Yam Berries

Chinese yam bulbils

Several years ago I bought some Chinese Mountain Yam tubers to plant. Chinese yams are an edible perennial that produce both edible tubers and also edible aerial bulbils, sometimes called yam berries. Then I hesitated to plant them because I read they can be invasive. They are the reason I decided to convert my hoop house to place for growing perennials. I chose one of the bordered raised beds and planted the tubers. They are a vine, so the hoop house has been a good place for them. This is the first year they've produced a significant amount of the yam berries.

Dioscorea polystachya (formerly Dioscorea batatas).
They are also called air potatoes or cinnamon vine.

There are other species of dioscorea, but not all of them are edible. According to the Plants for a Future website:

"Edible species of Dioscorea have opposite leaves whilst poisonous species have alternate leaves"

And according to David the Good in his video, "Yamberries on the Chinese Yam," the variety I planted is not the invasive one. Even so, there seems to be a lot of contradictory information around the internet on them. 

The other day, I picked all the yam berries and had enough to try for dinner.

My harvest, washed and ready for cooking.

You can see how tiny they are!

They really do look like miniature potatoes, so the name "air potatoes" makes sense. "Cinnamon vine" apparently refers to the smell of their flowers (which I wasn't watching for and so didn't notice!)

To cook, I tossed them with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then I oven roasted at 425°F (220°C) for about 12 minutes.

Oven roasted yam berries

They were quite good. They're starchy, but not quite like true potatoes. Dan said they reminded him of hopniss. One of these days when I have a few more plants, I'll harvest some of the root and give that a try.

It's fun experimenting with perennial foods. They require care to establish, but once established, they are less work to maintain than annual food crops. While production varies from year to year, they are a reliable source of food whenever annuals do poorly. Plus, most of them are quite attractive and easy to work into an edible landscape. 

One disadvantage is that they aren't familiar foods. They require learning how to grow, harvest, and cook, not to mention acquiring a taste for them. We're all raised on particular foods, and those become the personal standard for our diet. We find them easily in the grocery stores and in the seed catalogues. They are our personal comfort foods of childhood.  
 

We ate this year's yam berry crop, but next year I'll experiment with some food combinations. I think they'd be good with cowpeas or beans, and in soup. 

Is anyone else growing edible perennials? 

Yam Berries © September 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com