So... Anyone ever grow a pineapple?

Thanks to this thread I now know the difference between a Coleus and a Chrysanthemum.

Saw some Coleus the other day and knew what they were because they looked just like Adrina's paving stone bloomers. (wait, that didn't come out right... :D )
 
Australian lifestyle

Grow it, show it, eat it: gorgeous in bloom, cardoons are like artichoke without the hard work

Beloved by florists and chefs alike, cardoons are worth planting for aesthetics alone,
but are as easy on the palate as on the eye

Palisa Anderson

Fri 10 Jul 2020

New this year to the farm is the Gobbo Di Nizzia cardoon.

Also known as wild artichoke or artichoke thistle, cardoons are hard to find harvested –
even at farmers’ markets. This makes them all the more appealing to grow – just check
to see if they’re classified as a restricted weed in your area, as they are in parts of Victoria.

Where growing them is permitted, the aesthetic of the plant alone justifies planting it
as an ornamental. This herbaceous perennial shows off like an extra in Jurassic Park,
with silvery leaves and a pearlescent rib – which is the edible part of the plant, along
with the thistle. There is also an heirloom variety, the Rouge d’Alger, that blushes in t
he cold. In fact, when cardoons fell out of favour gastronomically, the plant was still
grown for its striking proportions – florists love cardoon thistles in their arrangements.

But how does it taste? I grew up eating bitter vegetables, a common element in Thai
Chinese and Japanese cuisines, so I politely scoff when people suggest that cardoons
or artichokes are bitter.

"Mate, you weren’t ever made to eat a raw bitter melon;
do that and then come talk to me about bitterness
(actually I love them now)."

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...oons-are-like-artichoke-without-the-hard-work

(from seed)

"Cardoon, Cynara cardunculus, is a medicinal food high in folic acid.

Similar in appearance to Globe Artichoke and culture, but the young stems
and flower stalks are eaten. Gentle liver stimulant and laxative.

Cardoon is native to the Mediterranean and prefers rich soil in a sunny position.
Herbaceous perennial, growing to 2m x 1m.

https://www.allrareherbs.com.au/product/cardoon-seed/

we have these growing around, some in the cow pastures, some along the fenceline. the flowers really are extraordinarily pretty. think i have a pic somewhere i took a few years ago
 
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This evening for supper, I had a pasta pesto that included onions, zucchini, tomatoes and herbs wot I did grow myself. I made tomato relish the other day, that doesn't actually taste awful. Earlier I picked blackberries from the hedgerows for pie or maybe jam. I am so Gaia right now!

Also, the calendula, cosmos, hollihocks and gazania ( all grown from last years seeds ) are fab. The Hollihocks must be 3m high. It's all down to horse shit.

PS I thought I'd better clean up my drunk post and have added some more pics taken in daylight :eek:

Daylight
https://64.media.tumblr.com/fd15cfcee6114ac33d65e86d18b40a95/4b05d7da7815c5ba-bc/s640x960/d76d44ac669fc5ad5e9ccb4690354cae7b84a526.jpg
https://64.media.tumblr.com/11ceb77d7af050ba947a0dc4997c57eb/4b05d7da7815c5ba-6b/s640x960/f3352f27dd01472d6a6ce6bb35ca82d048319212.jpg
https://64.media.tumblr.com/2a4fed45e87d7f3dc0e9a08ca4fef309/4b05d7da7815c5ba-0e/s640x960/d04f839e2b817b22808a0dc2a9c25ca6b7a64548.jpg
https://64.media.tumblr.com/c2648c41ca16de41801278d024761a52/4b05d7da7815c5ba-a7/s640x960/e4d472304bcdf9d8eb0cb4664baa8f68f2bc887a.jpg

https://64.media.tumblr.com/31446343ee4cfc02dacf58a977654238/6bb435612976be0a-7f/s500x750/b8a9f3533bf2cc7ec7bf44d1360971c35058a9f6.jpg
https://64.media.tumblr.com/bdead5e2c4dfbb238912afc332e570e7/6bb435612976be0a-3d/s400x600/b9fcc39c1d0c7b7be8120aca006e8e4cc124754c.jpg

^^ soz - nearly dark
 
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My tomatoes are getting to the end of their summer - some terminal looking black stems on a few and the others looking a bit weary. Good news is that I've managed two lots of tomato pickle, with the second batch more successful. Dilemma - do I give the first ones away and eat the second myself, or try to impress people by giving the second batch away?

Similar story with the zucchini's, which got a pasting from a couple of windy squalls. I feel a twinge of guilt eating their fruits now - it feels like stealing food from an over-generous senior citizen.

Potatoes. I've not grown them before and bugger me - single Sainsbury's spuds have magicked into a meal for two! No wonder Matt Damon survived on Mars.

There are also flowers :) :rose:
 
So far no pineapples, but no surprise really - I need to get them in the ground. And Jan needs more light than she's getting. Both are pretty big - Jan is bigger. Both look good. But I need to dig out some lawn and make them a bed.
 
Lots of people grow pineapples

If people did not grow pineapples the only pineapples in the world would be wild pineapples. So the answer to the OP is, yes... many. Even companies like Dole.
 
So far no pineapples, but no surprise really - I need to get them in the ground. And Jan needs more light than she's getting. Both are pretty big - Jan is bigger. Both look good. But I need to dig out some lawn and make them a bed.
..
Interesting journey from the first to here; lost of spam lovers back there. :)
Good read on a soggy Sunday.
 
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