Brand new mummy to nine Cardoons - any tips?

[Cornelian]

My cardoons just arrived in the mail - a small triumph to get anything through Tasmanian quarantine and I relish it any time I manage it.

Has anyone ever grown these as food? I know they were a very popular Victorian vegetable and I wonder if anyone here has any hints and tips re their cultivation.

[Millymollymandy]

Ummm, wear gloves when handling them?

I haven't grown them, but have seen them growing in some French style potagers (ornamental veggie gardens). I also have eaten them, once, in a restaurant but never prepared the veg myself.

Sorry not actually very helpful, I know!

[Cornelian]

I am thinking of planting them by the front gate. LOL I know I will need to plant them somewhere where I never ever need to touch them or weed among them again!

I have found a recipe for cardoon soup, so maybe will try that.

[Biscombe]

We have a few rouge plants that we inherited with the house! Don’t like them myself but you are supposed to replant the babies. Also some people blanch the stems......hope they grow well for you

[The Chili Monster]

They look viscous.
Recipes here.

[Cornelian]

Oooooh! great link. THANKS!

I first saw cardoons eaten (and grown) on the 1970s series "the Victorian Kitchen Garden" (which I just love, I now have it on dvd). They ate the young buds/leaves, forced in forcing pots and blanched in the doing, which made them very tender. They did not eat the 'artichoke' part of it at all. Boy, that fuzz sounds dangerous!

[revdode]

Ours seem to thrive best with a little shelter from the wind. They also seem to attract afids be prepared.
We grow them purely for interest, I don't really fancy trying to eat them they look quite nice though.

[Wombat]

Oooooh! great link. THANKS!

I first saw cardoons eaten (and grown) on the 1970s series "the Victorian Kitchen Garden" (which I just love, I now have it on dvd).

What sort of stuff do they talk about? Where did you get the DVD? (Nosey ain't I )

Nev

[Cornelian]

Nev you can buy it on amazon.co.uk - but you will need a multiregion DVD player. It is a series of 12 programmes following the planting out and growth of a Victorian kitchen garden over a full year, using all the old Victorian techniques - absolutely fascinating, and the star is an old head gardener they dug up out of mothballs somewhere - he outdoes the host! Search for "The Victorian Kitchen Garden" (I'd put the link here but it is one of those nightmarishly long ones ...). They also do the Victorian Kitchen, looking at how they use the produce from the garden. It isn't as good, but still relishingly delightful. :)



As to my cardoons - DISASTER! I have discovered they are banned plants in Tasmania (and yet quarantine let them through LOL), so I will grow them on for their tender spring shoots, then murder them and eat them. I posted on an Australian site about them and had a member of Tasmanian quarantine contact me. *oops*

[the.fee.fairy]

Why are they banned?
Are you going to get into trouble?

[Cornelian]

So long as I destroy them I'll be fine. I hope.

It is something to do with the thistle heads - seeds get into livestock coats and cause nightmares, plus they spread too easily and take over pastures etc. Tasmania tends to have really rigorous quarantine rules.

The nice lady who contacted me said it wasn't unknown for quarantine to allow something through, then in a few months arrive at the unsuspecting purchaser's property and make them pay for the environmental cleanup.

Maybe I won't even let them grow on very much ... maybe I'll just compost them now. *sigh* My poor cardoons. I'll have to put them to sleep.

[Wombat]

Thanks mate!

That's a bugger about the cardoons, I wonder if the same goes for the mainland?

Nev

[Cornelian]

I don't know about the mainland - I am guessing that is OK in most states seeing as it is being sold there.

[Millymollymandy]

So long as I destroy them I'll be fine. I hope.

It is something to do with the thistle heads - seeds get into livestock coats and cause nightmares, plus they spread too easily and take over pastures etc. Tasmania tends to have really rigorous quarantine rules.

The nice lady who contacted me said it wasn't unknown for quarantine to allow something through, then in a few months arrive at the unsuspecting purchaser's property and make them pay for the environmental cleanup.

Maybe I won't even let them grow on very much ... maybe I'll just compost them now. *sigh* My poor cardoons. I'll have to put them to sleep.

That's bad news Cornelian. It's also a good warning that the FORUM POLICE are alive and kicking! Watch out for what you say!

[the.fee.fairy]

Can you grow them imdoors in tubs?
Therefore stopping the chance of the heads getting into livestock/them spreading?

I hope you don't get charged a lot if you prove that you've done the best you can to stop them spreading!