Growing Perennial Vegetables

Also known as "leaf spinaches",  larger vegetable gardens need a number of perennials. Asparagus, horseradish, and rhubarb are the most important but chives, bottom multiplier onions, and some of the flavoring and condiment plants, chiefly sage and mint, are also desirable. Unfortunately, asparagus, horseradish, and rhubarb are not adapted to conditions in southern climates, but they do just fine in more northerly climates.

Perennial Vegetables make unusual and highly appealing ornamental plants that provide edible leaves or tubers for most of the year. Apart from being a plentiful food source they also serve other functions around the house such as screening like Arrowroot, ground covers like sweet potatoes, and edge plants which can be used as a barrier against weeds. Many of these plants also have medicinal qualities, such as comfrey and moringa.

For most perennial vegetables, the best part to eat is the tender growing shoot or tip which includes the young leaves which have not yet matured and the soft growing stem. New shoots are favored for eating because they are sweeter and much more tender than older growth.

Mature leaves can also be eaten, but usually require longer cooking times and may still be tough eating. The best way to harvest shoots is to simply snap off the tender stem where it naturally breaks, leaving the more mature and fibrous stem and leaves. The plant will then regrow more stems, and the production of shoots is multiplied.

If the plants receive enough water, the growth of new shoots will continue throughout the entire year in subtropical and tropical climates, and throughout the growing season in more temperate climes.

All the perennial crops should be grouped together along one side of the garden, where they will not interfere with work on the annual crops.