Description
This is a Cardoon.
Cardoon is drought tolerant (once established), ornamental, a pioneer plant and fast growing. USDA Hardiness Zones: 5-9.
We love putting the leaf stalks and young leaves in our stir-fries, pickles, and sauerkraut. Almost every part of this beautiful ornamental plant can be eaten at some point during it’s lifecycle. A star food forest pioneer plant, cardoon thrives and grows prolifically in our acidic clay soil much better than artichokes do, making it one of our favorite perennial vegetables here at Rainbow Grove! Although Cardoon is completely drought tolerant after a year in our Pacific Northwest clay soil, it will grow much bigger with a deep weekly watering. Cardoon slowly dies to the ground every fall, but comes back in winter to get a jump start on spring growth.
| Seeds Per Gram: | 20 |
|---|---|
| SKU: | VG4 |
| Common Name: | Cardoon |
| Latin Name: | Cynara cardunculus |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tree (species): | drought tolerant (once established) ornamental a pioneer plant fast growing |
| Other Common Names: | Artickoke Thistle |
| Lifecycle: | Perennial |
| Forest Layer: | Herb, Shrub |
| Food Type: | Vegetable |
| Height: | 8ft |
| Width: | 6ft |
| Hardiness (species): | 5-9 |
| Sun: | Full, Partial |
| Habitats: | Stony or waste places and in dry grassland, usually on clay. |
| Soil PH: | 5.5-7.5 |
| Soil Type: | Loam, Clay, Heavy Clay |
| Water Needs: | Average |
| Food Uses: | Stems – cooked and used as a celery substitute. It is best to earth up the stems as they grow in order to blanch them and reduce their bitterness, these blanched stems can then be eaten cooked or in salads. In Italy raw strips of the stems are dipped into olive oil. We find these stems to be too bitter when eaten raw. Flower buds – raw or cooked. The flower buds are a bit smaller than the globe artichoke and so are even more fiddly to use. The buds are harvested just before the flowers open, they are then usually boiled before being eaten. Only the base of each bract is eaten, plus the ‘heart’ or base that the petals grow from. The flavor is mild and pleasant and is felt by some people to be more delicate than the globe artichoke. Young leaves – raw or cooked. Eaten as a salad by the ancient Romans. Rather bitter. Root – cooked like parsnips. Tender, thick and fleshy, with an agreeable flavor. The dried flowers are a rennet substitute, used for curdling plant milks. |
| Sources: | pfaf.org wikipedia.org |
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.