I harvested my first salsify today and wanted to report on it since I had never eaten or grown it before.
I planted it at the same time as parsnips but I did both a bit too late. The roots were still small. But they get very rooted- like a parsnip that had radiation and became an evil, super-parsnip. It makes them a little harder to peel.

They turn brown immediately after peeling! Boy they brown fast. I roasted them with carrots of the same size with just butter Pam and a little bit of veggie broth to get them going and a pinch of salt. I did about 400 degrees for about an hour. They have a bit of oyster taste like people say but also a buttery and savory taste that I liked. They are different than a parsnip in flavor.
I guess I will grow some more next year. I can recommend them and hopefully my enthusiasm will get people to buy them.

When selling them (or using them yourself), tell people to have a bowl of water with the juice of a lemon squeezed into it to toss the peeled salsify into right after they peel it. Keeps it from going brown before cooking.

Lemon juice or white vinegar is good, and it helps if you use stainless utensils and non-reactive bowls and cookware.

Sounds very interesting. I may have to try them next year -- I love trying new veggies -- so I'm thrilled whenever you guys suggest things.

Doesn't look like there are many seed sources though -- I only see Victory Seeds. Where did you all find yours?

120 days to maturity -- that's a long season. I'm guessing I'd probably end up harvesting in spring instead.

Not many varieties available, altho gourmetseeds.com has three--one is a Schwarze(black) variety, Johnny's seeds and Southern exposure only has one each--and it's the same variety, rareseeds.com has two, probably google or bing can give you others and maybe some different varieties, but with mammoth sandwich listed in every catalog I look in it's probably the most popular and perhaps the easiest to have success with. Planting my first crop next year (or maybe an early crop under cover) since I've just gotten interested in it myself.

I have recipes for salsify in my PA Dutch cookbooks - must've been very popular there in years past. I'll have to try it sometime, although my parsnips did not do too well this year so I may not have good luck with salsify either.

Actually, I think all root vegetables were way more popular in years past than they are now due to their excellent storage qualities. Modern refrigeration/freezing has graced us with the ability to be able to dine on anything anytime.

I agree Breezy--it seems like any cookbook before WW11 relies more on the root crops and some hearty winter keepers like cabbage than the newer ones. We forget that we're (mostly) only two generations away from no refrigeration, privies and plowing with mules, and while I have no desire to go back to that, I think we lose a lot of our heritage and our self sufficiency because of some of these changes. I do think that the "new" organic gardening "craze" may help us to get back to some of the older, reliable crops of the past, as well as finding new ones for variety.

Carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onion, garlic – they are all just as popular now as before I would bet. Beets have always been iffy - some love em, some hate em, and I bet you'd be hard pressed to find any senior citizen who can recall ever eating salsify.

Beets and cooked greens are iffy and I've never figured out why--I think it might be of fear of getting red stuff all over you with the beets and maybe the aftereffects of two or three meals in a row of greens in early spring. My Papaw talked about salsify, but I don't remember ever eating any as a kid. Same way with parsnips and rutabaga's. Potatoes are so popular (IMO) largely because beans and taters were what sustained most of our parents and grandparents through the depression and WW2, and we just grew up on them.

An old man at the market this year had never heard of butter or bibb lettuce.

There again, I think the prevalence of salads and uncooked greens are relatively recent. I know a lot of people who grew up during WW2 who never had fresh salads as a kid and never acquired the taste. Lettuce, as used as a salad was more of a wilted lettuce salad, and otherwise it was mostly a filler in sandwiches and workers lunches. I was about grown before I knew there was anything but iceberg lettuce, and if it was anything else it was grown with the rest of the greens.

Well, now that salsify is officially on my “must try” list, I’ve been trying to figure out where it is going to go in my gardening plan. The garden at home is clay and I have to fight for every hour of sunshine I get. The garden at my parent’s cottage is sand heavily amended with compost – LOTS of sun, but can often go 5 days without watering. (An aside – this was the first year I had a veggi garden up there – I’m amazed at how quickly my well amended soil turned back to just sand.) I’m thinking that it has to go in the sand garden – can’t believe those roots could make it through the clay and articles indicate it needs full sun. I may have to figure out a better way of keeping the plants watered during the week (I’ve been using the solar drip method

Anyhow, I’m trying to figure out just how ornamental this plant is. This article indicated that he grows salsify as an ornamental to attract beneficial insects. But the pictures I’ve seen don’t seem to indicate that they are a particularly attractive plant. Your thoughts?

I haven't grown it myself, but know folks who have, & frankly, while it "may" attract beneficial insects, I don't find it particularly attractive at all. Would never consider it an "ornamental".

Thanks Breezy. I'll find a spot back with the other ugly ducklings.