When are artichokes ripe?

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LarryDavid Salt Lake City, UT(Zone 5b) Sep 11, 2005

Does anyone have any good tips on picking an artichoke? My plant has one really big artichoke, but I don't know what they look like when they are ripe. Any suggestions? Thanks,

Lindsey :)

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CApoppy Santa Cruz Mountains, CA(Zone 9a) Sep 11, 2005

I wish I had taken a picture of our artichokes when they were at the edible stage. Let me see if I can describe it. They look like giant buds with tightly closed overlapping scales that have sharp points on the end. If it is the first "flowering" of your artichoke plant, the bud may be as big as about 5 inches high and 3 inches across. It will probably be at the top of a center stalk. Subsequent buds will become smaller and smaller and develop on side shoots. There may be more of them. All are edible. The big ones are usually cooked whole and eaten leaf by leaf (dipped in butter, mayo, or something equally sinful). The smaller ones have less of a choke inside that needs to be removed, are more tender, and are often cooked whole, then quartered or halved and incorporated into casseroles or marinated for hors d'oeuvres.

The only picture I have of our artichokes is of one that has gone to flower. Pick your artichoke before it even starts thinking about opening up (like the one on the left) if you want to eat it. If it is already too late, you will have a beautiful exotic looking flower (like the one on the right) that can even be dried and used in winter arrangements.

Then there is the matter of trimming, cooking, and eating the thing and getting the choke out. If you have never done this before, it can be challenging. When I first moved to 'choke country from Iowa, I had never even seen an artichoke, let alone eaten, cooked, or raised one. I thought they were definitely overrated. But that was many years ago. I now count them--and avocados, chiles, garlic, tortillas, the list goes on--as staples.

Congratulations on your first, but not last, artichoke. Fare una festa!

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LarryDavid Salt Lake City, UT(Zone 5b) Sep 11, 2005

Thank you for the wonderful info. I think mine is almost ripe and I am so excited to eat it!

Lindsey :)

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