# Canna as a foods source



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

I knew you could eat many flowers like day lilies & some elephant ear type plants. But Canna roots/ Tuber are new to me. 

Canna (Agriculture Group) 'Edulis Dark'
The Canna Agriculture Group contains all of the varieties of Canna grown in agriculture. "Canna achira" is a generic term used in South America to describe the cannas that have been selectively bred for agricultural purposes, normally derived from C. discolor. It is grown especially for its edible rootstock from which starch is obtained, but the leaves and young seeds are also edible, and achira was once a staple food crop in Peru and Ecuador.[5] Trials in Ecuador using a wide range of varieties have shown that achira can yield on average 56 tons of rhizomes and 7.8 tons of extractable starch per hectare. However, the crop needs 9-12 months to mature to full productivity.[29]

Many more traditional kinds exist worldwide; they have all involved human selection, so are classified as agricultural cultivars. Traditionally, Canna edulis Ker Gawl. has been reputed to be the species grown for food in South America, but C. edulis probably is simply a synonym of C. discolor, which is also grown for agricultural p


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

if all you want is calories, this may be a way to satisfy it, but you'd need the year long harvesting cycle to support it or other means to store it.

as medicine starts re-examining the things we thought we knew about macro nutrients and looking at old and new data, going on a carb heavy diet wouldn't be my first choice if alternatives exist. It's most likely the most available and most portable, and stamped USDA approved! woohoo! yay .gov, thanks bros!


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

I'll stick to yams.


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

Dakine said:


> if all you want is calories, this may be a way to satisfy it, but you'd need the year long harvesting cycle to support it or other means to store it.
> 
> as medicine starts re-examining the things we thought we knew about macro nutrients and looking at old and new data, going on a carb heavy diet wouldn't be my first choice if alternatives exist. It's most likely the most available and most portable, and stamped USDA approved! woohoo! yay .gov, thanks bros!


I think that Pemmican would probably be a better choice in regards to portability and the ability to sustain a person during hard times, however it may not satisfy the "civilized" palate.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

agreed, and vacuum sealed DIY veggie soup mix (just add water) or canned protein is very easy to do. it gets way less portable tho if you're talking about the proteins. 

learn dehydrating and making jerky now. do it while times are good and try it and fail miserably (and don't eat it if you are failing miserably LOL) while times are good so you know how to learn from the mistakes now while meat and power and tools are easily obtained.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

Many years ago when I read one of Corrie TenBoom's books, I read that during the war when there was little food to eat, they ate tulip bulbs. Of course they were in Holland, where tulips originate.

I have since read that we should not eat such bulbs.

But, I have always wondered what we could plant and find growing and edible many years later. I know onions is one of those things, and both set of grandparents had onion patches. I know that berry bushes, rhubarb and fruit trees are also possibilities. I have planted potatoes, harvested them, and had some come up the next year without being replanted. I cannot imagine that if I planted them once, they would come up years later.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

The ornamental cannas are edible as well & according to Eric Toensmeier the roots are tasty & satisfying, high in potassium & carbs, & about the size of potatoes. The shoots are eaten too & are high in protein. I live in Zone 8a & cannas grow with no watering or fertilizer here. They grow in full sun or tolerate a large amount of shade. They grow in crappy, clay soil too. They die to the ground every winter then come back on their own in the spring & grow to 6ft very quickly, usually by June. They have a pretty, large, tropical looking leaf that come in red or green & have beautiful large orange flowers that humming birds love.

I've been really looking into perennial gardening, native species, & permaculture stuff here lately & I'm really liking what I see. I like the variety it will provide as well as the ability to eat more of what's in season, cutting down on having to preserve food for later. So much information, so little time!


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

I am growing canna, have not cooked any as of this Spring.


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## talob (Sep 16, 2009)

weedygarden said:


> Many years ago when I read one of Corrie TenBoom's books, I read that during the war when there was little food to eat, they ate tulip bulbs. Of course they were in Holland, where tulips originate.
> 
> I have since read that we should not eat such bulbs.
> 
> But, I have always wondered what we could plant and find growing and edible many years later. I know onions is one of those things, and both set of grandparents had onion patches. I know that berry bushes, rhubarb and fruit trees are also possibilities. I have planted potatoes, harvested them, and had some come up the next year without being replanted. I cannot imagine that if I planted them once, they would come up years later.


Check out Jerusalem artichokes I'm trying for first time this year.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

talob said:


> Check out Jerusalem artichokes I'm trying for first time this year.


Yes, Sunckokes, asparagus, walking onion/top set onions, garlic & Horse radishes are great in the garden with less care then most plants.
This is why I like fruit trees & berry bushes, nut trees, because after they are a few years old, they are nearly care free. 
I give them water & compost & that is it.


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## GaryS (Nov 15, 2011)

talob said:


> Check out Jerusalem artichokes I'm trying for first time this year.


Be aware that they are the most invasive plant I ever had in my garden. It took me years to eradicate them.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

GaryS said:


> Be aware that they are the most invasive plant I ever had in my garden. It took me years to eradicate them.


Guess I was lucky, the deer kelp my JA pruned back & it never got out of the 100 sqft bed.


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