This year I'm growing artichoke for the first time (grew a single plant from seed). It's finally producing a head and I'm super conflicted on whether to harvest it (yummy!) or let it bloom (pretty!)
this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2024
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If it blooms, can it self-pollinate and produce seeds? That would be one point in favor of pretty. Or if it can't, that's a point in favor of yummy.
Same here, but last I checked a week ago it didn't have any buds yet :(
What zone are you? IIRC if you're 5 or below they'll overwinter and come back for a few years. Presumably you'll get more buds in year 2+.
Sadly we're zone 6, so any buds that come up are getting chopped. This was a fun one year thing, but the yield doesn't make sense up here - at least while we're packing beds with a bunch of other stuff.
It rarely gets below 20F here, so I am expecting my plant to overwinter (the roots, anyway) and produce more next year. Honestly I wasn't expecting it to flower at all in year one, so this was a delightful surprise! Sunlight hours here are limited (especially because my garden gets some shade), so perennial plants often take a full year just to get established but then they take off in year two.
That fucking shit is goddamn beautiful goddammit
Gorgeous.