Globe artichokes Grown by Guy Singh-Watson at Baddaford Farm, Devon

£4.30 / x2

About

Many farmers have a passion for one particular crop that surpasses rational consideration: for Guy it’s globe artichokes. They have a magnificent towering sculptural form in the field, a rich, meaty flavour – and you don’t have to bend to pick them! Relish these treats slowly, leaf by leaf, or cut out and braise their delicate hearts.

Artichokes are thirsty plants. In the recent hot weather, we’ve had to pick some heads when slightly smaller, to avoid them going to waste in the field. Where this is the case, we’ll give you a bigger portion to make up for their size. The smaller heads are still excellent to eat – you just may need to reduce the cooking time, if cooking whole.

Veg Hack - Globe artichokes

James shows us how to get to grips with globe artichokes and serves them with a quick and easy sauce for a tasty and tactile snack.

Country of origin

Produced in

The UK

UK Seasonality

Harvested late May to late July - smaller heads from new plants in September and October.

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I never had a whole artichoke before, but now I can't get enough of them

- Mario, Riverford customer

How to prepare

Boil whole in salted water with some lemon juice, then relish leaf by leaf with melted butter, mayonnaise or vinaigrette, until the meaty heart is revealed.

You can also roast their hearts to golden succulence alongside new potatoes. Or braise them and eat with broad beans and mint for the ultimate seasonal dish. Guy lovingly preserves the hearts in jars of olive oil to see him through the rest of the year…

Storage

Keep for up to a week in the bottom of the fridge.

See some white spots on the leaves of your artichoke when it arrives? Don’t worry – it’s just calcium! Artichokes are unusually calcium-rich for a vegetable; each 100g contains about 4% of your RDA. When we’ve had very heavy rain, they sometimes absorb even more calcium than normal, which shows up as visible white spots. It’s completely harmless, and doesn’t affect the flavour.

Grown by Guy Singh-Watson, Baddaford Farm, Devon

Guy Singh-Watson is the founder of Riverford, and grew up on our own Wash Farm, Devon. These days, he also has his own farm just next door: Baddaford. On this 150-acre farm, nestled in a steep-sided valley, Guy and his team grow all sorts of organic fruit and veg for our boxes; from wild garlic in spring, to autumn squash.