Artichoke

Growing artichokes in San Diego is really quite easy, surprisingly. Often times we find that the most expensive things in the supermarket are quite difficult to grow or are costly. Not so with the thistle family of plants that artichoke belongs to. The plants are very large, some of the largest single vegetable plants that people grow around here. One artichoke plant can reach about six feet in diameter, so leave plenty of room for these plants to grow up. Artichoke is a thirsty plant, so grow it next to vegetables that require more water rather than the drought resistant succulents in the ornamental garden. My favorite thing about growing artichoke is the health benefits this plant has to share with us. Artichoke leaf is a bitter green, but not like bitter green we are used to at the supermarket or in a restaurant salad. This is the most bitter green, unpalatable, medicinal flavored, ridiculously hard to eat. Try it mixed with other greens, sauteed in a lot of butter, or in a strongly flavored sauce. Bitter greens solve the toughest health problems in our bodies- cleaning our liver, it essentially does the opposite of what alcohol does for our body.

The artichoke as we are used to eating is an unopened flower bud. The flower that follows is majestic. Truly one of the best flowers in the vegetable world. A huge, royal purple flower will stay beautiful for an extended time, and then you get many artichoke seeds from the flower after that. So make some room and find a cool purple variety at walter andersons or your local family-owned nursery.