Return of the lost crops of the Incas

Return of the lost crops of the Incas: "In the same way that I have a soft spot for eccentrics and oddballs of the human kind, so I’ve always been intrigued by the horticulturally strange and the botanically forgotten. Take, for example, the lost crops of the Incas, the South American people whose civilisation was famed for its sophisticated agriculture and the diversity of food crops that it cultivated, including many different grains, tubers, legumes, nuts, fruit and vegetables. At its peak, this vast, climatically diverse empire measured more than 4,000km, stretching from southern Colombia to central Chile before it finally fell to the Spanish conquistadors in the mid-16th century. Yet, despite its size, it was also highly organised and capable of producing food for more than 15 million people.
I say “lost crops”, but not any more. Many of these plants – including mashua, oca, maca, yacon, Inca berry, pepino, quinoa, achocha, amaranth and kaniwa (Chenopodium) – are being cultivated both outdoors and under cover by a new generation of Irish gardeners who prize them for being nutritious, tasty and versatile, as well as productive and easy to grow. In doing so, they’re continuing a tradition of growing Inca food crops that began with the introduction of now commonplace kitchen garden plants such as potatoes, tomatoes and peppers."



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