Growing Artichokes

Apr 18, 2020 | Edible Plants, Garden to Table

how-to-grow-artichokes

If you’re looking for information on growing artichokes at home, this is the place for you. We aim to cover all of the necessary information one needs to grow delicious artichokes to be enjoyed straight from your home garden.

Preparing a Site for Growing Artichokes

Artichokes need to be able to grow quickly to become edible. Artichokes need partial to full sun and a lot of room. Do not plant artichokes in containers. Watering is key and the soil needs to be very good with excellent drainage. Artichokes prefer additions of compost and/ or manure in generous amounts each season. Slightly acidic soil will help with production.

Planting Artichokes

Place the plant in a 12”x 12” hole. You want the depth of the hole to be the same depth as the nursery container you bought the plant in. Fill the hole with rich compost. It is important to make sure the soil around the plants is well fertilized and loose. Keep the plant moist at all times. For highest production, fertilize the plants every 6-8 weeks with a balanced fertilizer. Allow five feet of growing room for each plant.

Caring for an Artichoke Plant

Here are some basic rules to achieve success:

  • Water well to encourage production.
  • Flowering too early will stress the new plant so stalks should be cut back.
  • When summer temperatures pass the mid-70s reduce the water and feeding.
  • After the first killing frost, cut off the big leaves and stems and mound earth around each plant. This will keep your plant healthy for next season.
  • One fourth of the plants should be replaced each year to keep production steady.

Harvesting Artichokes

Artichokes are perfect for eating when they reach a good size but before they begin to open. The bud is the edible part and can keep up to one month in the refrigerator.

Live in the Portland or Vancouver Metro area and looking for a place to buy artichokes? Don’t forget to call us at our Portland garden center today!

Drake Snodgrass

Owner

A lifelong Oregon resident, Drake has been passionate about plants since childhood, beginning with propagating and growing flowers at his grandfather’s nursery. He opened Drake’s 7 Dees in 1974, while earning degrees in Business and Horticulture from Oregon State University. He later expanded into the design/build side of the industry, allowing him to combine his passion for plants with his love of family by maximizing the quality of family time spent outdoors.

Drake is co-founder of the Oregon Landscape Contractors Association and is a Landscape Industry Certified Manager (LICM)—a designation that less than two percent of landscapers have attained. Additionally, Drake serves on the Board of Directors for the Portland Japanese Gardens, widely regarded as one of the seven best Japanese gardens outside of Japan.

Drake is married to former Oregon Speaker of the House, Lynn Snodgrass. Together, he and Lynn received the Farm Bureau President’s award in 1999 for their service and dedication to agriculture in the state of Oregon. Drake and Lynn have two wonderful daughters, two talented son-in-laws, and seven grandchildren. In his spare time, Drake enjoys camping, water and snow skiing, reading, and of course, gardening.

Tim Sellin

Tim Sellin

Senior Design + Production Manager

Born and raised in the Portland Metro Area… Tim has had an appreciation for the outdoors from a young age.  Inspired by our local beauty ranging: the Mt Hood National Forest to salty, sea spray of Cannon Beach, the arid high-desert of Central Oregon to the rugged terrain of Steens Mountain – Tim sought higher education at the University of Idaho in their Landscape Architecture department.  Graduating with honors in 2004, he returned home to establish his professional career.

Now making his home in Sandy, Oregon – Tim and his wife [Nicole] are raising two happy and healthy kiddos and 4 fur-babies.  Between soccer, football, cheerleading, girl scouts and other extra-curricular activities… the Sellin family are heavily involved in their community and church family.  Since college, Tim has spent 13 of his 17 years with Drake’s 7 Dees and has ‘set roots’ in anticipation of long-term growth at the family-focused company.  Having spent his time away from Drake’s in a ‘boots on the ground’ capacity, Tim has fostered a love for the operational/production side of landscape business, as well as the design/sales.

His goal in life as well as business is to put others first.

Steven Kurvers

Steven Kurvers

Senior Design Associate + Studio Manager

Bachelor of Science Landscape Architecture, BSLA… 2009
California Polytechnic University, Pomona… Cum Laude
American Society of Landscape Architects – Honor Award

Steven has 15 years of experience in the residential landscape design/build and garden center industry, including 9 years with Drake’s 7 Dees. Steven also has experience working with the National Park Service in Yosemite on sub-alpine restoration projects, as well as volunteer experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer serving the community of Zaouiat d’Ifrane in Morocco.

Together, Steven and his wife Anna have four lovely children, all 5 years old and under! In his (very limited) spare time, Steven enjoys camping, hiking, archery hunting, and cooking. Steven’s passion for his work lies in helping others, through design to envision a more beautiful space that, once built, becomes a reality that improves their quality of life.