Cardoon stalks can be covered with small, nearly invisible spines that can cause substantial pain if they become lodged in the skin. Several spineless cultivars have been developed to overcome this, but care in handling is recommended for all types. Cardoon requires a long, cool growing season (about five months), but it is frost-sensitive. It also typically requires substantial growing space per plant, so is not much grown save where it is a regional favorite.
( quote of wikipedia )

I think that there are to much reasons why its not much there anymore in the kitchen.

While the flower buds can be eaten much as the artichoke, more often the stems are eaten after being braised in cooking liquid. Battered and fried, the stems are also traditionally served at St. Joseph's altars in New Orleans.

I like rhubarb..it's  good spring produce and the plants can be from farmsteads of yesteryear. It's pleasant with good yogurt, stewed up with sugar and also made into pie or crisp. this time of year I would like to try some rosehips, maybe preserve them or just sample off the rosebush. High in vitamin C! This summer i used rosepetals for cake decorating and in ice cubes. Rose is such a great scent and flavor not always used in European cooking.

a special favorite of mine is tea berry, a wintergreen taste found in nature. The red berries are great when you're outside and the leaves also have a similar flavor.

Hi Jamie,

A few years ago, I was delighted to discover one of the most delicious fruits I've ever had - Mulberries. I still can't believe how amazing these berries are, yet we never see them in the shops and rarely hear of Mulberry trees. Since tasting them, I've 'found' only 3 trees! I intend to grow a small 'espaliered' Mulberry, hopefully there is a dwarf variety, as my garden is quite small and the trees are huge!
Also, I tasted Sorrel for the first time recently - gorgeous, and never in the shops either to eat or as seed to grow. I managed to find some seeds eventually, but its really overlooked and a very tasty leaf.
Tracy

Enjoy your mulberry tree Tip top.
I was given one once but had to choose between a good berry variety for me and a good leaf variety for the silkworms I wanted to raise! I ended up with 'Hick's fancy' which they said suited both things.
However fate intervened and I had to move before it was ready to fruit (or support silkworms).
I remember huge trees in Bendigo that seemed to drip blood when the fruit was ripe!

Am waiting for a good day to start picking some Medlars (they need to blett before they can be cooked so thought I would set some early ones off so I can make jelly as soon as poss).