Salsify – Mammoth Salad Island Purple

Description

140 Days | Roots 6-8 inches long by 1.5 inches wide, smooth, dull white. The best part is that salsify is much better for you than most starchy root vegetables. These simple roots contain lots of iron, vitamin C, thiamin, calcium and phosphorus, and provide a healthy dose of fiber. They also have as much potassium as a banana. All of this earns them “superfood” status especially since the root stores its carbohydrates as inulin instead of starch, which turns to fructose instead of glucose during digestion. This is ideal for diabetics as it reduces their glucose load. Most enjoy the flavor of the cooked roots over the raw.

For those unfamiliar with salsify, this root vegetable has an off-white color and creamy white flesh. It’s also known as the “oyster plant,” as some folks find it tastes a bit like an oyster. Others liken salsify’s flavor to artichoke hearts.

Pay attention to the botanical name. Tragopogon porrifolius, also known as purple or common salsify, is what you want. Tragopogon dubius, also known as yellow or western salsify, is an invasive species in many areas.

A similar plant is Scorzonera (Scorzonera hispanica), also known as black salsify or Spanish salsify. Black on the outside and white on the inside, Scorzonera has smaller, skinner roots. Interestingly, even though it’s often called salsify, the plants are technically unrelated.

Salsify is a hardy biennial in the dandelion family, and in fact, the root looks much like the dandelion taproot you’d dig from your lawn. Salsify roots are typically 8 to 10 inches long and about an inch in diameter.  They have green tops, which are also edible—sweet and tender enough for a salad.

Because salsify is a cool season crop, it needs to be sown as soon as the soil can be worked. Salsify grows best in loose, well worked soil similar to carrots. Since salsify takes 14-20 days to sprout, add a little radish seed to mark the rows. A biannual plant, salsify forms purple star shaped flowers if the root is not harvested in the fall.

14-20 Days to sprout

Salsify seeds per Oz: About 6,500

Salsify seeds per Lb: About 110,000

Plant 1/4″-1/2″ deep, in rows 12″-18″ apart, thinning to 2″-3″ apart once the seeds sprout.