Cardy / Kardone

Season Overview

Description

Cardy, also known as cardi, cardoon or Spanish artichoke, is one of the most beautiful and impressive old vegetable varieties, which is also often used as an ornamental plant. The flowers, which keep well when dried, are a frequently used element in dried flower arrangements. The perennial shrub impresses with its size, strikingly large, overhanging leaves and, from the second year onwards, numerous branched, beautiful blue-violet artichoke flowers. In contrast to the artichoke, which is actually a cultivated form of the cardoon, it is also easy to cultivate in somewhat cooler climates and is considered a typical winter vegetable. It is not the flowers that are eaten, but the peeled stems and shoots with the leaves removed, which are considered a delicacy, especially in Italy, Spain and France. They taste somewhat bitter due to the appetizing bitter substances they contain, but are also deliciously nutty. Like asparagus, cardoons are also suitable for blanching. To do this, the plants must be loosely tied together for a few weeks in the fall before harvesting and darkened over most of their growth height with an air-permeable but relatively light-proof fabric - jute, for example - so that only the uppermost leaves receive light. The newly sprouting bleached leaf stalks can then be used like white asparagus. They should also be peeled before eating. The cynarins contained in the leaves belong to the caffeic acid derivatives, which strengthen the liver and gall bladder. This medicinal effect is mainly achieved by preparing the leaves as a tea, as is also common with the artichoke. In Portugal, sheep's milk for the regional cheeses Queijo de Azeitão and Queijo Serra da Estrela is thickened with an infusion of the stamens of the cardy instead of rennet.

Growing tips

For artichokes, it is best to start them in a warm place. From mid-January, the plants can be sown in a light, warm place in a seed tray with humus-rich, loose soil. If you soak the seeds in warm water for a day beforehand, they will germinate more quickly. A lot of light is required during the juvenile phase so that the plants do not shoot upwards but remain short and compact. As soon as the seedlings are too dense in their seed tray, you can prick them out and transplant them individually into pots. When the young plants have three to five leaves, they are ready to be planted in a sunny bed with loose soil. Work three to five liters of compost per square meter into the bed beforehand. You should always water sufficiently during cultivation. In the first year, artichokes only develop a few of the coveted buds. From the second year onwards, the harvest is larger, but you need to get the perennials through the cold season well. In a place protected from the wind, they can survive frost down to minus ten degrees. When overwintering outdoors, tie the leaf heads tightly together or cut off all the leaves. Then put a wicker basket over the plants and protect them all around with dry straw or leaves, piled up to about a hand's height. It is best to dig up the rhizomes, place them in boxes or large pots in damp sand and put them in a frost-free, but preferably cool room. Remove the covers from the beginning of April of the following year. Artichokes that have overwintered indoors are then planted out again. For annual varieties, you can save yourself the winter protection measures and simply grow new plants in spring.

Details

Light requirement

Sunny

Water requirement

Very humid

Soil

Light (sandy)

Nutrient requirement

High

Seeding distance

100 cm

Row spacing

100 cm

Seeding depth

1 cm