Blanching cardoon for harvest

I've never grown or eaten cardoon before. I noticed the other day that these plants are awfully large, so looked up the harvesting information. I had it in my head that I probably shouldn't harvest them this year... kinda like asparagus or rhubarb. But everything I've read seems to indicate that it is fine to harvest in the first year.

cardoon planted mid-summer

Blanched cardoon. Can't wait to try it in a few weeks!

These two articles are particularly interesting:
http://www.frenchgardening.com/aupotager.html?pid=11916664991580
http://subsistencepatternfoodgarden.blogspot.com/2009/10/forgotten-cardoon.html

Guy found some blackberries today. It makes him very happy.

See what else is growing in my garden.

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