Share The Seeds
Gardening Area => The Eco-Garden => Topic started by: LIBERTYNY on January 12, 2016, 08:59:54 AM
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Im trying to learn about Perennial Veggies to make a simple low maintence self sustaining food plot. I know their are lots of them out their but their not main stream so their not often sold / talked about. If you contribute to the list if you could please also report where they grow as a perennial. Annuals that aggressively self seed are great to.
-- SunChokes / Jerusalem artichoke / Helianthus tuberosus Hardy South US to Canada, Their is also a closely related species that grows in S. America that can grow 20' tall (live rizomes can sometimes be found in grocery stores. Great selection's http://oikostreecrops.com/products/?route=product/category&path=65_96
-- Egyptian onions / walking onions / Topsetting onions, Allium ×proliferum Hardy zone 5-9
-- Skirret / Sium sisarum, zone 5-9
-- Water Chestnut / Trapa natans, grows from S. Florida well into Canadia, Invasive water plant likely at a still water body by you
-- Sea Kale / perennial brocklie / Crambe maritima, zone 5-9
-- Good king henery / Chenopodium bonus-henricus, zone 3-9
-- Rhubarb / Rheum rhabarbarum, Zone 2-9 (varity dependant)
-- Asparagus / Asparagus officinalis, Zone 3-8
-- Garlic / Allium sativum, Zone 0-10
-- Tree Collard / Tree Kale / Walking Stick Kale / Purple Tree Collard / Brassica oleracea, Zone 7-10
-- Parsnips / Pastinaca sativa (self seeder) Zone 3-9
I know im missing alot
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Mind that many are perennial naturally but grown as annual outside of their zones. Some loose productivity in the following years too.
So depending on the zone a pepper for example might be a perennial.
Consider self sowing things like salad, should fit your requirements.
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Some perennial veggies that come to mind are:
Okinawa spinach
Malabar spinach
Brazilian spinach
Ceylon spinach
Cassava
Chaya
Katuk
Cranberry hibiscus
Edible leaf hibiscus
Jamaican sorrel hibiscus
most all fruit trees and berry bushes
Moringa
Velvet bean in warm climates
passion fruit
sugarcane
Elderberry
Lemongrass
Dragon fruit
Pigeon pea
Butterfly pea
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A few more I've thought of...
Scarlet runner bean
true yams (Dioscorea)
Sweet potato in warm climates
African potato mint
Thai holy basil
African blue basil
Apios americana aka ground nut
Kiwi
Coco plum
Natal plum
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Almost all brassicas will self seed very vigorously. The kale at my house was planted ~10 years ago & just comes up all over the place every year...
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I wish I lived where those grow MP ;D Thats mostly zone 9 and 10.
In more temperate climates...
The chicories self seed well. In zone 7a gromolo verde and my local landrace that looks like italian dandelion were not perennial but when I 'killed' rosa di treviso by digging it out and then tilled the ground every damn root piece grew a plant the following year!
It would have been great if I had not planted other things there.
The Malvas are perennial or self seeding "annuals" (M. neglecta is quoted as annual but its at least biennial here, and its great in rice or oatmeal). Mostly zone 5 and up.
Lamium amplexicaule (henbit) self seeds very well, its a small non-minty mint relative that grows in winter and seeds in mid spring. It grows fakin everywhere, even northern canada. Zone 1? Good addition to soups in late winter.
Dandelion. The leaves arent very bitter in winter and the flowers, with the green bits removed, can be made into a vegan honey substitute. Tastes a bit like clover honey, just without the honey smell. Whole plant is medicinal. Zone 5 or lower.
Lactuca serriola, bitter lettuce, self sows very well and isnt that bitter in the end of winter and beginning of spring. Its said to be hardy down to zone 7 but here in 7a it grows like mad year to year while Lactuca virosa ("zone 6") struggles to make it year to year.
Russian thistle, the tumbleweed with a dozen latin names, self sows abundantly where it grows in zone 7+ and the tender foliage and ground seeds are edible and reportedly quite good. In the great depression the government taught texans how to use it as a vegetable, in breads, as pickles, etc.
Many herbs and berry bushes. A saskatoon bush is great (zone 2+) because they are like tiny red apples that taste like sweet apples with a bit of pear and a hint of peach and you almost certainly will never find them in stores.
Parsnips, mentioned above, are biennials.
Has anyone actually grown walking stick kale / tree collards? I've been tempted to track down seeds of those repeatedly.
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Auxin - Now we are talking, you southerners are spoiled, Still great info. thow
Russian thistle sounds good but does not look familiar to me I wonder if my climate is to wet
Malvas, I knew marsh mallow but did not know hollyhocks wich is great becouse they grow wild all around me
Scarlet runner bean - Looks intersting even as a annual, seems like it has the abillity to climb objects like a smoove tree trunk
Cassava - I wish, Think I might try a grocery store piece one day anyway.
Chaya / Cnidoscolus chayamansa - On the wish list :) :)
Hibiscus - New to me but looks like theirs not enouth nutrition to make it worth it, and lots of possible interactions
Siberian pea shrub Caragana arborescens, :)
I was hopeing for more carbohydrates and protein, Not that theirs anything wrong with greens
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I can send you some cassava pieces if you want. :)
nobody
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Ya I'm spoiled as hell here in zone 9-10! I grow pretty much everything I mentioned in those two posts lol except runner beans which will be here at some point!
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While obviously not vegetables, fruit and nut trees and bushes are something to consider too. Most will be a longer term project since they will take time to establish and mature, but they are an option as well.
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I grow pretty much everything I mentioned in those two posts
Whats your opinion on Malabar spinach?
In my climate most vegetables get too sharp or bitter in summer for use as salads, I've been tempted to grow that along my irrigation trenches as a bulky filler for salads, and for soups too.
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I can send you some cassava pieces if you want. :)
nobody
Thank You
But, for the price of postage I can buy hole root pieces at a local grocer ( Never survive a zone 7/8 winter anyway, and I dont have the indoor room)
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While obviously not vegetables, fruit and nut trees and bushes are something to consider too. Most will be a longer term project since they will take time to establish and mature, but they are an option as well.
Thats what i have ben doing the last 15 years
I plan on retireing to piece of very rural land in PA with acres of tree fruit and nut, and berrys
;D
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Cyperus Esculentus, chufa nuts are awesome if you have moist soil.
Got a few different ones here now, all very productive, if the soil is moist/swampy.
Happy to send some out if anyone is keen(PM your postal)
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Sounds like a nasty oest, once established. Do you know if they survive freezes / winter ?
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pfaf says hardy to zone 8
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nasty oest
sorry dude, not sure what that means?
They handle heavy frost fine, reckon they would just sit dormant until spring/summer, but not sure.
Won't survive long term at my place without extra watering, but floating in polystyrene boxes full of potting mix on the dam they do great.
I grow waterchestnuts, chuffa, canna, brahmi, coix, rumex, galagal, rice, Vietnamese mint, and a few other things like that now.
Zero maintenance, gives the ducks somewhere to nest, and only costs potting mix+piece of rope.
Less insects/kangaroo/bettong/bandicoot issues and I never have to water.
As per pics, but much much bigger now.
I grow Azolla and Lemna on the water too, so when I harvest I use a few handfuls as that as mulch/fertilizer.
The extra shade slows the evaporation a bit too.
Great system, if you have access to a pond/dam/creek I highly recommend it. Just that and the fish/yabbies' would keep me fed forever if needed.
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I grow pretty much everything I mentioned in those two posts
Whats your opinion on Malabar spinach?
In my climate most vegetables get too sharp or bitter in summer for use as salads, I've been tempted to grow that along my irrigation trenches as a bulky filler for salads, and for soups too.
Malabar spinach although not bad has a very very green and slimy taste and feel to it. I much more prefer Okinawa or Brazilian spinach.
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Turkish Rocket (Bunias orientalis) - Super easy to grow and quick to establish, edible leaves are OK, but nothing too special, however the flower buds are prolific and very tasty, similar to broccoli-raab.
Hablitzia (Hablitzia tamnoides) - Clumping vine bearing tender spinach like leaves, very productive when it's happy. Does well in part shade. Prefers slightly alkaline soil, but does fine in neutral / lightly acid as well.
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gynura procumbens
okinawa spinach is wonderful