I have been on a nice summer holiday recently and while away my garden vegetables went a little wild. I won’t bore you with the zucchini and tomatoes, what I will tell you about are my artichokes.

I LOVE artichokes, my kids love artichokes, my husband loves artichokes, so a few years ago I started growing some that I thought would winter over in my zone. The first year I was not supposed to pick any so the plants can gain their strength or something like that, but THIS year was the year I got to pick and eat our artichokes! Yay! Only when I got back from vacation one of the biggest on the plant was past prime, it had started to open and I knew picking it would be a waste since they need to be nice and tight when harvested for eating. So,  I figured I’d let it flower instead.

This one is just past its picking prime…

And this is when the flower is about to pop open…

And THIS is the amazing thistly like flower that explodes from what was once a simple artichoke meant to be sautéed in garlic and olive oil with a dash of seasalt….

Oh, well. Trader Joes has artichokes. I’ll just eat theirs and mine can be appreciated on that table in a vase instead of on a plate.

Happy gardening season everyone!