Last year I was excited to cultivate a vegetable new to me, salsify, grown for its tasty roots. I planted seeds in spring of 2022 (variety: mammoth Sandwich Island). They sprouted all right, then remained a couple of inches tall all summer. I left them in the ground all winter and here they are in May '23

In late May and early June the plants bloomed with 2-3 inch purple blossoms that opened in the morning and closed by early afternoon.

When the seeds ripened they formed beautiful clocks (photo by nostr:npub104zp04wlgddf0w84tj8jul3w75e7ydcuuhsull2etste5040xm2qg285rf )

Now I have LOTS of salsify seeds and still haven't tasted the roots (which become woody and essentially inedible after the plants bloom).

I'm going to try planting in the autumn instead of spring and see if that will give me harvestable roots next summer or autumn.

#gardening #homesteading #harvestr #flowers