Perrenial vegetable gardens

[ChanellG]

I'm rather excited at finding out that there are some vegetables you can plant that are perennial producers. I love the idea of planting once and eating forever and I can't wait to try them out. I use onions quite a lot, I love eating asparagus, and I've recently gotten into kale. As gorgeous as the artichoke is below, I'd grow it just for its appearance!

 

[claudine]

I love asparagus too, looking at the first picture makes me so hungry! I'd love to grow them. Unfortunately as far as I know you have to wait three years from planting them to first harvest. Good news is they'll produce for about 17 years!

 

[zigs]

You can buy 2 year old Asparagus Crowns, so that cuts down on the waiting time.

Lost my Globe Artichokes to the frost last year, although one grew back from the roots.

Grew Cardoons from seed a couple of years ago, they got frosted but came back ok, very similar flowers to the Globe Artichoke, but you can eat the leaves too. Wouldn't win any prizes in a tasting competition though

Runner Beans are perenials too, its just they can't survive the UK winters without frost protection. I've cut them to the ground & covered up with mulch & had them re sprout the next season.

 

[maddie]

Rhubarb and sorrel are also listed among the perennials. I prefer to have a cycle of crops... you tend to get different vegetables at different times of the year. But, I am speaking from the point of view of our weather conditions where all things will grow anytime of the year.
That artichoke looks gorgeous. We do not have them here.

 

[claudine]

You can buy 2 year old Asparagus Crowns, so that cuts down on the waiting time.

I had no idea, thank you for this tip! It's very helpful because I'm very impatient, especially when it comes to delicious vegetables. I must grow it

 

[ChanellG]

@Claudine, I guess I had better get started if it is going to take me that long to establish a bed grow the asparagus! I did find an article that tells how to grow it from crowns, but you have to be able to find a grower.

Here's the article: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1603.html

@Maddie, I've never had sorrel or rhubarb, so I'm not in a hurry to grow those, though I've read that sorrel is a good substitute for spinach.

@Zigs, I wouldn't mind trying out artichokes, but I think it will take me some time to work up to them.

 

[lovinglife]

Well, the sooner you plant it the sooner it will produce. Even three years goes by so fast.

 

[ChanellG]

Lovinglife, I planted the garlic yesterday! I am running out of space, lol. I want to try potatoes, but I really need to wait for that. So much to manage as it is just dealing with life.

 

[lovinglife]

YAY!! Good luck! My garlic bed grew a lot this year, now with 5 varieties! I can't wait till spring to see them pop up, while others are watching flowers and tulips pop up I am watching garlic! Plus I hear you can cut some of the tender green shoots to eat similar to chives, just be sure not to cut too much. If you have hard necks they will grow scapes, which are the flowers, cut those off as soon as you see them and enjoy!

 

[ChanellG]

Thanks! I am already seeing green shoots popping up and it's only been a couple of days! I love growing things! I put a carrot top in some water a week or so ago and it finally started sending up the beginnings of leaves. I am hoping it will still flower and produce seeds I can plant in the spring.

 

[claudine]

I started growing carrot tops too. They don't have any new leaves yet but I'm so excited about this. Growing plants is like waiting for a gift

 

[ChanellG]

It really is Claudine! It's so funny, I have to laugh at myself. I am constantly checking my plants and cuttings for new signs of growth, lol. The carrot top was taking forever! The garlic cloves I placed in the soil a couple days ago are already sending up cloves! I found a couple seeds I saved, but couldn't remember from what so I planted them when I did the garlic; can't wait to see what comes up.

 

[zigs]

You'll need 2 Carrots to get fertile seeds mind & carrots are all hybrids so can revert to the wild ones which are a bit spindly in the root department.

Still, you never know what you might get.

 

[ChanellG]

Zigs, can I just use carrot tops to get seeds or would I need the entire carrots? When you say they can revert, how would I know that seeds I purchase would give me a good crop? It seems like there would be no guarantee either way.

 

[zigs]

If the tops can take root, no reason why they shouldn't flower.

The bought seeds are produced in a way that they won't get cross polinated by another variety, especially the F1 hybrids, so you should get what it says on the packet.

Carrot flowers are nice, sort of cup shaped, the wild ones grow on our chalk downlands and coastal areas. I'll keep my camera handy for when I see one, they'll be dried out & brown by now but still nice to see.