At the writing class our coach brought a humongous artichoke as our first “subject”. My first thought was “this must have been shipped in from California!” But I wasn’t prepared to write a lengthy piece about fossil fuel and eating local, so I wrote instead on the difficulties of growing artichoke from seed. And about finding baby ones in Rome and taking them home to the castle/cottage to cook them, deep-fried in olive oil, and sprinkled with some lemon juice. Carciofi alla Romana…. Yum!!
I’ve got my garden plan in hand and wondering… Should I try again? We love artichoke too much not to. At least I found some encouragement on the ‘net:
Globe artichokes are started from seeds. In most northern temperate zones they are treated as two season crop because they take two seasons to reach a size to produce useable flowerbuds. Since they are hardy to zone 9 only, the plants have to be overwintered indoors in zone 6. You dig them after the first frost, place them in barely moist peat moss and keep at 5 to 10 degrees Celsius (40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit) over the winter. Do not allow to get dry and replant after all danger of frost is past. Keeping the plants in deep pots and moving the pots to a frost free, cool place for the winter will work even better.
Recently the director of the Devonian Botanic Garden in Edmonton, Alberta, in zone 3, told us that he has been growing globe artichokes reliably for over a decade as a single season crop, not as a two season crop suggested in the previous paragraph. The key is to start seeds early indoors (he starts them in January or February) and to provide ample direct sunlight so that the seedlings can develop to a good size by the time it is safe to plant outdoors in May. Outdoors, the plants get rich soil, full sun, and ample water.
– from richters.com
I grew this plant for several years (zone 6/7). Each fall, cut foliage to ground and mulch heavily. Did not do too well, produced few artichoke buds of edible size – may need very rich soil, more feeding to flourish this far north.
– Greenknee at davesgarden.com
– see comment at end of http://urban-agrarian.blogspot.com/2006/07/artichokes-day-118.html
– and http://www.coldclimategardening.com/2005/10/30/artichoke-question/
A greatly improved variety that is vigorous and prolific Perennial, but produces the first year from seed, so is good in cold regions (Zone 6 and colder) where artichokes should be treated as an annual or the roots dug and stored for the winter like flower bulbs. Huge silver leaves with deeply cut margins make it one of the best ornamental edibles, with any uneaten buds opening into thistle-like blue flowers. Medicinal: detoxifies liver, gallbladder etc
– from bountifulgardens.org
This is the one I want to grow!:
Violetto Artichoke
From the north of Italy we bring you the artichoke of aristocrats, Violetto. This violet-bracted ‘choke has small, oval, slightly elongated flower heads that measure 3 inches wide by 5 inches long. A bit later maturing than Green Globe, Violetto will produce abundant crops of mouthwatering artichokes for at least 4 years. Divine when served with melted butter or plain yogurt blended with a touch of mustard. Hardy to zone 6.
The question really is — should I start it now or wait to wintersow? If my efforts fail, I do have a backup — a nice little company I’m keeping secret for now. Heeee….
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