Artichokes for dinner, all that faff for a couple of mouthfuls. I have loads on the plants so we had to have a go at them, nice but nothing to write home about but the perfect slimming food as they must negate any calories with the preparation and fiddly eating. I have a couple of dozen to give away tonight at the pub, the rest will be left to flower.
I love watching the bees swimming in the big blue flowers.
I once had some lovely fried ones in Italy. But agree there is so little to eat.
I did wonder when I saw your post with the artichokes. About third of my allotment was full of them when I took over but having faffed once they went on the compost heap. A few for the 🐝 would be nice.
Are we talking about globe artichokes or Jerusalem artichokes.
I think that Ace means globe as I have seen a photo of the plot but can't remember if on here or FB.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1438688836169944&set=pcb.1438689192836575&type=3&theater
I've had a load already too.
I don't begrudge them being a faff to prepare although I see how doing just one or two would be a bit pointless. If you pick 10 or 20 small chokes you can do them all in a big stock pot together for about 20 minutes, plunge in to cold water to coon, the outer leaves come off very easily together, trim the top leaves with a knife, trim the skin round the bottom and cut in half and plop them in a mix of lemon juice, olive oil and garlic.
The result is a big bowl of top quality sweet artichoke antipasti that you can keep in the fridge and would cost about £20 in a deli (and plenty of material for the compost heap!)
My plants are huge this year they are already up to my forehead and no sign of a flower yet. Hoping for a bumber crop. I did not know you could cook them whole and then sort them out. But I doubt I will get 20 or 30 more like four or five but they are usually quite large.
To my palate they taste of nothing at all. Adding garlic, lemon juice and olive oil makes them taste of garlic, lemon juice and oil but I might as well be eating cardboard.
Naturally I don't grow them but they also take so much space for such a small return that very few people do on my site..
Naturally we do have an Italian couple whose plot seems almost given over to them!