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All things salsify...

echo minarosa

pollinator

Posts: 247

Location: KY - Zone 6b (near border of 6a), Heat Zone 7, Urban habitat

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posted 3 years ago

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I attempted to grow Tragopogon porrifolius (salsify) 'Mammoth Sandwich Island' (I think) last year. It didn't go well. I tried planing salsify and parsnips in the same bed and both failed. It may have been uneven moisture levels at the start.

So, I want to try again. I would like to try regular and Scorzonera hispanica (black or Spanish salsify) together. I'd also like to try parsnips again.

Anyway, are there any gastrointestinal issues with either salsify? I love Jerusalem artichokes but just can't bring myself to eat them any more as they tend to give me extreme GI upset to the point of pain. I also don't grow them as I need the space for other vegetables that may more easily fit into dietary needs.

Any tips to growing salsify? Comparison between the two plants mentioned above?

"Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, nihil deerit." [If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need] Marcus Tullius Cicero in Ad Familiares IX, 4, to Varro.

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Ellendra Nauriel

pollinator

Posts: 820

Location: South-central Wisconsin

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posted 3 years ago

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Resurrecting this thread, because it came up when I was looking for info on salsify.

A friend is wanting to grow salsify, but she was told it's considered invasive in some places, and she wants my advice. Has anyone here had a problem with salsify turning invasive?

Anne Miller

steward

Posts: 16058

Location: USDA Zone 8a

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posted 3 years ago

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I do not have any experience with it though to me since it is a root vegetable, as long as it does not go to seed it would not be a problem.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

greg mosser

gardener

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Location: the mountains of western nc

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posted 3 years ago

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yep, to respond to the various questions in this thread:

-i have never had the normal inulin responses that i get from sunchokes or uncured yacon from salsify or scorzonera
-agreed with anne, if you don’t let them flower, they’re definitely not invasive.
-salsify is biennial, so you’d generally harvest before flowering anyway. scorzonera is perennial, and i’ve liked leaving them in the ground for 4 years or so, so the roots aren’t too skinny. young flowerbuds are also edible, so it’s possible to let harvesting food keep them from flowering.
-seeds are relatively large, and it’s generally easy to collect all or nearly all of them if you’re in the garden fairly regularly, before they try to go anywhere.

echo minarosa

pollinator

Posts: 247

Location: KY - Zone 6b (near border of 6a), Heat Zone 7, Urban habitat

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posted 2 years ago

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Can you describe flavor? Favorite ways to prepare?

"Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, nihil deerit." [If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need] Marcus Tullius Cicero in Ad Familiares IX, 4, to Varro.

Judith Browning

Posts: 8887

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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posted 1 year ago

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I plan to grow this next year.
Any helpful hints from those growing it?

Zone 7b more or less.

I plant parsnips over the winter and we are eating them now...is salsify similar?
Both are bi-annuals...nice long parsnip root that I never had to water once germinated so hoping salsify might be similar.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
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Nancy Reading

steward and tree herder

Posts: 8378

Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland. Nearly 70 inches rain a year

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posted 1 year ago

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If you can grow parsnip I'm sure you can grow salsify. Saying that, mine germinate more in my stone pathways than in the garden beds! The flowers are lovely - like purple dandelions.

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My projects on Skye: The tree field, Growing and landracing, perennial polycultures, "Don't dream it - be it! "

Judith Browning

Posts: 8887

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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posted 1 year ago

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Purple flowers!
Do yours just reseed then?
And can you eat the tops?

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Nancy Reading

steward and tree herder

Posts: 8378

Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland. Nearly 70 inches rain a year

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posted 1 year ago

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Hi Judith
Yes the salsify seeds around. But I never get to eat it! in the first year it just seems to be invisible, and it dies after flowering. I do love the flowers and the seedheads are gorgeous too - like dandelions only more sculptural. I'll see if I can find some pictures...
I do think people mix salsify and scorzonera up. I know scorzonera leaves (and flowers) are edible (and are nice), and I'm told salsify are too, but I'm not sure they would be particularly nice - they seem more woody and stringy looking to me.

I am intending to grow salsify in my roots bed as part of my 'natural farming' rotation. I think it may do better in a sunnier spot than where it seeds into the pathway, so maybe next year I will have more experiences to share.

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