scorzonera

[demi]

so iv got some scorzonera seeds.
no idea what it is???

all i know is its a winter veg with supposedly a better flavour than a parsnip ( i love parsnips ) but its supposed to be similar to oysters ( i hate sea food! ) i hope its more like a parsnip than a fish

anyone grown it before? or eaten it? any tips?

[Odsox]

I grew some and I can tell you it's pretty tasteless and nothing like parsnips.
I sowed them in the spring and dug one up the next winter and it was about as big round as a pipe cleaner.
They got left and this year I wanted them out of the way, they were almost as big as a small parsnip but they were 3 years old.
So I hope you can wait that long, mind you, they don't go woody or anything, so you can leave them as long as you want, plus they have pretty flowers.

[demi]

do they survive really harsh winters? it gets down into the -20's here at some point every year. was thinking to put them in the polly tunnel for some degree of protection.

[Odsox]

Sorry can't help there, mine probably didn't have to withstand any temperature lower than zero.

[Carltonian Man]

I found them to be skinny, so not easy to prepare and taste-wise a tad uninspiring. Certainly nothing like an oyster.

[demi]

well iv got the seeds so ill give them a go.
maybe they will grow better here as we get a long Mediterranean summer much better than the UK.
ill soon find out!
thanks guys.

[Millymollymandy]

If it is anything like Salsify I didn't like the taste. Left a load to flower the next year which were very pretty, however I then had the ruddy things self seeding everywhere including in my paths. They withstood a cold snap of about -8C with daytime highs of about zero for a week or so no problems. I think both scorzonera and salsify would need the same growing conditons as they are very similar.

[demi]

well if it survives the winter here and im not impressed with the taste i can just leave it as a pretty garden flower instead