Globe Artichokes...the marmite in the garden?

[cheapskate chaz]

Last year when I took over two plots, two artichoke plants sprung up and produced two buds which flowered, this year I`ve looked after them with intentions of eating some. Well, with over 16 globesI harvested 4 to try, looked up cooking tips and followed the `recipe`, well........yuk! the stench in the kitchen was one thing, when I got to the heart after peeling the leaves away, i realised , this, was not for me, guess I`m going to have a lot of artichoke flowers then!

[Raybon]

Didja put some melted butter, lemon juice and black pepper on there?
Dip the leaf bases in that and nibble off too? Yum!
Never mind, think of all the lovely compost you are growing. Makes great mulch too!

[PyreneesPlot]

I pick mine very small (5-10cm) and then just need to trim a few outer leaves and the tops, peel the stem, halve and then boil for just a few minutes before dressing with a vinaigrette of choice. The flavour should be mild when they are teeny.
Tonight they'll be going on pasta with some garlic and rocket.
If they get big enough for a choke to form the flavour can be robust!

[sparrow100]

I wish I had some. All my baby plants from seed were slugged within hours of putting them out.

[Jamesy_uk]

Sounds like me with the Turnips I grew 2 years ago, lovely big ones but my god the smell alone put me off . I have eaten Globes before in an olive oil dressing and I loved them but plain they are a little 'winky'

[marcofez]

I l ove globe artichokes! Only trouble is not very good at cooking them. Good job my mum knows what she's doing and par-boils them, opens them up a little and sort of stuffs the tops with a runny scrambled egg mixture. Then boils them a little more for the "choke" and egg mixture to cook a little more. Delicious

[marcofez]

Forgot to say, pick them young!!!!

[summer]

I have seedlings that I sowed earlier and I am struggling with whitefly on them. Ends of leaves constantly curling up and they have been sprayed many a time with soapy water.

[MrsCordial]

My seedlings have been munched a bit, then I managed to pull one up when I was weeding earlier, but hastily stuffed it back in the ground. I think they look like they'll make it, but what sort of harvest I get this year I don't know - I have a feeling they're the sort of plants that need a couple of years to get going.

[Florence Fennel]

I've got a couple bang in the middle of my flower bed and a few that keep springing up in a "wildlife" area at the top of the garden, but I've never tried them. Perhaps I'll have a taste this year.

[andy_j]

How ironic. We have a Spanish lady who has an allotment near me and she picked some today. She took time to show us how to prepare and cook them and then offered to do some for us

[mothhawk]

I'm with you on this one Chaz

[cheapskate chaz]

I wish I had the guts (literally) to eat them , but I have such plain taste, Asparagus yes, but this was too much to stomach...., maybe I should invest in a wife? who can cook too!
As I live on my own I have no-one to compare taste or try new ways with ( cooking, you naughty people )

[Raybon]

They are meant to be aphrodisiac.
An artichoke could could change your life.

[Bal]

I was introduced to them by my french friends, boiled and then eaten with a lovely mustard vinaigrette. I love them, they are the only food that leaves the plate fuller at the end of the meal than at the beginning