Globe Artichoke
The one crop my wife and I enjoy, probably more than anything we grow, is the globe artichoke. I had six plants growing where the hens are now, at home, but the ground was not good and they were not afforded as much sun as they required. One by one they started to die off so, as soon as I acquired the allotment, I dug the remaining plant up, split it and and transplanted it into a sunny, well prepared bed of its own. The variety I’m growing is Green Globe which does well in our climate.
Left you can see seven of the eight plants that I managed to save by splitting my remaining root stock. Behind them you can see the sticks where the Swiss chard has been sown. To the right of the chard is the shoots of the Jerusalem artichoke which was also transplanted from home to make way for the hens. In the cage are Gooseberries. Lucky for me I have a stand pipe in the corner of my plot. Pressure is low but at least it’s water. (Pity the weather has been that bad I’ve not needed it for two years!)
The above photo was taken in spring time. The photo to the right is late summer. By this time we had been picking two large heads per week, sometimes more. The plant has attractive foliage and would look well in a flower boarder along with the chard. It’s always best not to allow the flowers to mature and to cut any that are undeveloped at the end of the season. The plants will then put more energy into the root thus helping them to over-winter.
Left shows the maturing heads on a wonderful dewy summer’s morning. We simply simmer the heads for about one hour in plain water and just at the last minute, before we drain them, we pop into the water an egg. When it is soft boiled we mash it into a pre-prepared mixture consisting of extra virgin olive oil, cider vinegar and a hand full of soft garden herbs. This mixture is liquidised before adding the egg. We then pull the soft petals off and dip them in the yummy dip till the lovely heart is reach. The prize!
