Artichoke Seed

Good artichoke seeds left, right the quality I had in former years

This year I harvest artichoke seeds of a superior quality, compared to my normal harvest. The seeds are hard with a smooth surface, and of a darker shade than usual. Normally the germination of my artichoke seeds are very low, but still allowing to grow a few plants. From this years seeds I expect a much higher germination rate, as seeds are obviously better ripened. I also harvested more seeds than usual, a little more than 150 seeds of the best quality. The mother plant is the old danish Serridslevgaard, very rare and difficult to obtain, but every seed growing will be its own new variety. I expect a broad variation in the seedlings. Most of them will probably be inferior to their mother, but with some luck a few better plants might appear. The mother plant is in the elite when it comes to hardiness, many of the seedlings are likely to inherit this trace – but not all.

The inferior seeds to the right in the picture are of a lighter color. A nail on the surface of the seed shell let you feel the difference. Inferior seeds are not slippery like a ripe filbert nut, but gives resistance to moving the nail along the shell.

How come the artichoke seeds developed so well this year? I believe it’s due to the warm unusually dry late summer we had on Amager, my island.

 

Visiting Vild med have

Merete and Ejner in their wonderfull kitchen garden

Bringing a few things to Merete and Ejner, I was invited to see their lovely kitchen garden. It is early in the season, but there are allready rows of tiny sprouting vegetables. Pea, and …. OK, I don’t exactly recognize the tiny sprouts by looking at the photo, but there are a variability of crops and no weed. The strong leafy row in front is black salsify not to be missed, and garlic grows up to the left.

The old artichokes impressed me deeply. I know the problems of getting them safely through the frosty wet winters. I have often read, that the younger plants from cuttings make it through the winter with more ease than the older individuals. Contrary, Merete and Ejner have experienced that in their garden the older plants are more likely to survive the winters than the younger plants. Therefore I saw some very old plants not move for many years. This makes me wonder how should I cultivate my own artichokes in the future.

We have exchanged artichoke clones, at I’m very excited to see the development of one of their old clones in my garden. We believe it is a ‘Green Globe’. As this is a seed propagated old line of artichokes, the name can not be fixed on a single individual. Taking cuttings from their original seed plant is cloning, and if it grows well in my garden I will continue the cloning. Then I have to ask Merete and Ejner for a name for the clone.

I allways find it exciting and inspiring to visit others gardens. Often I bring home new methods, less labour intensive than what I can find in the books or on the web. Particularly when it comes to more rare vegetables like artichokes or garlics in my area. Thanks for an artichoke talk!

Merete is author of the danish blog “Vild med have“. It is very visual, based on photos, I think a lot of readers here can enjoy it, go visit it!

 

Artichoke surprise

Artichoke flower

An artichoke head was cut a bit late, and then waited a while for the chef – look up what happened!

No water, but allready in flower for many days, I guess it’ll slowly transform to an eternity flower.

 

Artichoke – Seed Harvest

Artichokes ready for seed harvest

Artichokes for seed are always exciting. Do they contain a lot of seeds? Potentially yes – but! More contain only few seeds, and even more no seeds at all.

Artichoke pappus

At the very first touch to the dry artichoke head you realise it is a thistle. You rapidly learn to break them open without getting thorns into your skin. Being a thistle and a relative of dandelion, the seeds are connected to the pappus, unfolding like a parachute to spread the seed by the wind. Artichoke seeds are large, I really don’t think it works that way anymore. The original wild artichoke probably had smaller seeds, allowing the wind to grab the pappus and take the seeds up in the air.

Artichoke seeds naturel

Artichoke seeds must be large and resist a light pressure. There are only few large seeds, and most I discard at once due to softness when pressed between my fingers.

Artichoke seed harvest of the year

Out of six artichoke heads, I only had large pressure resistant seeds from three. One had a fair amount of seeds, two others only small numbers. Not impressing. But a few of them might grow in spring, producing new plants. If any of these plants survive a couple of winters, it’s a miracle. I do hope for a miracle. But for now I willdry the seeds and store them with tender loving care.

It is all seeds from the variety ‘Herrgård’. My other varieties are still young in my garden, possibly the reason they didn’t set seeds at all.

 

Artichoke harvest

Artichoke ‘Herrgård’ Cynara scolymus

Today I harvested the first artichoke heads. Now they rest under cold water, to let the insects escape.
I do not have the heart to harvest the heads every year, since the flowers are incredible beautiful.

H.C. Andersen wrote about artichoke in the fairytale “The Gardener and the Noble Family”, where he call it “The lotus of Hindustan”.

Left: My own variety (unnamed), middle and right ‘Herrgård’

Artichokes and peeled stem after boiling

Boiled artichokes and stem in the boiling water, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic and wine. Now I will leave it it in the fridge for 1-3 days.

‘Herrgård’ is an old heirloom, could very well be the one H.C. Andersen knew from the gardens of danish manorhouses.

More on artichoke

 

Overwintering artichoke

Artichoke ‘Herrgård’ Cynara scolymus

Artichoke is not reliable to overwinter in Denmark. Different varieties are clearly more or less hardy. One of the most hardy is ‘Herrgård’, an old heirloom from Scania (southern Sweden). It is said to have been in culture for centuries in gardens of the aristocracy in Scania and Denmark. ‘Herrgård’ is probably identical to the danish ‘Serridslevgaard’, but I can’t tell for sure, as I havn’t got hold on the latter. Do you grow it dear reader, please let me have a cutting

Many things have been written about the art of overwintering artichokes. Often by experts who never grew artichokes themselfes. Since I’ve overwintered my artichoke the last five years, I’m thus not an expert. I do it from a very simple theory. I believe moisture in the heart of the artichoke kills it at lower temperatures, and only at much lower temperatures will the temperature itselv kill the artichoke. Therefore I cover my artichokes with glass, with an inclination and earth touch towards west, as most wind and rain comes from that direction. The cracked pot is to keep down the glass in stormy weather. In case of severe frost I cover the glass and surroundings in snow, making an insulated hive for the artichoke. When snow melts, the glass leads water away from the heart.

In autumn i pot cuttings and store in the greenhouse as a sofecopy. I still didn’t have a truely cold winter on top of my artichokes. When that comes, with daytemperatures of -20 Celcius, I must be very carefull to add suficient insulation.