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Apios americana, Groundnut, Hopniss ‘Nugget’ – 1 tuber

£4.00

SUPPLIED AS ONE TUBER
A perennial climbing legume with high protein delicious tubers.

Awaiting Re-stock

We can email you when it's back ...

Description

Apios americana also known as Groundnut or Hopniss is a herbaceous perennial climbing vine from the family Fabaceae. It produces delicious protein-rich edible tubers, attractive vines and scented pink flowers and has the added benefit of being able to fix nitrogen. It is our absolute favourite perennial vegetable to grow and we have had really nice results and decent tuber sizes with this one, so we are really happy to be able to offer tubers for sale. ‘Nugget’ is a vigorous variety with fast growing vines, flowers in summer and good yields of tubers. It is a great one to add to your collection.

About

Apios Americana, Groundnut also known as Hopniss from the Lenape word ‘Hobbenis’ is native to North America where it has long been a staple food for indigenous peoples. It has undergone some domestication and plant breeders have been working to improve it for many years. It has such great potential to become an important high protein food crop and is well worth experimenting with as part of your perennial vegetable garden or forest garden. In the wild, groundnut grows along the banks of rivers and lakes, usually found using trees and shrubs for climbing support. It forms long rhizomes under ground with ‘chains’ of edible tubers resembling a bead necklace. The tubers can be cooked and used just like potatoes but are more nutritious having more protein, calcium and iron. This plant has everything – fantastic tasting tubers, beautiful climbing vines and scented flowers and can fix nitrogen too.

Caring for your tubers

Apios americana tubers need to be kept in slightly damp compost during autumn and winter to stop them drying out until they are ready to sprout in spring. You can keep them in a small bag with some compost in the salad drawer of your fridge, or pot them up and keep them in an unheated greenhouse or polytunnel or cold frame. Check on them regularly to make sure tubers are firm. In spring they are ready to be sprouted and light and warmth will encourage them to sprout and produce their first vines.

How to grow

Apios americana needs moist but well drained soil in an open sunny positionand plants need climbing support. The taller and more vigorous the vines, the better the yield of tubers. Ideally you want to grow it on a 2 year cycle. There are several methods: For highest yields a dedicated raised bed with sturdy climbing support is best, where the rhizomes have room to branch out horizontally. They grow very shallowly and can be harvested by yanking out the chains of tubers. Alternatively they can be grown as part of a polyculture in a forest garden system and use surrounding plants for support. Growing them in large 40-50 litre containers is also possible, although the yields are lower, the harvesting is much easier as the containers can be tipped out to harvest the tubers.

Harvesting

Harvest tubers once vines have died back in autumn. If planted in spring wait until autumn of the following year to obtain your first harvest. You could leave some plants to grow on for a further year.

Propagating more plants

Save some of your best tubers for re-planting. This variety produces decent sized tubers with vigorous vines and prolific flowers.

Life cycle

Apios americana shows its first shoots in spring, produces climbing vines over the summer usually about 3m tall followed by dusky pink/maroon flowers in late summer. Vines die back in autumn and tubers remain dormant until the following spring, when the whole process begins again.

Cooking and eating

Use as a potato either boiled or baked or can be sliced and pan fried in olive oil with sea salt and oregano which is absolutely delicious. As this is essentially a wild edible, we advise that you start with a small portion as some people can have a digestive sensitivity to the tubers.

“Thanks for everything, the info sheet was great. I planted the cuttings the day they arrived and have just multi sown the 9 star in seed trays. All very exciting, we’re now planning our perennial area.”

“You are right, perennial kale is fantastic! Thanks so much for the cuttings. I am a convert to having a corner of perpetual kale in the patch!”

“As the evening sun back lit the plants at Incredible Vegetables, I felt I was standing in one of the most important gardens of our time. Wildflowers working alongside an abundance of edimentals and perennial vegetables. A ‘food glade’ to rival the aesthetic of our greatest plant designers.”

– Jon Davies, garden designer, London Glades –

“I love your website and the work you’re doing. What you’re doing is exiting, useful, and one day will help to replace and enhance what human kind has damaged.With that our natural friends will return and we’ll be better for it.”

“Mandy, thank you. I am delighted with this plant – it is so strong and healthy and exceptionally well packaged – all done with loving care obviously. I shall look forward to having more plants from you.”

“Plants all arrived lovely and are growing well. I just wanted to say i was very impressed with the quality of the cuttings.. and its been a pleasure dealing with you. And I look forward to any purchases in the future.”

“The kale cuttings you sent survived the winter and are thriving. Thank you Mandy Barber you are the super hero of edibles, loving your work!!”

“I bought some Skirret seed’s off you last year. Well they grew and yesterday some got cooked and this message is just to say, they were delicious. Looking forward to a lot more next year. Thank you.”

“The Taunton Dean cuttings arrived a short while ago and never have I seen healthier looking cuttings! They are now firmly ensconced in some nice compost and are having a good drink. I even loved the packaging, which will be composted.”

“Hi I just wanted to let you know that I sowed half of my Caucasian spinach seeds and every single one grew, absolutely amazed, thanks for the seeds and keep up the good work.”

“Just to let you know that the lovely healthy looking plants arrived. Your plants are simply outstanding, every single tuber and plant are growing amazingly.”

“The plants arrived safely, I did not expect such magnificent specimens! I didn’t think I would be successful at stratification etc but I now have a whole bunch of Hablitzia seedlings sprouting after following your excellent advice.”

“Just to say, the Daubentons Kale is in the ground and looking well – thanks to the lovely damp compost encasing its roots…you do a good job at your end, I can tell by the way you package. Will be back for more of your wonderful perennials.”

“Thank you so much for all the vegetables, they really are incredible. I’m sure I’ve never before seen a healthier rootball than the one that arrived with our happy looking daubentons kale, and seeds and tubers are thriving thanks to all the useful information provided.”

“Thank you so much for sending such wonderful, healthy and very large plants. They are beautiful !! You packaged them so well and they arrived so quickly – I couldn’t get to the post office till the following day but they were absolutely fine. They’re now potted up and sitting in my ‘cold’ greenhouse while they adjust.”

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Mandy and Julien