Oca

New Zealand Yam. This delicious tuber is almost as widely grown as the potato in the Andes region of South America. Oca plants produce quantities of smaller tubers that are tasty, nutritious, and productive, even in northern gardens!! Rarely grown outside of the Andes bio-region, but highly adaptable. Oca tubers are an excellent addition to the perennial food garden. With clove-like leaves that form a rosette and eventually a sprawling ground cover. The tubers are tasty raw in salads for a lemony tang, or cooked. They are high in protein, vitamin C, potassium, iron and tryptophan, and richer than yams. Plant and hill like a potato, water heavily in Fall for larger tubers. Harvest after plants die back and don’t forget to save a few to plant for the next season. Prefers Full sun. Perennial Hardy to Zones 6-9.