Artichokes – ‘Tis the Season for Planting Edible Thistles

From Bill:

Do you enjoy a good artichoke?  Well now is the time to start them if you do.  Unlike most vegetables, the best time to plant is from November through March.  They’re not difficult to grow, and once established an artichoke plant will produce for several years.  I’ve had them last for seven years.

Start by purchasing your artichoke plant(s) at a good nursery or garden center.  I’ve found that the smaller less expensive plants eventually do just as well as the larger ones.

When planting be aware that artichokes do take up some space - as much as six feet in diameter and generally 3-4 feet in height.  They need deep, rich, well-drained soil and the more sun the better.  I now have several plants, and the amount of sun they get really makes a difference in production.  The plants are drought resistant, but for robust edible artichokes, regular water is necessary along with a monthly application of nitrogen fertilizer.  Usual production is a harvest in the spring and a second crop in the fall, but with regular fertilizing I find I can get artichokes through much of the year.

Harvest the artichokes by cutting about 4 inches below the bud, preferably before it starts to open.  When a stalk is through producing buds, cut it off close to the ground.  New shoots will appear around the old stalk. 

The main problem with artichokes in our area is aphid infestation.  These are prevented by controlling for ants that tend the aphids on the artichokes.  Use whatever method you favor, organic or otherwise, to keep the ants away from your plants.

There are several varieties of artichokes.  I grow three different ones and each has unique characteristics.  So, you may want to be aware of differences when purchasing your plants.

After a year of growth, the roots can be divided and replanted 3 to 4 inches deep with the shoot above the ground to provide additional plants. 

And Terry Adds:

Consider artichokes as a decorative food plant as well.  I’m planning to intersperse some in my front garden among the other drought tolerant plantings.   Their jagged grey foliage adds another attractive texture that fits right in.  We’re also having success growing them in containers in the garden at Havens.  Beautiful and delicious, what more can we ask for? 

Winter Vegetable Gardening

Bill’s advice: 

 

Snap Peas

The first day of winter is a few weeks away.  However, we are already in the thick of what I would consider the winter vegetable gardening season.  The summer plants are almost all gone and any seeds for winter plants should have been planted weeks ago (except for peas and fava beans).  But, it’s not too late!  You can clean up and leave it for next spring, or continue to get some production out of the garden.  The sun is low in the sky so for gardens shaded by trees, it is really difficult to grow much in the winter season.  For those with sun exposure it’s time for a trip to the nursery for seedlings of cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, lettuce, chard, cabbage, kale, collards, and strawberries.  Onion sets can be planted for green onions but sets for the larger onions should be planted in February or later.  Now is the time to plant garlic and artichokes (even, if you have minimal sun).  If you already have artichokes, think about dividing your plants to get even more.  Peas can be planted now and while it’s not the best time, potatoes can also be started.  Summer season carrots and beets can be left in the ground and picked as needed.  However, they will go to seed, if left until spring.  So, if you’re not already a year around vegetable gardener, consider trying it.  Next year start your planting for winter in the late summer when you can start your own seedlings. 

Fava Beans

And Terry adds:

bird netting over peas

Snap peas are coming up happily both at home and in the Havens garden.  We’re experimenting with two varieties of bush snap peas this year – our tried and true Cascadia, and a newer variety called Sugar Bush.  We’ll let you know the pros and cons.  If you plant peas, don’t forget to cover with bird netting until they are a few inches tall.  Pea shoots are like bird candy and frenzied birds can rip out the whole crop in short order.  Once the peas are taller, the netting can go.  Birds will nibble on the leaves but not rip them out of the ground.  Fava beans also thrive at this time of year and add fresh accents to dishes throughout the winter.  Escarole is another favorite of mine in the winter garden.  It can be sautéed or braised like other greens, but really shines in soups where it adds a silken texture.   

Heirloom Pumpkin Pies

Since I took on baking them myself, all of my holiday pies have come directly from the pumpkin. Over time they became my expected contribution to the feast.   Back in the food dark ages, I used ordinary jack-o-lantern pumpkins. Although the pulp was on the watery side, it was still an improvement over that nasty looking stuff in the cans.  I graduated to Sugar Pie pumpkins when they became readily available, and in recent years have grown my own.  This year’s crop of exotically named Galeux D Eysines heirlooms was surely the best ever.  The name romantically translates to “embroidered with pebbles from Eysines.”   A luscious rosy salmon color with oddly warty bumps, they were almost too gorgeous to bake, but bake them I did.  The largest topped out at 16 inches in diameter packed with about 25 pounds of solid orange flesh. 

wedged into the oven

In prior years I’ve cut my pumpkins in half, scooped out the seeds and baked face down on a cookie sheet, but this behemoth stymied that plan.  Cutting through that monster would have taken a chain saw.  Always looking for the simple solution, I decided just to pop (well maybe wedge..) the whole thing into the oven with the temperature set at 350.  After 3 hours, it was so tender I could pierce it through with a bamboo skewer.  Drooping over the cookie sheet a bit did make it a little tricky to extricate from the oven, (can you hear my husband laughing in the background?) but once  on the counter, scooping out the lovely orange flesh and separating the seeds was a breeze. 

After this successful experiment, I swore off wrestling with a knife and unbaked pumpkin ever again.  Out of the food processor flowed a silken orange puree that set my mouth watering in anticipation of pies to come and tonight I grabbed a quart from the fridge to make a Pumpkin Curry soup that tasted of fall in the garden.  Now that’s what Thanksgiving is all about.

Terry

Radicchio Regrets

Radicchio—If only I had done a little more research.  We see Radicchio in the grocery store at a $4.50 a head or pound.  It's a tight purple ball streaked with white.  Often found in salads in good restaurants and in salad mixes, it’s a member of the chicory family and has the typical bitter taste.  I’d grown some radicchio several years ago.  I didn’t pay much attention to it and in winter I was pleased to be harvesting heads of this expensive vegetable.  (I grew padron peppers, another expensive vegetable, this year to the delight of family, friends, and neighbors.  These sold at one time at $6.50 a quarter pound.) 

Struck by my initial success, I've planted radicchio the last four years in a row.  At first I had difficulty getting the seeds to germinate, and then for two seasons I got a great profusion of plants and green leaves but no purple balls.  I thought there was something wrong with the seeds and pulled the plants up.  I planted again this year and when green leaves appeared, I didn’t pull them up and am now starting to get the purple balls.  I recently came upon an article online that described how to grow radicchio.  It turns out that radicchio is a perennial and will form the balls again in the spring!  I also learned that I should have cut the profusion of leaves down within two inches from the ground to encourage the formation of the purple balls. 

Since finding that information, I’ve found even more elaborate schemes for growing this expensive vegetable.  I suspect that these methods are used in commercial cultivation of radicchio.  They're too much work for me, however, at any price.  

Bill

Green Tomatoes for Pickling

So, you have all of these green tomatoes left on your vines and you know they will never get ripe before the short rainy days arrive. Here's an idea from Piedmont pickler Susan Hill for what to do with them:

Dilled Green Tomatoes

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups 5-percent vinegar
3 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup pickling salt
5lbs small firm green tomatoes, halves or quartered or green cherry tomatoes
6 to 7 cloves garlic
6 to 7 fresh dill heads, 1/4 cup dill seeds, or dried dill weed
6 to 7 bay leaves

In a large, non-reactive pot, combine the vinegar, water, and pickling salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the salt, then remove it from the heat.

Pack the tomatoes into hot jars to within 1/2 inch of the rim. Add 1 clove of garlic, 1 head of dill (or 2 tsp dill seeds or dill weed) and one bay leaf into each jar. Ladle hot pickling liquid into the jars to cover tomatoes. Wipe the rims clean. Place the lids and rings on the jars, tightening rings finger tight. Process the jars for 15 minutes in boiling water one inch higher than their tops.

Yields 6 to 7 pints.

Bill

Time to Plant Garlic

Yes, October and November is the time to plant garlic to get the biggest bulbs and cloves (garlic can also be planted in the spring). The old superstitious belief was that garlic should be planted at the full moon.

If you have not tried to grow garlic, it is easy to do and I encourage you to try it.  Garlic can be interplanted with other vegetables, where it is thought to be beneficial in keeping insect pests away.

Generally, garlic is grown from the cloves you find in the bulbs you use in cooking.  Nurseries and seed suppliers sell bulbs for planting. I have grown garlic from grocery store bulbs. There are many varieties of garlic so, if you are really interested, you should go online to see what is out there.

How to plant and grow: In a bed that drains well and has good sun. 

Take the largest cloves from bulbs. The smaller ones will produce smaller bulbs, so you may want to use those in your cooking. Plant the cloves with the pointed end up. Plant 1-1/2 to 2 inches deep. (If you plant deeper or more shallow, the garlic will still grow.)

Some books recommend that you plant 6 inches apart. I think 4 inches is still OK.

Now just leave the garlic. If the soil is not wet, water the garlic until the rainy season starts. In the Spring when the soil starts to dry out, water as you would the rest of your garden. Stop watering about June 1.

Harvest in July after the leaves have dried.

This is all you need to know to grow garlic. However, there is much more to learn, if you are interested.

Bill

Powdery Mildew - Who Knew?

The great thing about being a vegetable gardener is that you are always learning something new. It can come from experience, classes, the Internet, or articles and books.

Most of us grow zucchini or other squash. Inevitably we get powdery mildew on the leaves, sometimes to the extent that the plants fail. I always thought the powdery mildew came from dampness. But no, powdery mildew is one of the few fungi that does not like moisture! I just learned this at my monthly meeting of the City Slicker Farms backyard garden program.

Here is the treatment and prevention of powdery mildew:

• Plant resistant cultivars and make sure there is room for good air circulation.
• Spray the foliage of your plants daily with water — powdery mildew does NOT like water! Make sure to do it early in the day so it can dry out before the evening or you will make your plants susceptible to other fungal diseases.
• Remove and destroy infected leaves. Do not put them in your compost or it will spread!
• At the first signs of infection, spray the unaffected leaves weekly with a baking soda and water solution to protect against further damage: one tablespoon of baking soda to a gallon of water.
• Apply a milk and water solution to the leaves (1/2 cup milk to 2 cups water. When exposed to sunlight, the milk will temporarily become a disinfectant and kill spores.
• Badly infected plants should be ripped out completely.
• Horticultural oil also works for treatment and prevention

Bill

Carrots, Conundrums & Conversations

What to do when the carrots won’t thrive?  Not earth shattering, but that’s a question that currently haunts me.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love a conundrum.  I’m a science teacher after all and spend my days encouraging children to ask questions and explore.   My garden, and the one I manage at Havens school, are both ongoing daily experiments – our recent crop of 13 foot tall heirloom corn attests to that.  But really, a gardener needs someone to talk to, to share the successes, lament the failures and most importantly to work through those burning questions.  There are the professionals of course, but the answer I got to my carrot question, “Get over it, you can’t grow carrots.”  from a local nursery wasn’t particularly supportive or satisfying.  


As a co-chair of Piedmont Connect, I head up the Garden and Landscape group, and people frequently ask me garden questions.  As more of an organizer than experienced gardener, I can’t answer many, but I enjoy the conversation and the best part of PiedmontConnect’s annual Green Garden Ramble is watching all those green thumbs, both novice and expert, wandering from garden to garden, heads together in rapt discussion.  Whenever we meet to discuss what members want, opportunities to build community, and well -- ‘Connect’, always surface.  


Personally I’ve found my own garden guru and friend in Bill Drum, local gardening expert and co-founder of the Harvest Festival.  Every time I run into him he has a juicy tidbit to share, and I trust he’s been mulling over my carrot question since I mentioned it.   All gardeners thrive on sharing, and he’s a community resource par excellence.  Although I subscribe to a few garden newsletters, I’ve been seeking something more local and personal – so rather selfishly proposed a blog to Mr. Drum.   He jumped on board – so here we are.  Bill’s our resident expert, I’m the experimentalist, and we invite all of you to join our conversation.  You can watch for us on Piedmont Patch under the title Edible Garden Connections  or subscribe right here -  and if you have any solutions to the carrot conundrum – you know where to find me.


Terry