The Quintessential California Vegetable

"The quintessential California vegetable" is what Nicole Spiridakis of the Kitchen Window calls them in this story. (With recipes--check it out!) I love them and we have been eating them like crazy.

Artichokes!


The plants came with the house. They were planted in an awkward spot--in the lawn between an old apple tree and the back fence. (What was she thinking????) So we moved them to a spot in a newly created bed. When we first moved here I tried to keep the plants that would need watering somewhat together. I killed a few things that I put in a new spot and then forgot about. One of the dangers of a large yard is that you have to get used to paying attention to where you planted things. So we put them in a spot near other plants. They produced and thrived and had babies and took over too much space. So they were split and moved again about a year ago. Babies went to my Master Gardener class raffle and cutting days. One vegetable I can really grow is artichokes! Actually, they seem to grow themselves, if I am honest about it.

This year they are the best ever. Lots of artichokes and all have been super tender and tasty! Even the big ones are really tender with the inner leaves being completely edible. In the first year they were really bitter (from lack of water when we first moved in?) and in other years they have been overtaken by ants. This year we don't seem to have either of these problems. The ants may come later in the year when things dry out a bit, but maybe not. Right now we are in artichoke abundance!