Rhubarb: I think I've mentioned this one before. Rhubarb is not the most popular southern product. It's a perennial plant loves a long cool spring and a reasonable summer to grow big and healthy. Well folks, let's face it, that's not Texas! But I recently read about growing rhubarb as an annual from seed. In the north, it dies back in the winter and takes the whole spring to grow to harvestable size. But here we can protect it from frost so that it grows all winter and really takes off for the few short weeks of cool spring we have before succumbing to the inferno of summer. Well we planted a few rows of it and while we certainly made some mistakes in its care (didn't realize just how frost sensitive it was!), we actually got enough of a crop for a few pies! So next year we are sure to plant a decent amount and actually have some available for our vegetable subscribers!
Artichokes: Now, these aren't such a weird vegetable. But none of us at the farm have ever (successfully) grown them before. Mom and I enjoyed our very first homegrown artichoke last weekend and it was delicious! We only have two plants and we could easily eat all the flower buds from them so I'm not sure if we will ever have enough for the whole CSA - maybe enough to reward people for coming out and volunteering during the spring! But we will be planting more from this next year.
Cardoon: I had only ever read about this vegetable in books but when I saw one for sale at the nursery I had to get it. We still haven't tried it yet but I plan on it this weekend. It's a close relative of the artichoke and while the buds are edible like its' cousins, it is grown for it's huge stalks. Apparently they taste like artichoke. I sure hope so - it's all that wonderful flavor but in a HUGE vegetable instead of a little fussy thing that takes as many calories to prepare and eat as it provides (well, until you dip it in butter!). I'll let you know how it really tastes though!
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