Re: artichokes

**G* L* <g*@gmail.com>**

sent to a friend November 22, 2013 who wanted to grow Artichokes in
Pittsburgh, PA
Hi Harry,
After sifting through all the artichoke info, the most knowledgeable
horticultural people whom I admire most seemed to have the same advice. The
best environment for Artichokes is 55 degrees night and day, winter and
summer, 365. (California). But ppl from Cincinnati just down the River from
you and even Maine and Nevada have grown them successfully.

1. Buy 1-gallon Artichoke plants NOW as soon as possible and pot them up in
rich soil in 1- or 2-gallon pots in order to vernalize them. The consensus
is Green Globe are the most uniform and best producers. You should be able
to find some bare root plants and mail order them.
2. Put the pots in a wooden frame and fill with fluffy leaves covering
everything as insulation, or else
make a white hoophouse and put them in there for some cover over winter*
(water sparingly)
3. Plant them out in full sun around April 1st, with 4 feet spacing around
each
4. keep evenly moist, I'm thinking soaker hoses or drip irrigation
5. I will be in Pittsburgh this August for the Garden Writers Association
Symposium, we can eat them then. I'll bring the butter.

* you can put incandescent lights or strings of OLD incandescent Christmas
Lights in Hoophouse to add some warmth. (LED do not give off heat)

The other option is to get seed now (and there are some that take fewer
growing days to harvest <- best for the north where you live), and get
small plants over this winter by growing in a Greenhouse or under Grow
Lights so that they are about 1-gallon size by April 1st.  I don't know if
they need winter cold in order to flower or not.

Good luck. Geri

On Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 3:09 PM, Lorraine Ballato <ladygardener@msn.com>wrote:

> Hi, Jo Ellen!
>
> (Jo Ellen asked about experience growing artichokes)
>
> Haven't grown them, however, they grow them at Four Season Farm (Eliot
> Coleman and Barbara Damrosch) in Maine which I saw (incredible operation!)
> with my own eyes on my way to Quebec last summer. By clicking into their
> website and following on some links, you may be able to glean some info. At
> the least, one of their books might yield the info you want/need. After
> all, if they can grow them where they are, you can certainly do as well in
> your climate. They had an entire field of them!
>
> Website is http://www.fourseasonfarm.com/<http://www.fourseasonfarm.com/>.
> If you can ever get there, do try. Their methods are very instructive -- we
> can all learn a great deal from them.
>
> Best,
>
> Lorraine
>
> Lorraine Ballato
> Grow the best plants you can by converting your containers to
> self-waterers easily and cheaply.  Go to
> http://www.successfulselfwateringcontainers.com/<
> http://www.successfulselfwateringcontainers.com/> to get the full story.
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-- 
Geraldine Adamich Laufer M.S., APR
404-586-0686
gerilaufer@gmail.com
Website http://gardengeri.com
Twitter http://twitter.com/gardengeri
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