Re: Growing artichokes

I just received my copy of Johnny's Selected Seeds out of Albion Maine,
which should be as cold as anywhere outside of the Yukon, and there is a
nice description of how to raise artichokes as an annual:

"Sow indoors about 8 weeks before last spring frost date. Sow 1/4" apart and
1/4 inch deep in lightly moistened soilless mix in a flat or pot. Germinate
at 70-80o F (21-27o C.) As soon as seedlings can be handled transplant to
2-4" pots or cell containers and grow at 60-70o F day and 50-60o F night.
Transplant 6-8 week old plants to garden, 2-3" apart. IMPORTANT COLD
TREATMENT: Time transplanting so that plants get at least 250 hours of temps
BELOW 50o F (10oC) to induce budding. Protect from frost.
HARVEST: Clip mature buds mid summer to mid fall, depending on location.
MILD AREAS: Where winter low is above 14oF (-10o C) sow seeds in fall,
harvest in spring."

I saw a show with Elliot Coleman once, he's a Maine gardener, too, and he
said you have to fool the artichoke plants into thinking they have already
gone through one year, because they set buds on second-year plants in
nature. That's why you start them at warm temps and then chill them after
they are big enough to take it so they go into a winter-like dormancy, and
then when they come out of it in the garden with the naturally occurring
warmer temps of summer, they think it's their second year and begin to
bloom.  Elliot Coleman treats this subject at length in his book on organic
gardening, if you can find it.

Good luck,

Denise McCann Beck
Coastal British Columbia
USDA zone 7 Sunset Zone 4


-----Original Message-----
From: Stacey VanDenburgh <staceyv@geh.org>
To: veggie-list@eskimo.com <veggie-list@eskimo.com>
Date: Monday, January 04, 1999 5:53 AM
Subject: Growing artichokes


>Hi All!
>
>Yes, I've been lurking on this list as of late and every night I go home
>and browse through the ever increasing stack of seed catalogues,
>wondering what I am going to order for this upcoming gardening season. I
>am thinking about trying artichokes, which I love, but I was wondering
>if anyone had any experience growing these beautiful plants in a climate
>similar to mine? I live in Western New York, USDA zone 5, where our
>winter temperature rarely dips below -10 degrees F.  Our last freeze
>date is May 20 and generally our first freeze date is around Oct.10th. I
>know I will have to treat them like annuals and start the chokes indoors
>in February. Has anyone on this list grown artichokes?
>
>Thanks!
>
>StaceyV
>
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