The right harvest time is essential for artichokes. If you wait too long to harvest, the artichoke will produce blue flowers and will no longer be edible. Find out below when and how to harvest your artichoke and how to use it in the kitchen.
When should you harvest artichokes?
Artichokes should be harvested in late summer, usually August or September. It is important that the green cover leaves spread slightly or the tips turn brown. If delayed, the artichoke becomes tough and inedible.
When to harvest artichokes?
Artichokes are usually ready to harvest in late summer, i.e. in August or September. However, in exceptional cases it blooms earlier. Therefore, it is important that you keep an eye on the buds. The size of the buds has little impact on ripeness, because depending on the location, soil quality and varieties, the ready-to-harvest bud can be from 5 to 15cm large. The artichoke should be harvested when:
- The green cover leaves spread out very slightly or/and
- the tips of the bracts begin to turn brown.
In both of these cases, the artichoke should be harvested immediately.
What if you missed the harvest time?
If you wait too long and the bracts open or the leaves turn purple, the artichoke can no longer be eaten. It is then tough and no longer tastes good. So if you miss the harvest date, let the artichoke bloom and enjoy the beautiful, blue flowers. You can also then collect seeds for propagation.
How are artichokes harvested?
Using a sharp stem, cut the flower stem of the artichoke as far away from the artichoke as possible. The stem provides the artichoke with moisture if you don't eat it straight away.
Store and process artichokes
Store your artichokes in the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator. To protect them from moisture loss, you can wrap them in a damp cloth. Preparing the artichoke is not easy, but it's worth it:
- Rinse your whole artichoke thoroughly.
- Then break off the stem over the edge of a table or similar. It is important that you break it off and not cut it off, as this is the only way to loosen the inedible fibers.
- You can remove the outer leaves and the tough, inedible hay that sits above the delicious artichoke base both before and after cooking. Of course, the artichoke looks nicer if you serve it whole and let your guests pick out the inedible parts, like the tough outer leaves, the purple leaf tips inside, and the hay. Cuts on the artichoke should be soaked in water and lemon juice immediately after cutting. Otherwise they will oxidize and become discolored.
- Then the artichoke is placed in boiling s alted water and cooked for 45 minutes. You can also spice up the water with lemon juice and/or white wine.
