Artichokes

We have tried and learned to like yet another vegetable...artichokes. Since it is rich in potassium and iodine, it should be good for my heart, muscles, and thyroid. I had eaten them years before at my sister's home, so I knew that I liked them, but Skyguy had a restaurant meal that contained artichoke hearts, so now, we are going to try to grow artichokes. As a perennial vegetable that is hardy to about 15-20 degrees, I should be able to grow it here if I place it carefully and protect it when the temps are really low. We do see single digits here, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. So, I bought some Emerald Artichoke seeds at Home Deposit (birthday gift card-couldn't resist it!)and I've been reading about growing them. Living in Georgia most of my life, I've never even seen an artichoke plant, but the pictures online are awesome and I am thinking of planting this in the garden AND in the yard. I read that it is a deer resistant plant, so it will definitely find its place in the yard. Edible landscaping is the way to go! I also had no idea that you could get 18 artichokes from one plant! These suckers are huge! They get 4 feet tall or more and 6 feet across. There were 8 seeds in the packet, so we will see what happens.

Tomorrow night, we will be making a version of Ruby Tuesday's Chicken Bella. It is chicken in a artichoke, portabella mushroom and parmesan sauce with penne pasta. It has a slight cayenne kick.
Here's the recipe:

http://www.grouprecipes.com/sr/12623/chicken-artichoke-amp-parmesan-baked-penne/recipe/