Salsify

[cleo]

Any one lifting them? I took some yesterday and although the main stems were good they had enough side fingers to be in the Tate Modern. It can`t be over manured or stony soil as the parsnips right next to them are huge with almost perfect shape.

[cleo]

[bedrockdave]

Isn't that how they are supposed to be?I really don't know but mine are always like that. ???

[bedrockdave]

well cleo ,either no-one else grows them or we're doing it right, ??? ???

[calendula]

it is a long time since I grew this and I'm going back to it next year but they are supposed to be single stemmed but maybe the excess water this year has encouraged side shoots - it just makes them difficult to peel - harvest late autumn onwards

[bupster]

I had a few single stemmed but the rest are as you describe. Didn't like them much roasted, what's the best way to cook would you say?

[star]

i WANTED TO TRY GROWING THIS TOO, WHAT DOES IT TASTE LIKE...........Im not shouting. Darned caps lock gets me again ::)

Is it easy to grow, and how much room does it need?

[calendula]

also called the vegetable oyster as it is supposed to resemble that taste but I've never got that myself - easy to grow, can be fiddly to peel as mentioned before, it is something to try and add to the repertoire so to speak - as a root veg you can do almost anything with it, steam, roast, boil, mash it, fry it, add cheese to it, roasted with a lot of other root veg is nice, stews, grated raw in salads and you can eat the leaves

it does discolour easily so you need lemon juice

let's compare next year  ;D

[dtw]

How deep does it grow?

[calendula]

about the same as a parsnip but not as deep as scorzonera which can be the devil to dig up  :o

[star]

also called the vegetable oyster as it is supposed to resemble that taste but I've never got that myself - easy to grow, can be fiddly to peel as mentioned before, it is something to try and add to the repertoire so to speak - as a root veg you can do almost anything with it, steam, roast, boil, mash it, fry it, add cheese to it, roasted with a lot of other root veg is nice, stews, grated raw in salads and you can eat the leaves

it does discolour easily so you need lemon juice

let's compare next year  ;D

Thank you for a lovely explanation........would love to compare ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

Salsify and scorzomera have brittle roots; you can't hoik them out by brute force the way you can with a parsnip.

[star]

Heehee....I couldnt even hoik out the parsnips this year. Tenacious beasts.......with anchors ;D ;D 8)

[saddad]

If you leave a few in to flower.. you and everyone for miles around gets a free weed...

;D

[calendula]

beautiful, forgot to mention the flowers - aren't they related to sunflowers, same family as jerusalem artichokes - am sure someone will say  :-\

[star]

Oh they are lovely too......pays to leave one or two? ;)

[saddad]

Not if you want to keep your friends... the seed heads are like very well structured Dandelions and distributed just as easily!!
:-[

[Rob08]

I believe the leaves and flowers are edible.  Might make a better leaf crop than root crop if you are not too taken with the taste of the root.

[saddad]

There's a big difference between edible and palatable... I have an excellent border of Asparagus peas at the moment....
::)

[calendula]

yuk - grew these once, cooked them everyway I knew and some that I didn't  ;D still couldn't get them to be palatable

[star]

Not if you want to keep your friends... the seed heads are like very well structured Dandelions and distributed just as easily!!
:-[

Haha......ok point taken, but if I like them-I never have to buy or beg seeds again  ;)