The artichoke stood alone

Phase 1 of the great 2010 north Georgia artichoke experiment concluded Saturday.

The verdict:

You can grow artichokes in north Georgia in a single season.

I chose “Imperial star PVP” from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange as it was purported to be a single season producer. Apparently most varieties need a certain number of cooling hours before they bloom; I figured I’d give these a shot when I ran across them.

The location (in hindsight) was terrible; they were against a the fence with a Tommy Toe cherry tomato plant from hell just to the south. The late afternoon sun was blocked by the fence and the Goliath tomato vine obscured a lot of the late morning sun, especially after July. The poor plant closest to the tomato plant was overrun and stunted.

I understand that the artichoke crowns can be moved after the tops are killed by a freeze; my intent is to move both of these to a better area in the boxwood garden.

Anyway, the single smallish but tasty ‘choke found its way into the kitchen Saturday evening. Mrs cohutt devoured the bounty and seemed to enjoy it; the one petal (?) I was granted had a very nice fresh flavor.

One surprise: I expected the stem to be tough and more woody or sinewy than it turned out to be. I’m not really sure why and honestly i didn’t put a lot of thought into it beforehand. I was just surprised at how soft and easy to cut it tuned out to be.

The “prize” of the 2010 garden just before harvest: