FreshPoint

Description:

Our grower is harvesting true Salsify! This heirloom variety, Mammoth Sandwich Island White Salsify, has been available in the US since at least 1894. Related to Scorzonera (commonly available and known as Black Salsify) this ancient root vegetable is covered with tiny rootlets, and is usually about six to twelve inches long, looking very much like a parsnip with a thin, pale skin and off-white flesh. Ours come with their leek-like grass tops, called chards, still attached. Although salsify has been dubbed “the oyster plant”, most people cannot detect any such taste. The flavour is more like a nutty artichoke and sweeter, especially when eaten shortly after harvest rather than after it has stored awhile. This is the first crop our grower has produced, and he planted only a few rows so the availability will be brief. We have a second grower that will start harvesting his White Salsify crop near the end of April, so we’ll have a little gap and then more White Salsify! Yay!