Victory Gardens for the Pandemic

[MissB]

6. Cardoons, artichokes and asparagus

And let’s face it, if you plant potatoes you’ll never find them all so while they aren’t strictly perennial....

Cardoons are my current fav. Tastes like artichoke, looks like artichoke but if you eat the flower you’ve essentially eaten the wrong part of the plant. They aren’t permanently perennial in my zone but they will come back for ~7 years. You harvest the stalk, peel and steam the heck out of it.

I have it in my yard- no one would steal it because they’d never be able to figure out what to do with it. Kinda stealthy that way. Plus it looks absolutely prehistoric once mature- my three year old plants were 6’+ tall last year. I saved seed pods from the healthiest plant and started a couple dozen seeds this spring. Just planted out a dozen out this weekend and will be giving the rest away to coworkers or nextdoor peeps.