Saturday, December 15, 2012

Artichokes

3 years ago, I had to have the artichoke plant at Lowe's Garden Center. It cost me $15.00 and I hoped it would grow in Arizona. I planted it and it grew. The artichokes grow to be about the size of my fist...small (but the ones you buy in the grocery stores are patented and you cannot buy those!). But my first plant gave us between 60 and 80 artichokes the first year! And many of them went to waste or to seed. The plant eventually 'died'. The next fall, I had HUNDREDS of seedlings I thought were squash. They turned out to be artichoke seedlings. I transplanted a few and they grew. I left the others to fend for themselves in a yard area that was not getting watered anymore. The original plant began growing again! So again, we had artichokes, this time from several different plants. So I dug them up after they were done. I was done with artichokes. They take up a lot of room and I just don't think for as small as they are, they are so worth all the work. But here came some more!
There are 3 of them in this photo. They get watered because of the raised garden they are growing next to. So here we go again.

And then, the garden area that does not get watered anymore?
Artichoke plants are pretty drought resistant. They do grow well in Arizona. And after your harvests, the ones you do not pick do flower and make very pretty flowers!

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