Unlocking the Secrets of Cardoon - A Must-Grow Edible for Your Garden

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Күн бұрын

Join me to discover the incredible Cardoon - not only is this a must-grow edible plant for your garden or food forest, its also a perennial vegetable that will come back year after year, and is closely related to artichoke.
In this video we'll watch the plants grow from seed to harvest and discover the amazing uses this plant has along the way - from chop and drop, to attracting pollinators, cooking and eating the cardoon leaf stalks, and admiring the stunning ornamental beauty that they add to an edible landscape!
Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) originates from the western and central Mediterranean region, where it was cultivated in ancient times and still grows wild today. In Italian and Spanish, it's known as "Cardo." In French, it's referred to as "Cardon."
Wild cardoons have more thorns to protect against animals and harsh environments, while the cultivated varieties grown by gardeners have fewer thorns for easier cultivation. They have become invasive in some regions, so it's good to check that before you grow them and/or manage responsibly.
These are fairly hardy and I grow them as a perennial plant since my climate is suitable for that, however they can also be grown as an annual in colder regions.
There's so much to love about the incredible Cardoon, so I hope you enjoy watching and finding out more :)
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References:
link.springer.com/article/10....
agronomy.it/index.php/agro/ar...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
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Hi, I'm Kalem, and this channel features all sorts of unusual and exotic fruiting plants with tips of how to successfully grow them. I'm interested in all things gardening and love growing my own food and all types of edible plants.
I live on a 2 acre piece of land in New Zealand where we are turning a grass paddock into and abundant, edible paradise and food forest! So come along on this journey with me as I experiment with growing, and try to push the limits of what I can grow. I'll share with you my successes and failures so hopefully you'll learn from them and have a go yourself! Come learn with me and Subscribe to join this awesome community :)
0:00 Intro
0:39 Planting Cardon seeds
1:26 Cardoon seedlings and planting out
2:07 Cardoon growth over Winter
2:18 How to eat Cardoon
3:25 Harvesting Cardoon
4:08 Cardoon as mulch - Chop & Drop
4:33 Cooking Cardoon
8:17 What else is Cardoon good for?
9:57 Cardoon flowers
11:30 Cardoons annual cycle begins again
11:48 Cardoon seed heads
12:00 Other cool uses for Cardoons
Disclaimer - Some of the links above may be affiliate links where I earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you - Thank you for your support!
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Business inquires: thekiwigrower@gmail.com

Пікірлер: 148

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

I've added a bit of extra info in the video desciption if you'd like to know more! And here's the video I mentioned at the end :) kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ea6EhKZj1L24pIk.html Thanks heaps for watching! -Kalem

@user-xb6mv7ql9g 2 ай бұрын

Hello, update on your avocado plants/ video please, video from 3 years ago

@kamiochambless2590 2 ай бұрын

At first glance, I thought this was going to be artichoke-adjacent. What a cool plant!

@jfiekms 2 ай бұрын

it is related

@FrozEnbyWolf150 2 ай бұрын

They're both thistles. Wild thistles are edible too.

@wow-roblox8370 Ай бұрын

It looks like a giant celery stick

@OsirusHandle Ай бұрын

its the same plant. artichoke is just cultivars selected for big flower heads

@jfiekms Ай бұрын

@@OsirusHandle I often see you commenting on all the fruit videos. You have a great taste I see!

@barbarita8378 2 ай бұрын

OMG!! I'm from Chile living in New Zealand for 7 years! I really miss so much Cardoon (we called Penca ).. we eat it like salad.. when is peeled you just cut it into small pieces,put some salt, oil and lemon juice.. is sooo yummy.. I really love your content, you have in your garden so many plants that remember my country and my childhood.. thank you so much

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

That's awesome I'll have to try that :). And thanks, I'm glad you enjoy the content!

@cptntwinkletoes 2 ай бұрын

I love the cooking segments you've been doing more of recently!

@twitchy_bird 2 ай бұрын

Looks like the thistle that grows in my yard lol

@FrozEnbyWolf150 2 ай бұрын

Cardoon is a type of thistle, just like artichoke. Wild thistles are also edible, if you have the patience to prepare them.

@twitchy_bird 2 ай бұрын

@@FrozEnbyWolf150 oh for sure, I do all the time. Wild thistles are awesome. I just meant it looks exactly like a huge version of my favorite thistle, which I hadn't seen before except in artichokes. Pretty awesome.

@greencheeksconure 2 ай бұрын

New Zealand's most handsome man, love your uploads, love your garden. Your amazing Kalem

@fv6125 27 күн бұрын

He is mine

@rml4474 11 күн бұрын

@@fv6125 😂

@62cripple 2 ай бұрын

When I was a kid ...I remember seeing these in a garden on my paper round. I thought they were a giant scotch thistle..😁

@femkriah8777 2 ай бұрын

This channel is like the antidote to the "instant gradification" culture we live in.

@Mionwang 2 ай бұрын

Hey man, i just wanted to let you know that I love your videos and no matter what I'm doing, i always click as soon as i see a new one.

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Thanks so much :)

@patrickdemarcevol 2 ай бұрын

In France we do them as a 'gratin', cook a thickish cheesy bechamel sauce with salt pepper and grated nutmeg, stirr in the choped cooked cardoons and in a dish in a 180°c oven for 30 minutes. It's absolutely delicious 😀

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Cool! Sounds great!

@mudgetheexpendable 2 ай бұрын

In the US, these are mostly known in Sicilian-American communities...have not seen them much in Greek communities. The deep-fried yumminess is the one I am most familiar with. Thanks for the great trip down memory lane.

@seanthunell5060 2 ай бұрын

I used to stock these in a supermarket produce department in upstate NY in the Autumn if I remember correctly and @mudgetheexspendable is right, the area was very Italian and people would clear the shelves of them including my very Sicilian boss who introduced me to them. They are delicious battered and fried!

@dvdpastor 2 ай бұрын

What a great plant! I do really like cardoon and, probably, my favourite recipe is just boiled, with an almond sauce and some wild mushrooms. There's a local variety around a village called Ágreda, in Spain, called 'cardo rojo' (red cardoon), and though is more of a pinkish hue, it's very tender, no bitter at all and you can cut strips lenghtwise, put them in water, they will curl and those are ready for a salad. Just google 'cardo rojo de Ágreda' to check... (can't say how difficult getting seeds of that variety could be). Blanching is advisable not just for a whitish colour, but also to reduce bitterness, increase tenderness and avoid some of the hardest fibers. Even so, I use to boil the cardoon for ten minutes, discard that water and boil it again with fresh water. And your recipes look yummy! Thanks for the video!

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

That's really interesting, id love to try that. I came across some info on the pink variety, that's for those tips - it looks and sounds pretty cool! Thanks :)

@leseraum779 2 ай бұрын

It´s amazing to see how much effort you put in all your videos! Thanks a lot :)

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

My pleasure!

@abc_cba 2 ай бұрын

Finally, someone made a video on this instead of the Artichoke videos that are available in plethora.

@wikcez1193 2 ай бұрын

love your gentleness and warmth, keep sending these friendly vibes :)

@prubroughton1864 2 ай бұрын

As a kiwi gardener I enjoy in buckets you videos. Most other KZfaq’s are northern hemisphere and they specify months not seasons and I have to exercise my aging brain to correlate it😊

@Youssr21 2 ай бұрын

Full support ❤ Full watch ❤ Always connected with you ❤

@Psych911 2 ай бұрын

Spectacular plants but they are an environmental weed in many areas of Australia and also California so I wouldn't let them go to seed

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Yes, very true, i put some notes in the description about that. Thanks for sharing that too :)

@MarvMarvensen 2 ай бұрын

I haven't seen this plant before. First I was thinking you are talking about the teasel (German: Karde), but this seems similar, but different. It looks kinda like a giant artichocke flower.

@arnomeyer9712 2 ай бұрын

This is one of my favorite plants to grow. I've only grown them as an ornamental, I'll have to try eating them.

@nuggitron 8 күн бұрын

I'm so happy i find your channel! And cardoons? My nonna grew those and combined them into a chicken broth with scrambled eggs and grated parmesan. It was delicious.

@barron204 2 ай бұрын

Reminds me of the Victorian Kitchen Garden C1986 and also Rhubarb with light affecting the stems. Great video and would love to grow some plants, if only I knew where to get seeds.

@luaporetsua595 2 ай бұрын

Thats a gorgeous plant that i would love to try out here in the Philippines!

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

It really is :). Might be a bit warm over there, so id do some research prior about its suitability to the area :). All the best!

@ToonNTokyo 2 ай бұрын

Makes me want to try growing cardoons. Maybe it will grow in zone 6? A ton of useful info in this awesome vid, as usual!

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

I read in a few places about it being grown as an annual in areas where its colder than ideal, so worth having a look into to find out :)

@3dmaker223 2 ай бұрын

Another amazing and helpful video! It was great bumping into you and your partner in the service station. I felt like I saw my favourite celebrity :)

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Thanks! It was really nice meeting you too, thanks for saying hi! :)

@edstraker8451 2 ай бұрын

Good to see you back with another entertaining, informative video. Thanks!

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@danialmottaghi5958 2 ай бұрын

Great video man, love that you show how to cook and process what your grow

@TnOrchidguy 2 ай бұрын

Thank you, Mr. Kalem, thank you.

@cherryturner192 2 ай бұрын

Excellent to watch .

@Conus426 2 ай бұрын

In my country this plant is very well known and loved but i never heard or thought of deep-frying it, that sounds delicious!

@ralfielicious 2 ай бұрын

Marvellous, thank you!

@MitchK_ 2 ай бұрын

Dang man, everything looked really good! Thanks for making me hungry.😂👍🏻

@kennstransky 2 ай бұрын

Great video Love the height of that plant!

@reneford6774 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing! Just went down the Cardoon rabbithole after watching this video and it is amazing! Definitely planting it in the garden this year.

@benny7257j 2 ай бұрын

That Purple Color Is Strikingly Amazing 💜🙌🏼.

@megm.c4026 2 ай бұрын

I LOVE CARDOONS! Thanks for the great vid.

@artpai7665 2 ай бұрын

Your channel inspired me to start my own garden this year! I'm starting small with strawberry bushes and a few other plants that are beneficial to their growth and that I will definitely eat. Hopefully one day I'll be able to afford a bigger piece of land and start a food forest : )

@meatavoreNana 2 ай бұрын

A question out of the box ... Will a persimmon, grown from seed , fruit. .? I have 3x 3-year-old seedlings , just wondered. Pretty trees any way. Im in Hawkes Bay.

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Hey, yep they should do - depending on conditions I'd say between 4-6 years you'd hopefully see something happening :)

@meatavoreNana 2 ай бұрын

@@TheKiwiGrower thanks , I hope so 🙏

@judygude 2 ай бұрын

Amazing how much it resembles an extra large Canadian Thistle!

@horaceandspeedy Ай бұрын

I had no idea it was the leaves that were eaten. I thought it was the flowers much like the artichoke. Always learning!

@zaguitoblackbeard 2 ай бұрын

Very beautiful plant and awesome video. Keep up the good work!!

@melsyoutube 5 күн бұрын

thank you for sharing!!! ❤️

@derghiarrinde 2 ай бұрын

You should have told us it's artichokes. What a lovely and useful plant!

@querenabreu1025 Ай бұрын

Wow so much plant wisdom 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾🩵

@arieswildchild 2 ай бұрын

I just love your channel! Every video is so great and full of useful information. Thanks a lot!

@povbilek0981 2 ай бұрын

Do you plant black seed?

@FBIagentObama 2 ай бұрын

*”Babe, wake up! TheKiwiGrower just uploaded a new video!”*

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Haha, thanks for the dedication! :P

@Best_Residential_Getaway 2 ай бұрын

Kalem you look amazing up there on the ladder. I would love to be close enough for us to hang out together. I’m sure we would be an excellent match for friends and more. I always keep an eye out for your latest videos because they are always so informative and inspiring. Keep up your amazing work. Kudos

@Gonzalo_M 2 ай бұрын

Wow! Very interesting! I didn’t know about Cardoon plants. Thank you for the video! 😊

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@leogeorgegedye4257 2 ай бұрын

Love your work Kalem. What region are you in? I'm a grower too living in Whanganui.

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Cheers! I'm in North Waikato :)

@DJtheChemist 2 ай бұрын

I'm so jealous.. I want to try these but cries in zone 7a :( Great video as always :)

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

I think you can grow them in 7a! Double check, but they're fairly hardy and can even be grown as annuals in colder zones :)

@DJtheChemist 2 ай бұрын

@@TheKiwiGrower hmm fair enough! I'll have to see if I can get some seeds and give it a try! Thank you for the information!

@LaineyBug2020 2 ай бұрын

If they produce an herbicide, why doesn't using them for mulch hurt the garden?

@RockingOutTheNZWay 2 ай бұрын

Morena fellow kiwi here. Any advice on where I might be able to find seed for the cardoon? Thanks!

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

I got mine online at kings seeds :)

@morlor7548 2 ай бұрын

8:47 is that cherimoya and if it is please give some tips for caring i planted cherimoya 5 years ago and i think i am doing something wrong because it doesnt grow much

@maxomster 2 ай бұрын

You can actually use the flower stems for milk production! If you cut them off, dry them, put them in 60C water and then add this water to you milk it will turn into cheese :)

@greenhousefun3235 2 ай бұрын

Wonderful video Thank you i learned alot. I just got seeds from a swap.

@puretranscending 2 ай бұрын

Im so adding these to my gardern❤ what grow zone are you in?

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Nice! I’m equivalent to about 10a

@puretranscending 2 ай бұрын

@@TheKiwiGrower awesome Thanks, I'm in 10a Florida, USA. So your content will be very helpful.

@le.farquad608 2 ай бұрын

I strive to have a yard like yours.

@user-gw4gh7yp5x Ай бұрын

Wow...come to my hometown.kabupaten Kuala Kapuas,central of borneo.henny,lndonesia

@AmandaViolinGirl 2 ай бұрын

I'm curious to know what cooking oil you used to cook it?

@pollyjazz 2 ай бұрын

I've heard you can also roast and eat the heads. Do you know if the wild plants that are smaller and prickly are also edible? In my country the petals are used to make some traditional cheeses.

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Yes I believe wild cardoon are also edible, just more thorny to work with. And while the heads can be eaten like artichokes there's not all that much in there to eat from what I hear :)

@vrf 2 ай бұрын

Interesting! It looks like a relative of artichoke.

@spacerunner357 Ай бұрын

That's amazing to know! Do you know where would be a great place to buy the Cardoon plant?

@user-oy8cf2ni5z 2 ай бұрын

Very interesting. I didn’t know about cardoon. I need to find some seeds.

@pauhy5601 2 ай бұрын

@TheKiwiGrower,doesn't the folage of ths plant has reseblance to the Artichoke vegatable,ha?. Are they related in the plant family?.

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Yup they're closely related :)

@rogana5158able 2 ай бұрын

Scotch thistles are weeds in South Australia.

@donnajohnson9324 2 ай бұрын

These plans do so much for the dirt and help everything earth 🌎 🙃 😅❤

@DieuDeMort 13 күн бұрын

Can someone explain growing a plant for biomass in the same garden you're using the biomass in to me? It seems like that'd be a 0 sum game, but I guess the cardoon is reaching deeper down than most plants, pulling nutrients that might be washed in with ground water, and then mulching with its cuttings brings the nutrients to the top soil?

@TheKiwiGrower 12 күн бұрын

You got it. A lot of plants have more shallow roots, so deep rooted plants brings the nutrients etc up to the surface. It also creates organic matter which feeds soil life like worms and microbes

@stephenmbuthia2386 2 ай бұрын

Hi there , great and extremely informative vid there, was wondering if you could perhaps sell me some cardoon seeds , I'm all the way here in Africa Kenya and have never seen or heard of that plant.

@khaerulumur3687 2 ай бұрын

there's one seed feel to the ground on second 0.52. Did you not notice? Did you pick it up?

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

I didn't notice , good spotting!

@DavidS5118 2 ай бұрын

The cardoon plant looks so similar to the thistle plant - except I doubt the thistle taste very good.

@eyeswideshut7732 2 ай бұрын

almost onion rings when battered lol 👍

@k.jespersen6145 2 ай бұрын

Caution: In places where having thistles on your property is illegal, this plant can get you in trouble with nosey-parkers and county code enforcers if allowed to go to flower.

@ninjaturtlefairy6219 Ай бұрын

Is it the same as an artichoke?

@SLCplanter 2 ай бұрын

Im cant grow it because i live in a place were the weather changes every hour

@arlosmith2784 2 ай бұрын

Your climate is similar to California. We grow globe artichokes (a cardoon relative) everywhere.

@Proud_zionist3 17 күн бұрын

It grows wild where I live , its very good for gut health.

@Shaden0040 2 ай бұрын

Isn't it interesting looking plan It has the appearance of kind of like a tomato plant in the leaves a little bit but the flour makes it look like it's a Thistle or an artichoke family relative is it?

@jfiekms 2 ай бұрын

artichoke was bred from this

@N8SAY 2 ай бұрын

Are they related to artichoke? Look very similar.

@jfiekms 2 ай бұрын

yes

@leavingitblank9363 2 ай бұрын

Ah-- "closely related to the artichoke"... I thought perhaps it was just a different variety and that you call it by a different name. Can you eat an artichoke stalk? I've seen "baby artichokes", and thought maybe they're actually cardoons.

@pennyjackson5026 2 ай бұрын

Where do you get the seeds please. I thought they were artichokes to begin with.

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

I got mine from Kings seeds in NZ - online

@pennyjackson5026 2 ай бұрын

Thank you. Amazing. I will try them as I am growing a food forest too. My first year. Your videos are amazing because most youtube videos are made either in Australia or America and their growing conditions are different from ours. Thank you for amazing informative videos.

@johannaschonberger6182 2 ай бұрын

We call those bad boys thistles in Canada also it's the flower of my family lol

@Erlinda60MixVlog 2 ай бұрын

Wow i don't realize Cordon branches can eat 😮

@fontende 2 ай бұрын

it's like x3 😊times huge than european version

@dovinhgarden05 2 ай бұрын

❤❤❤❤❤

@zuditaka Ай бұрын

The flower heads look a bit like globe artichokes. Could they be eaten in the same way? At least the heart of the flowers? I've eaten the hearts of some milk thistles as in wild food books, but it was so much work avoiding the prickles! Who'd want them stuck in one's throat? And for such small hearts!

@TheKiwiGrower Ай бұрын

I believe you can, however a lot of work for the small amount you would get :)

@zuditaka Ай бұрын

@@TheKiwiGrower IC lol

@reillyd.4753 2 ай бұрын

Once you showed that you could eat these raw with hummus like celery I instantly wanted to grow them

@bruhder5854 2 ай бұрын

Cardoon seem op

@nunyabiznes33 2 ай бұрын

It's a thistle? These don't grow in tropical climates right?

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Yeah, they do prefer the cooler weather

@gopinathbasumatary5124 2 ай бұрын

Me rn: guys come fast kiwigrower posted a new vid

@locke6531 2 ай бұрын

👍

@abdullahsaheli174 2 ай бұрын

What hapend with apple tree 🥹

@pennyjackson5026 2 ай бұрын

Actually they are artichokes so ignore my previous comment. I just looked this up and the full name of globe artichokes is Cunara Cardunculus.

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Cardoon are closely related to artichokes but a different plant :)

@susanhanstock6879 2 ай бұрын

Eating bitter foods is OK, as they are good for the liver.

@SANAmyNAMEis 2 ай бұрын

oh i thought it was an artichoke

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

Closely related :)

@FeliciaBoamah 2 ай бұрын

It looks like it might be good as lasagna lol

@rickwilliams967 2 ай бұрын

Yeah dude. Thistles have been eaten for centuries.

@kameltf2347 2 ай бұрын

You look very handsome

@RobynEyles 2 ай бұрын

Where does the name Cardoon come from. Aren’t they artichokes?

@TheKiwiGrower 2 ай бұрын

These are closely related to artichokes - artichokes are a domesticated variety of wild cardoon :)

@aDeathbomb 2 ай бұрын

👇one hour club