Salsify

This spring I tried growing a very unique vegetable, salsify. aka oyster plant, and vegetable oyster. The particular variety I grew is a Mammoth Sandwich Island from William Dam Seeds. I found this company after one of the classes I took in the Prarie Horticulture program at the U of S sent their seed packs as part of a hands on component to a class. Salsify is a quite long season vegetable (120 days) for this area and so I started the seedlings indoors roughly 8 weeks before planting out. Because they are tap-root vegetables I wanted containers that would provide as deep of starter cells as possible, while at the same time because each root only provides a very small return on investment I wanted as many plants started as I could. I found the perfect starter at Lee Valley, their 72-cell deep rooter starter trays allowed me to start 144 plants in the space of just two trays.

Carrots, Onions and Salsify Growing
(left to right)

The picture on the left was taken around June 10th and so far the tap-root has not fattened up significantly. This is not surprising as they had not received much heat at that point this summer. I have already noted that the tap root on the ones that I have pulled are not perfectly straight and this may be the price I pay for starting them in starter cells. I will see come fall whether the whole adventure was worthwhile in terms of production. As for taste I'm hoping for the best as I have never actually tasted salsify, it's not a common item in the grocery store! I expect that regardless of taste it should make a good root vegetable for soup or dry roasted with other root vegetables. I had started leeks this spring as well in much smaller celled starters in the hopes of being able to make this recipe come fall. The leeks grow very poorly in the cells and I'm guessing the temps indoors may have been too hot for their liking. Live and learn, and we will see what fall brings!