Posts
(today's garden haul)Besides a few major clean-out days, I've been pretty much ignoring my garden this spring--but it hasn't forgotten me! Today was the first day I was able to harvest a full handful of blackberries. And my artichoke plant seems to have split this year, so technically I have two plants right next to each other. The older plant has eight artichokes on it! I harvested the first one today, and plan to steam it tomorrow to enjoy with lemon butter.
(the artichoke plant, with one baby that can't be seen)Since I didn't plan to eat the artichoke for a day or two, I went online to find out the best storage methods. Turns out I shouldn't have washed it, but since my garden's pretty much organic, I wanted to make sure I wasn't bringing any bugs into the house.
(a close-up of the beautiful cut artichoke)I dipped the cut stem into lemon juice to help keep its coloring, and after a few minutes of draining, placed it in the fridge in a sealed plastic bag. It should keep this way for up to five days. This site has a great pictorial of how to prepare and cook an artichoke, including methods for stuffing, etiquette, and nutritional info.
(my hand included for perspective--it's pretty sizeable!) Leave a comment on the blog if you're available for dinner--I know what I'll be serving!
Oh, the advantages of living out in LA! My artichokes plants are just babies and it will be a rush to the frost to see if I get one (1!) artichoke this year.
ReplyDeleteI would love to come to dinner!!
I'm looking forward to starting artichokes and asparagus in August/September. Your artichokes are beautiful, do you know the variety? -Laurie from Tarzana Victory Gardeners
ReplyDeleteHi Laurie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting on my blog! I took the rest of the package of artichokes to our class and donated them to the group, so I can't look for the seed package to check the variety. I think they were the usual Jerusalem or Globe Artichokes. There's also a section of my blog's sidebar that has all my favorite gardening sites, so check them out when you have a chance. I'll look forward to seeing your garden progress this summer!