Cardoon and Artichoke

I have a cardoon and an artichoke growing in my veg patch plus two more artichokes in other parts of the garden, all from seeds.  I have never grown cardoon before and the mature one that I saw in the Dunedin Botanic Garden was almost as tall as me . It is a huge plant so one needs space to plant it.Next season I shall plant it in the ‘ornamental’ section of the garden since it becomes such a spectacular plant.  One eats the ‘flower buds’ on the artichoke and the stems of the cardoon. Artichokes are a firm fixture on our menu when they are in season, but I have never cooked cardoon before. I have been collecting ideas and recipes and shall post my favourites once I have either of them harvested and cooked.

Presently the plant look similar, both have small flowers buds, so I have to wait and see what the mature plants look like.  On the left is the cardoon and on the right the artichoke as they are at present.

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Cardoon                                                                                           Artichoke

 

At the Stadium Markets in Dunedin every Sunday

We had a lovely sunny day in Dunedin and many residents went to the beach – I went myself and there were more people than I had ever seen on the beach.

Those that came to the market would have found fantastic apricots that actually had ripened on the tree also sweet black plums, cherries and peaches. All of these and vegetables were on offer for very reasonable prices and were locally grown and fresh.  Nothing that sat in supermarket warehouses for years!

Flagstaff Alpacas had a stand beside mine and had a well deserved late windfall. A few tourists arrived just before everyone started to pack up and bought virtually his entire stock of lovely knitwear, yarns, fleece, duvets and toys.  The stall owners farm the Alpacas, and produce all their unique articles in their own mill locally in Milton.  They also have farm stay facilities. In my opinion more enterprises of this type will really put Dunedin on the tourist map. Their website is worth a look : http://www.flagstaffalpacas.co.nz

More news next Monday

Hazelnut Tree

My grandchild, having the advantage of both  keen eyesight and being low on the ground, discovered hazelnuts between the loose pebbles on the garden stairs.  It is a smallish tree and we do not expect much of a harvest, so I will not inquire about recipes.

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