Root vegetables
Black salsify
Scorzonera hispanica
Timings for your region
Suggested: Moderate · Explained in the glossary
Sow outdoorsmid March – late April
Harvestearly October – mid March
Practical tip
Dig deep and carefully; the roots snap easily. Wear gloves when cleaning them — the milky sap stains stubbornly.
Origin & history
Black salsify comes from southern and south-eastern Europe and only became a garden vegetable in the 17th century — it travelled via Spain and Italy to France and from there into German gardens. The name goes back to the Italian “scorza nera”, black rind. Botanically it is a daisy-family plant and therefore related to lettuce and dandelion, which explains the white sap; leave a plant standing and in its second year it flowers yellow and smells of vanilla.
Varieties
The range is small and entirely open-pollinated; “Hoffmanns Schwarze Pfahl” is the classic with long, smooth taproots, alongside types like “Duplex”. What matters is not the variety but the freshness of the seed: salsify seed barely germinates after a year, so leftover packets from last season are wasted money. Straight roots also need deep, stone-free soil.
Care
Thin to about 8 cm once the row is up — too dense and the roots stay pencil-thin. The seedlings are narrow and grass-like and grow slowly, so hoe consistently in the first weeks or the row disappears into the weeds. Water evenly: alternating drought and wet splits the roots. Avoid fresh manure, it drives them into forking — well-rotted compost from last year is plenty.
What can go wrong
Sown too early into cold soil, salsify bolts in its first year and the root turns woody; from mid-March is early enough. Forked or stunted roots almost always come from what is underneath: stones, a compacted subsoil or fresh manure. Voles work their way along the row precisely because it stands in the bed all winter — a wire basket or a closely mown grass edge does more than anything else. Powdery mildew on the foliage in late summer, by contrast, barely affects the root.
Harvest, storage & kitchen
From October, only harvest as much as you need for the next few days — the roots keep better in the ground than in the cellar, and a layer of leaves lets you get at them in frost. Either peel them under water into a bowl of vinegar or lemon water so they do not discolour, or not at all: boil them in their skins for 20 minutes and the skin slips off. In the kitchen they count as “winter asparagus” — briefly steamed with a light sauce, crumbed and fried, or in soup.
All timings are guide values for the given climate, not a guarantee. Weather, aspect and variety all have a say.