Following on in our recent series of Kitchen Garden overflow news, Sharon has advised me she's been busy planting artichokes.

I'll let her take up the story..."I've got hold of some Jerusalem artichoke tubers," she says excitedly. "As these vegetables are perennials and likely to be in the ground for a few years, I've had to take a lot of care in preparing the soil prior to planting."

So, here's Sharon's guide to planting artichokes. "Firstly, I dug a deep trench and laid well-rotted compost in the bottom before sprinkling some general fertilizer on top. Then I covered the compost with around 15cm of topsoil which I saved from the original trench."
"I'm spacing the plants at 30cm intervals in the row," she continued, "and I dug the trench 60cm across to give the roots plenty of chance to spread out - after all, it's because of these tasty tubers that we're growing the plants!" she laughed.

And after harvesting? The tubers can be eaten raw or boiled and added to soups and salads. They're a great non-meat source of iron!