Back to the garden

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Though most of the edible action in my new front yard is focused on the four raised vegetable beds I’ve written about before, there’s also a fuyu persimmon tree and — miracle of miracles — three big artichoke plants. And while everything else seems to be enjoying a slow spring adolescence, those artichokes are going kind of crazy. This is big news for me, because I’m kind of crazy about artichokes myself.

I’m not sure exactly where this affection comes from. Certainly, there’s plenty to love about artichokes just from a culinary standpoint. But that can hardly account for it. One of the first long food and farming stories I did was about the artichoke industry just north of Monterey around the little town of Castroville (home to something like 85% of the artichokes grown in the United States). All I know is that I still feel a thrill whenever I drive through the area and see those rolling, fog-shrouded hills covered with giant, gray-green plants.

So it’s probably only appropriate that the first thing harvested out of my new garden was an artichoke. I clipped the biggest of the half-dozen buds that have popped up already, snipped off the tips of the outer leaves, rinsed it well (aphids and ants!) and microwaved it (4 minutes on high in a sealed container, just long enough so that the leaves pull out easily). Then I served it with some garlic mayonnaise.

I’m not going to tell you that a home-grown artichoke is going to change your life. It’s not a tomato, for goodness’ sake, and after all, artichokes are certainly tough enough to ship fairly well. But it sure was good. It may have been just my imagination, but there did seem to be more nuance of flavor there. It was somehow more “artichoke-y” than the ones you buy in the store. And best of all, a little corner of my front yard looks just like Castroville.

-- Russ Parsons