Artichoke homegrown with Dip

Last year in midsummer I bought one artichoke plant for my balcony. Yesterday I harvested my first vegetable. 

It took nearly 1 year to produce it. But the moment the little flowerstand came out, I could see it growing day to day. The stem went up 10 cm per week. The closed flower did grow slowly. 

I harvested the whole stem and cut it off just a hand under the flower. Today I removed that part and put it in salted water with the addition of a large chunk of lemon. That keeps the discoloration at bay.

The artichoke cooked for 30 minutes with a closed lid. The condensation from the lid ran on top of the artichoke. 

As a dip I used a herby curd from the supermarket and dipped the bottom parts of the petals in and scrabed them off with my teeth. The inner part had to be removed to eat the bottom of the artichoke.

The plant can produce a veggie for 5 years, maybe I will able to harvest some more.

A great experiance.