Growing Salsify at Home

Growing fresh vegetables at home is a wonderfully empowering and rewarding hobby. While that includes cultivating classics like carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes, there is something all the more miraculous about growing something a bit less conventional. Perhaps it’s the opportunity to eat something few people do.

Some favorites that grow well at home but aren’t as often found in supermarkets are crops like mulberries, Jerusalem artichokes, and elephant garlic. Another great root vegetable to try is salsify. It’s a member of the dandelion family, and both its leaves and roots are edible. It is often called “oyster plant” or “vegetable oyster” for its oyster-like flavor (Some compare it more to artichoke).

The good news is that salsify is just about as easy to grow as dandelions are. It has grassy leaves, long taproots, and pretty flowers. Pollinators love the flowers, and they fit in nicely in both ornamental gardens and vegetable gardens.

Different Types of Salsify

Generally, salsify is categorized as either white (Tragopgon porrifolius) or black (Scorzonera hispanica), each color referring to the hue of the tasty taproot.

The classic, white salsify has an off-white color on the outside and is pure white inside, resembling a parsnip. Sandwich Island Mammoth salsify is a popular cultivar of the white variety, known for reliable harvests and

Black salsify, or Spanish salsify, has a blackish root with a white interior, is perennial rather than biennial, and is said to be the tastier of the two.

Either way, the tall, grass-like leaves can be eaten fresh or cooked when young and tender, but the thin, long roots are the prize for growing these.

Growing Salsify at Home

The growing conditions for salsify are similar to most major market root vegetables like carrots, turnips, and so on. They tend to like cooler weather to get going. They like plenty of sunlight and loose, sandy soil without rocks (which deform the roots). They are also fairly thirsty plants, thriving on between one and two inches of water a week. Give them this, and they grow like weeds a la dandelions.

Salsify propagates best from seeds and generally takes around four months to mature. After that, they can/should be left in the ground until they are ready to be used. Salsify doesn’t have a good reputation as a storage vegetable: It goes limp quickly in the fridge and doesn’t freeze nicely. However, spring plantings can be dug up throughout the fall, and fall plantings throughout the spring.

It has few pest and disease problems, but root-knot nematodes and wireworms (the larvae stage of click beetles) might be an issue. This can be largely avoided by practicing crop rotation each season. Also, marigolds are great for repelling nematodes, and beneficial nematodes are good for combatting wireworms.

Salsify in the Kitchen

Often people don’t try growing, or even cooking, new foods because they don’t know how. It’s too intimidating. While this might be the case with salsify, rest assured budding chefs that this little root is easy to prepare and a treat to eat.

1. Salsify should be cleaned with cool water.
2. It can be cut up into pieces that are a couple of inches long and steamed or boiled until it’s soft enough to be pierced with a fork.
3. At this point, the skin will come off easily by rubbing it with your fingers.
4. The root can then be cut into smaller discs.
5. Finally, they are flash-fried in a little oil or plant-based butter with a sprinkle of salt.

It can also be roasted or used to make a creamy sauce.

Why Not Try Salsify

For adventurous eaters and foodies, discovering something new, exciting, and delicious is the ultimate, so giving it a go with salsify should be something to savor.

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• 8 Edible and Medicinal ‘Weeds’
• Wine Cap Mushrooms: One of the Easiest Edible Fungi to Grow at Home
• 7 Hedge Shrubs That Can Provide Privacy and Sustenance

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