Allotments 4 All

anybody given these a go before

ive got a little gap in my rootveg bed and was thinking of giving these a try ?

thanks steve

I never got worthwhile roots off them, but maybe you'll do better.

Salsify makes a lovely "wild Flower" and if it flowers everyone will have some next year... I find I get better roots of Scorzonera and it can be left in to get bigger... but being a perennial tends to come up again from bits that broke off at harvesting...   :-\

We tried both one year and didn't like either.  So the seeds went into the next seed swap  :) :) :)

Salsify flowers are lovely and a rare shade of blue, but you have to be up early to see them - they are all closed by noon.

However the seedheads are if anything even better - imagine a dandelion head up to 20cm across.

A drop of varnish or a squirt of hairspray can stabilise it for flower arranging.

I think the roots are best roasted (though they are thinner than everything else in the tray so you have to be careful not to burn them), but they are also good boiled - in France you can buy them bottled (in very long jars).

The first sprouts in spring are so dense they blanch their own centres and make a delicious veg (though nothing like asparagus despite what some books say). They are worth blanching deliberately.

Scorzonera roots are very similar apart from the black skin (if it doesn't scrub off it will peel off easier after it is cooked). The leaves and flowers are quite different.

This year I found out that scorzonera roots can go deep enough to drown themselves and rot when the water table rises in Winter.

I will be sowing them further up the slope this year.

i did both last summer and have harvested some and they are like thin parsnips, beautiful seeds to handle and they seem to germinate well.  Some are still in and foliage reinvigorated in the last week or so - I imagine the roots are getting larger.  Tastier than parsnips - boil for a few mins and peel and eat with garlic butter - a lovely starter.  I havent seen them flower yet but hear they set seed rather too easily!  I'd definitely advise giving it a go - a delicacy in Italy apparently......

We found them a bit too subtle! Give me carrots & parsnips any time.

I like them wrapped round with parma ham then filo pastry.