My part of the world is not kind to potatoes, or wheat, or sugar cane.
There goes most of the calories in a modern, Western diet.
I live in sub-tropical, coastal northern NSW. It’s not hot enough for sugar cane (though it might be heading in that direction). It’s too wet for wheat, and in any case wheat has only become such a staple because of industrial methods of harvesting and milling. Summer nights are too warm for potatoes to really like it. I can grow them, but they are properly adapted to high altitudes in low latitudes – so the frost-free warm days you would expect of a relative of tomatoes and eggplants, coupled with the cool nights needed by a plant putting its energy into starch storage rather than fruits. And they get attacked by flea beetles and diseases that mean I have to buy new seed potatoes each year.
I’d love to be able to tap into Australian First Nations people’s knowledge of the crops that suit here, but sadly too much of that knowledge is lost. So where does that leave a subtropical retrosuburban with a family and a job, looking for food security?
More and more I am realising that our northern European food culture, imported along with the first fleet, makes very hard work of it. The supermarket is full of food based on wheat and sugar, but the food crops that dominate the Farmer’s Market are mostly south-east Asian, African, Central American, or Pacific Islander. Besides all the wonderful range of greens and fruits, there’s the starchy calorie staples – taro, sweet potato, cassava, plantain – which brings me to this ugly looking vegetable that I think has joined my list of staples.
The tuber was given to me originally as “Nigerian yam”. I think it is Dioscorea alata, Winged Yam, which is often purple but this one is a yellow fleshed variety. If there is anyone out there who can help me key it out, I’d love to hear from you!
It grows on a robust vine with a climbing habit much like passionfruit. Ours is planted just outside and grows over the mesh roof of the chook pen where it takes advantage of the compost rich soil inside, and in return provides summer shade for the chooks. No pest or disease problems and no extra watering. It dies back in winter and the tubers can be dug up. I’ve never had to replant it – it can go deep and there’s always been enough tuber missed for it to resprout in spring. The tubers are huge – there’s baked yam and yam mash and yam chips for dozens of meals in just the one in the picture. They store well and can be used any way you’d use a potato. And they don’t mind warm nights, or get attacked by flea beetles.
