think of some root crops.
beets
potatoes
parsnips
rutabagas
radishes
yams
carrots
those are all good, tasty plants. the roots we're interested in, however, are not quite so familiar. perhaps they're a bit more unusual. please, don't be frightened.
Stachys affinis - crosne du Japon, Chinese artichoke, chorogi, artichoke betony, knotroot.
yes, they look like wichetty grubs, which may also be good food. they're crunchy, though, not squishy like a grub. tasty raw or cooked, this is a very easy to grow and quite productive plant. not easy to get rid of, though, so careful where you put it.
next up: Helianthus tuberosus, Jerusalem artichoke, sunchoke, sunroot, earth apple, topinambur.
this one's gaining popularity, so you may be familiar with it already. also very productive and difficult to get rid of. there's a liquor made of sunroot called Rossler. sounds vile to me, but sunchokes taste good. they sweeten up significantly after frost, but the sugar involved is inulin. this is good for diabetic folks, as humans aren't able to digest inulin, so it doesn't contribute to blood glucose.
one more: Apios americana, the groundnut (or potato bean, hopniss, Indian potato, hog potato).
groundnuts are nitrogen-fixing legumes. the tubers grow at intervals along roots and they're both tasty and abundantly produced. groundnut seeds and seed pods are also a good source of protein, though not produced in large quantities. there are a couple of universities with groundnut breeding programs and their improved varieties are sometimes available to purchase.
all of these plants are reliably perennial and have compatible requirements. about all they're picky about is moist, well-drained soil and being in a relatively sunny spot. they'll all grow in poor dirt, and are pretty flexible with pH. the crosne is the least hardy: to zone 5.
so why not plant them all together? planted in a large pot for the city-dwellers, or right in the ground if you've got access, these three together* comprise a suitable shrine to dirt. the crosne provides a high groundcover, the sunchokes form a higher canopy, and the groundnut enriches the soil and climbs up the sunchokes.
together, they will remind us to respect dirt and the mysteries it hides. and, given periodic offerings of clean water, your shrine will provide an abundant harvest to share with those around you.
*substitutions and additions are just fine, but do take into consideration growth habits. replacing sunchokes (your scaffold for the groundnuts) with another climber such as mashua or a yam, for example, wouldn't be ideal.
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