Unusual star veg - kohl rabi and artichokes

Two stars of this summer - kohl rabi and artichokes. I think Kohl rabi is very underrated. It is simply delicious and I wish I had grown more of it. This is the purple variety Purple Density which is a bit later than the pale green one and next year I will grow both. It is a brassica and so is sown and planted as such We just steam it and eat it with butter and it tastes of peas and asparagus and a tiny bit turnippy...so, so good. You can eat it raw too in salads. Simple and  yummy. 

The other star is the globe artichoke. What a fantastic vegetable. Having spent a lot of time in Italy I have grown to love these wonderful tasty thistles and have cooked them all summer. I grew them from seed in the greenhouse and they have cropped for months. I grew three varieties, Gros vert de Laon which is an old french variety with enormous hearts and Violetta di Chioggia which is an early purple Italian variety which you can eat whole when they are young and Green Globe which has been prolific. See more pictures in later posts but here they are growing on in the terraces which I heavily manured last autumn. Once germinated they were trouble free. I will grow lots more as there are so many different ways to eat these...see the recipe section for ideas!