Black Salsify / Scorzonera hispanica L from root?

Scorzonera hispanica L

http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svartrot

Anybody have experience growing Black, also known as spanish, salsify from root?
Got some tasty roots from the local organic coop with some sprouting tiny roots at the bottom, thinking about chopping up and planting them.
Plants for the future and all sources online talk about seed propagation only...

bringing this thread back because I'm interested in scorzonera. Has anyone grown them?

What I want to know is if you can leave them in the ground for 5-6 years and the root will still be edible. Also, what is the lifespan of this plant?

a friend close by grows it as an annual from seed.  he raves about it.  he harvests it all each year, though, so I can't speak to it's longevity.  my suspicion is that after the first year, the root will get substantially tougher so it might be better used for leaves.  I'm planning on trying it this year, as well, so I would also be interested to hear others' experiences.

I'm growing salsify this season and have scorzonera seed coming.
It's still too young to eat, but I have read it's one of the few roots that doesnt go inedibly tough with age. Apparently the flowers are tasty and insects love them too.
I don't know what I was expecting, but at the moment the tall, strappy leaves remind me of skinny jonquils.
I've never eaten it, but if it really tastes like a cross between a parsnip and an oyster, it's a guaranteed hit!

Does everyone know if they have a more wild form of it, or something selectively bred? I was reading about breeding done with it before and it was mentioned how they were breeding for the roots to be mostly under the plant rather then spread out. Also a thicker tuber. I was never sure if such work was available though?

Growing Black Salsify for the first time this year. If it turns out great, I may continue to have it as a mainstay in the garden. I hear the greens from this plant are excellent. It sounds like a perfect permaculture fit, a perennial plant that produces edible greens and roots which don't become inedible.

If I like Black Salsify enough, I may try breeding it (Im a new to breeding, but sounds like this plant would be a worthy project).

I prefer scorzonera to asparagus; they're just wonderful.
Round here they getting a bad rap because they were forced onto people when they were kids

There are conflicting opinions floating around about whether you can still eat them after they've flowered; it may depend on how good your soil is.
If you're planning on using the seeds, be mindful of not only harvesting from the specimens that flower very early; it may lead to a deterioration in taste.
Replanting should be possible, but they tend to bleed out very quickly if bruised.

And lastly: Don't start scratch-peeling them with rubber gloves on, turning the whole kitchen into a mess !
Wash them and steam them, then you can peel off the skin without much hassle (and without gloves).

Is anyone using them as a leaf crop? I just got some seed a little bit ago. It's not afraid to germinate that's for sure.

Yes I am aware this is a very old thread. But it is the subject I looked for: black salsify (scorzonera hispanica).
Those plants grow on the allotment plot I 'inherited'. But I found them much too late to harvest the roots to eat them. They have started to bloom.
The information I read tells me: only in the first year after they are grown from seed the roots are edible; the plant stays, but the roots become hard, not nice to eat. No problem. I have flowers now, so I can harvest seeds. Then I can sow and grow new plants (on a better spot, where I can find the roots during the winter).

Anyone here who is experienced in growing black salsify? I never had those plants before. I only knew the roots (which I like to eat). What do I have to know more on them?

my experience was that they were fine for eating for at least a few years. i know i happily ate 2 and 3 year old roots when i had them…it has been a little while. if you weren’t as interested in getting seed, i suspect the flower buds are a decent vegetable too. i haven’t had them but i have had the buds from ‘normal’ salsify.

greg mosser wrote:my experience was that they were fine for eating for at least a few years. i know i happily ate 2 and 3 year old roots when i had them…it has been a little while. if you weren’t as interested in getting seed, i suspect the flower buds are a decent vegetable too. i haven’t had them but i have had the buds from ‘normal’ salsify.

When you say 'normal salsify' do you mean the plant with the blue-purple flowers (Tragopogon porrifolius)? I have it too, but never took a root to eat it because there are only a few of them in my garden (got the seeds from my sister about 3 years ago). And I never took buds for the same reason.