How to Keep Jerusalem Artichokes Over Winter After Digging Them Up
Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes) are a highly productive and dependable crop for anyone concerned with food security. While they are resilient in the garden, they present a significant challenge once harvested: they are extremely prone to moisture loss and rot. Their thin skin means they dry out rapidly, and even a nick can quickly lead to spoilage if they are not handled correctly. It is important to know how to store the harvest.
My Experience With Winter Storage
Growing Sunchokes for years has allowed me to use many storage methods. These include leaving them in the ground, short-term kitchen storage, and cold-room storage. For cold storage, I use mediums like sand, sawdust, damp peat moss, and sometimes damp soil.
I have firsthand knowledge of the difference between tubers that survive the winter and those that collapse halfway through.
I once visited a farm and saw huge bags of Jerusalem Artichokes stored in a walk-in fridge. I genuinely didn’t think you could store them like that, but the farmer told me, “Of course you can.” That moment completely changed how I viewed cold-room and fridge storage—it turns out, bulk Sunchokes can be stored that way when conditions are right.
A Hard Lesson Learned
One year I dug a large batch right after a rain spell. They looked good, so I made the beginner mistake of tossing everything together—perfect tubers mixed with ones that were clearly damaged. By mid-winter, the lightly damaged pieces softened first and spoiled the layers around them. The perfectly good tubers were ruined because I didn’t sort aggressively enough. Since then, the rule is simple: perfect for long storage, questionable for immediate use. That one change eliminated all mid-season losses.
Why Variety Matters: Skin Thickness
The thickness of the skin critically impacts how quickly tubers dry out and rot in storage. Knowing your variety helps you decide whether to focus on keeping the tubers in the ground for maximum longevity or prioritizing highly humid indoor storage.
- Thin-Skinned Varieties (Poor Keepers): These varieties are generally smooth-skinned for easier cleaning but lose moisture extremely fast and shrivel quickly in dry conditions.
- Examples: Fuseau, Stampede, Red Fuseau, White Fuseau. The smoother skin of the Red Fuseau variety means it remains highly susceptible to moisture loss, classifying it as a poor keeper compared to knobby types.
- Thicker-Skinned Varieties (Good Keepers): These varieties often have rougher, bumpier, or thicker skin, which provides better natural protection against drying out and mechanical damage.
- Examples: Common (Wild Type), Mammoth French.
- This explains why my batch of the Common variety that was frozen appeared nearly undamaged—it is a tough skin tuber more resilient to frost and general storage abuse.
The Methods I Use (and Why)
1. Leave as many as possible in the ground Nothing stores better than a living tuber. I prefer to mulch as much as I can and harvest as needed. They stay crisp, firm, and ideal for spring replanting and eating. Important In-Ground Note: It is important that the area does not get waterlogged and frozen. One year I was shocked to see part of my garden in ice from the thaw and lost some of the tubers that were on top as they got frozen. Shockingly, the variety Common had been in the frozen area and I did not find the tubers were damaged and they had appeared to be nearly frozen. Additionally, if left in the ground, it is best to dig all the tubers up as soon as all the snow has melted or else the newly awakened insects will start to snack on the tubers. Additionally, if you have gophers or voles in your area, leaving tubers in the ground risks losing the entire crop to these burrowing pests, so careful planning is necessary.
2. Long-term indoor storage for lifted tubers When I dig a large batch for winter eating, I never wash them. I knock off the soil gently, sort carefully, and store only flawless pieces. The key is to examine the tubers while gently knocking off the soil to find even small, clearly damaged areas. My best results come from:
- Cold room or root cellar
- Slightly damp sand, peat moss, or sawdust. Sometimes I have even resorted to using damp soil.
- Tubers not touching
- High humidity, cold temperatures
This keeps them stable for months while retaining their moisture.
I also find that storing them in plastic bins with damp peat moss or a damp medium works great if kept on a cold porch and brought into a cool area when the temperature drops super low. I find after many weeks in storage the peat moss in a storage bag has gone dry and I will change it and replace it for damp peat moss.
3. Short-term kitchen storage For a quick-use batch, I keep them in the fridge (or cooler) wrapped in a damp cloth inside a bag. This works for a few weeks, especially for cooking.
How I Store My Own Supply vs. How I Prepare Shipments
I’m more relaxed with my own supply—I simply layer them in damp sand, sawdust, peat moss (or soil when I have nothing else) in the cold room, or leave them in the ground. I sort with precision, knowing that only the firmest tubers will last through the winter.
For the Sunchokes I send across Canada, I sort with far more precision. Only the firmest tubers get shipped, and they’re packed so they stay cushioned and slightly moist in peat moss. The receiving gardener should open the package and store them properly right away.
Common Mistakes People Make
These are the issues that cause almost every failed storage attempt:
- Washing before storing. It damages the skin and speeds rot.
- Mixing damaged and perfect tubers. One bruise will ruin the whole batch.
- Too much dryness. They shrivel rapidly without a moisture-holding medium.
- Airtight containers. Condensation causes rot.
Tips for Canadian Growers
Our winters are long, and frozen ground changes everything. What works elsewhere doesn’t always work here. What truly matters:
- Mulching deeply lets you harvest even when soil is frozen. I sometimes just chop up the above ground Jerusalem Artichoke stalks and use that.
- Cold-room storage must balance humidity and cold, or they fail fast.
These details are what make Sunchokes a dependable winter food—not just a summer crop.
Why Proper Storage Matters for Food Security
Sunchokes can be one of the strongest contributors to winter food security because they’re perennial, high-yielding, and don’t require special inputs. But this only works if you know how to store them properly. When handled correctly, they give you:
- A reliable winter food supply. Jerusalem Artichokes can be added to your daily diet.
- Spring planting stock
- A crop that multiplies and feeds families for generations
Good storage turns a harvest into a winter-long resource. Ultimately, the best way I have found to store them is nature’s way: in the ground. I often find new sunchoke plants growing where I previously dug them up, with the tubers still in amazing, firm condition. Some people worry about invasiveness, as there will always be some tubers missed when digging them up. But, all that needs to be done is dig up the tuber and treat it like a weed—weed it out! However, why would you want to destroy an important, resilient food crop that is so desperately needed as grocery prices continue to rise?