POTATOES will not cope with the flooding rains and waterlogged soils that we are having.

They will rot.

But that’s ok because we can grow a number of other starchy plants who love these sodden conditions.

All of them are beginner-friendly.

Taro and cocoyam taste like creamy, nutty potato, while lotus and water chestnut retain a crispy to chewy texture.

Taro/cocoyam/dasheen/eddo

Colocasia esculenta

Taro has looked after humanity for a long time.

Rich in nutrients and energy and gentle to digest, it is ideal for babies and the elderly.

It is one of the few plants that thrives in waterlogged conditions and can be grown in either a rice paddy or regular garden situation.

Taro is one of the easiest plants to grow organically as it has almost no pests or diseases.

About the only downside is brush turkeys and rats can be a nuisance, and some caterpillars.

Cocoyam / blue taro / arrowleaf elephant ear

Xanthosoma sagittifolium

This is the less water-needy cousin of taro.

Don’t grow it in a rice paddy situation.

Grow it in your regular garden or on the edge of a wet patch.

Lotus

Nelumbo nucifera

This is a different plant to waterlily (Nymphaea sp.).

Lotus is a beautiful and zero effort perennial starchy food plant who grows in ponds.

That means our big rains are not a problem!

It has very few pests or diseases.

Every part of the plant is edible, raw or cooked.

Put a lotus root in a pond (or better yet, a bathtub) in full sun with a small amount of water and a large amount of silt and well rotted manure.

That’s about all the care it needs.

Waterchestnut

Eleocharis dulcis

Waterchestnut is a rampantly abundant annual plant.

Put two corms in a bathtub and in a few months the ENTIRE bath will be jammed full of growing water chestnuts.

This is not in any way an exaggeration.

Fresh water chestnuts taste nothing like the things bearing their name in tins.

They are sweet and crispy and moreish.

A real treat, though I admit they are a pain to peel for cooking.

This starchy food plant is ridiculously easy to grow, needing next to no maintenance.

It has basically no pests other than occasional competition for the corms from rats and some larger water birds.

For more detail go to www.wherefishsing.com and look under Bello Food Gardening.

Supported by Bellingen Shire Council via the Bellingen Shire Disaster Recovery and Resilience Grant Program Funding.

 

By Fiona MORGAN