been popularised. “Edible”and “tasty” are often different things. However, once in a while there is an example of a crop that ticks all the boxes, yet remains totally undervalued. The Jerusalem artichoke is probably the easiest and most rewarding vegetable crop around – and now is a great time to get ordering them.

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Why Jerusalem artichokes pack a real punch

Neither an artichoke, nor from Jerusalem, these bulbous tubers are easy to grow and offer pretty flowers and a delicious vegetable

As an ethnobotanist, I am forever fascinated by how we have come to eat the crops we do. Despite there being an estimated 50,000 edible plant species on Earth, most of us exist on the harvests from fewer than 100 species, meaning we are missing out on 99.8% of the options available. In fact, 60% of the calories that fuel humanity come from the seeds of just three grass species: wheat, rice and corn. Having grown and tasted hundreds of these alternative edibles, I can confirm that there are sometimes very good reasons why some just haven’t been popularised. “Edible”and “tasty” are often different things. However, once in a while there is an example of a crop that ticks all the boxes, yet remains totally undervalued. The Jerusalem artichoke is probably the easiest and most rewarding vegetable crop around – and now is a great time to get ordering them.

Continue reading...

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Missing Plot 29’s healing powers | Allan Jenkins

After enforced rest for garden and gardener, it’s time to (slowly) start spring

I have been exiled from the allotment for a few weeks now in a smaller world of pain. The plot is at the top of a hill and walking steep slopes has been beyond me. The meditation medication it brings me has been unavailable. This weekend I think all that will change. Though it may involve taxis.

A garden, I think, responds to constancy and attention. Fidelity, regularity and care are what works, as in any relationship. It doesn’t do so well when these are withdrawn, no matter the sound reason or intention.

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Missing Plot 29’s healing powers | Allan Jenkins

After enforced rest for garden and gardener, it’s time to (slowly) start spring

I have been exiled from the allotment for a few weeks now in a smaller world of pain. The plot is at the top of a hill and walking steep slopes has been beyond me. The meditation medication it brings me has been unavailable. This weekend I think all that will change. Though it may involve taxis.

A garden, I think, responds to constancy and attention. Fidelity, regularity and care are what works, as in any relationship. It doesn’t do so well when these are withdrawn, no matter the sound reason or intention.

Continue reading...

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A guide to student property: Legal rights Nottingham Estate Agents

OnTheMarket looks at a few key facts for students to consider when renting their first property. Students renting self-contained accommodation from a private landlord will most likely have what is called an ‘Assured shorthold tenancy’ (AST), making the student an ‘Assured shorthold tenant’. This means the tenancy will usually last for six or 12 months […]

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Flaws and effect: Jenna Lyons’s ‘imperfect’ New York loft

Jenna Lyons, the former creative director of J Crew, uses her refurbished New York apartment to show off her love of objects with a past

Jenna Lyons, style titan and former executive creative director of J Crew, admits to a lifelong appreciation for the timeworn, which underpins her vibrant sense of design. “I love a sense of history in something. I love a patina, I love seeing someone else’s touch, or seeing a stain, or seeing a nick or a chip. Materials get soft and they get round and they change colour,” she says. This passionate embrace of imperfection can be seen throughout her three-bedroom loft in New York’s SoHo neighbourhood, which she spent two years renovating.

When she was looking for a new home, a long stint living in a Brooklyn brownstone informed her list of prerequisites – she wanted it to be all on one floor and large enough to accommodate the “main parts of life”, like cooking, eating and hanging out. “I rent the apartment downstairs as my office, but when I bought the loft above it was all open plan and hadn’t been touched in about 40 years,” recalls Lyons, who is currently working on a top-secret beauty project, designing a hotel in the Bahamas and gearing up to launch a lifestyle television series and e-commerce site in the summer.

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Flaws and effect: Jenna Lyons’s ‘imperfect’ New York loft

Jenna Lyons, the former creative director of J Crew, uses her refurbished New York apartment to show off her love of objects with a past

Jenna Lyons, style titan and former executive creative director of J Crew, admits to a lifelong appreciation for the timeworn, which underpins her vibrant sense of design. “I love a sense of history in something. I love a patina, I love seeing someone else’s touch, or seeing a stain, or seeing a nick or a chip. Materials get soft and they get round and they change colour,” she says. This passionate embrace of imperfection can be seen throughout her three-bedroom loft in New York’s SoHo neighbourhood, which she spent two years renovating.

When she was looking for a new home, a long stint living in a Brooklyn brownstone informed her list of prerequisites – she wanted it to be all on one floor and large enough to accommodate the “main parts of life”, like cooking, eating and hanging out. “I rent the apartment downstairs as my office, but when I bought the loft above it was all open plan and hadn’t been touched in about 40 years,” recalls Lyons, who is currently working on a top-secret beauty project, designing a hotel in the Bahamas and gearing up to launch a lifestyle television series and e-commerce site in the summer.

Continue reading...

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