Sunflowers, daffodils, and Chinese artichokes

Saturday was the monthly volunteer day at Occombe Farm’s Community Garden. There were only five volunteers this time (perhaps due to the colder weather and forecast of rain), but along with Emily and Rachel we managed to get a lot done.


The first task was to cut down the sunflowers, and hang the heads to dry in one of the polytunnels. After clearing the sunflower bed we planted it up with daffodil bulbs. We had asked a local supplier if they would like to donate any, and were pleasantly surprised to receive a massive sack which must have contained at least 200 bulbs.


While clearing mint and nasturtiums from another bed to make space for even more bulbs, we started coming across Chinese artichoke tubers. They're a strange-looking vegetable, which we compared to an energy saving light bulb or a line of white marbles fused together. There were hundreds of them, and you can see a small selection in the photo above (see if you can spot the very well camouflaged grub too). In the evening we baked a few of the artichokes with olive oil, salt, and pepper. They have a similar texture to potatoes, but are quite sweet.