New Zealand yam

Plant family

Season Overview

Details

Light requirement

Sunny

Water requirement

Moist

Soil

Medium (loamy)

Nutrient requirement

Medium

Seeding distance

90 cm

Row spacing

90 cm

Seeding depth

8 cm

Instructions

Description

New Zealand yams Oxalis Tuberosa, also called oca, are one of the “lost crops of the Inca.” You grow them similarly to how you grow potatoes, and the harvest time is late autumn.

Growing tips

New Zealand yams grow vibrantly colored tubers that taste somewhat like a lemony potato and green leaves that you can pick sparingly and use as you would sorrel. This crop is suitable for climates that have mild to moderate temperatures in summer and frost-free days for six to eight weeks after the autumn equinox. The tubers do not begin forming until after the equinox and need this time to grow. Save the best tubers from each year’s harvest to plant again the next spring.