i planted 2- 4" pots of cardoon in my garden last june and they grew rather large. they are a relative of the artichoke, and i had heard their leaves taste great. i tried them, using some good recipes and they were stringy and tough. the plants are 3 foot tall and look like they are going to make it through the winter. haven't bloomed yet but i hope they do if they live. anyone had any experience with growing and/or cooking them?
cardoon, growing it and eating it
I have grown the Cardoon. I planted seeds in an individual separate area (flower bed) The Cardoon had some bad qualities, but some good ones too. I believe the same big plant lived for 2 or 3 years. The smaller seedlings did not complete a full season, but died off. With the big plant I was left with, I had to keep cutting off the lower stalks that would bend down, rest on the soil, and get "yucky". The color and shape of the leaves was a silvery grey color. The ends and edges of the leaves were very sharp to touch (like a yucca). I almost wanted to eat the ROOTS, but I also wanted to see the blooms, so I never did cut the roots. The second or third season, it bloomed very LOVELY purple flowers similar to thistle flowers that are purple. When you touched them, they had a soft touch and looked like a sea anenome. It was grown in full sun with rather rich soil. Neighbors asked me what kind of plant it was. None of my neighbors ever heard of it. The bees loved the flowers. Sorry, I do not have a photo of it. It was grown before I even knew what a digital camera was!!!
Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have also grown cardoon started from seed.They were biennial and grew quite large.I never ate any part of them.
This year I ordered Gobbo Di Nizzia,a rare cardoon from italy from Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds.They say you can eat roots stalks and leaves.We will see.
i cant find bakers creek on the web. how do i get in touch with them? i had a friend years ago from chicago who spoke of her grandfathers'{italian} delicious cardoon. she said he would fry it and it taste just like artichoke bottoms. i must have the wrong variety 'cause mine taste like a mess! thanks ahead of time for hooking me up with baker creek.
Their web site is www.rareseeds.com
They are one of the garden watchdog's to companies.Click on gardenwatchdog at the top of this page and read all about Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.