Perennial Plants for Your
Vegetable Garden:
Hearty to Zone 5
I’ve been
thinking lately that gardening can be much more efficient, easier, and more fun
than we currently experience it. The graying
hair on the heads of many of my gardening friends says to me that we have to
emphasize efficiency, as we wish to participate in this calming, zen activity
for as long as possible. These thoughts
led me to explore perennial vegetables.
American garden and agricultural practices reflect their European roots. Perennial plants were rare in Europe when our ancestors left there, and the American settlers were resistant to learning new agricultural lore from the Native Americans. In fact, growing systems utilized here at the time of their arrival quite possibly did not even register as agriculture, and the immense dark forests were frightening to settlers raised on lands that had been cultivated for generations. They arrived with the grains, legumes and annual vegetables that were their staples back home – plus the livestock needed to break up the soil for planting these each year.
American garden and agricultural practices reflect their European roots. Perennial plants were rare in Europe when our ancestors left there, and the American settlers were resistant to learning new agricultural lore from the Native Americans. In fact, growing systems utilized here at the time of their arrival quite possibly did not even register as agriculture, and the immense dark forests were frightening to settlers raised on lands that had been cultivated for generations. They arrived with the grains, legumes and annual vegetables that were their staples back home – plus the livestock needed to break up the soil for planting these each year.
As our
understanding of no-till soil fertility increases, as well as our appreciation of
permaculture, which emphasizes efficiency, we begin to embrace perennial plants. The labor savings of perennials is their
premier virtue, but there are additional benefits.
1.
You
plant it once and reap the benefits for many years: Any gardener with shovel or hoe in hand is
preparing for hard, sweaty work. Who
wants to maximize this activity?
2.
Love that low maintenance:
Perennial roots can go deeper into soil, thereby requiring less watering,
and come up earlier in the season, beating out annual weeds.
3.
Extended harvest means more food,
more seasons: Many perennial plants put out tender clusters
of leaves in the fall as they prepare to expand their territory or feed next
season’s underground bulbs. Their leaves
sprout earliest in the spring as well.
4.
No-till systems benefit soil
fertility: Leaving
the soil’s crumb structure intact ensures healthier soil and plants, as well as
avoiding the tragedy of earthworms cut in half.
5.
A more lush beauty can be found in
the heartier growth of perennials than in most of the smaller annuals.
6.
Landscaping with these plants can
save valuable vegetable garden space: A border of daylilies along a front
porch is lovely, as well as a source of food.
Some deer resistant perennials can thrive in shade, woods, streams, or
wild areas adjacent to a lawn, saving valuable garden bed space for
annuals.
7.
Permaculture benefits include
multiple foods from one plant: Short-lived annuals’ brief lives typically
limit their edible contributions to a single type of leaf, bulb, flower or
fruit. Some heartier perennials can be
managed to create a permaculture plant - a plant bearing three or more foods in
the same growing season.
8.
Perennial plants condition the soil
around their roots: Mycelia, bacteria and minerals are
drawn by plant roots as needed, and a perennial plant doesn’t have to start
from scratch every year. More of its
vitality can be devoted to its edible gifts.
There can be
drawbacks. More planting space may be
needed for situations in which the most of the plant is harvested, for example,
ramps. Planting two years worth of ramps
is the only way to let half of the patch regenerate for an entire season after some
or all its leaves have been harvested.
Some pruning or thinning, even removing of aggressive perennials may be
needed on occasion, as well.
Additionally, some perennials require remaining undisturbed, not
harvested, their first growing season, only producing the desired foods the
second year.
Perennial Vegetables Hearty to Zone 5:
Asparagus (second-year plant) : Left to their own devices during the first growing season, second-year plants will reward you with hearty spears for many seasons.
Asparagus (second-year plant) : Left to their own devices during the first growing season, second-year plants will reward you with hearty spears for many seasons.
Comfrey, symphytum x uplandica (http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/June08/wisewoman.htm) Although the large leaves of this
valuable plant need to be cooked prior to eating, they are a powerhouse of
nutrients for humans and plants. Chop some fresh leaves fine and soak prior to
filtering into your watering can, and you will give all other plants in your
garden a free potassium boost. Or put
them with some water in a blender and pour into a bucket of water for the same
nutrient-dense effect.
Daylilies, Hemerocallis fulva or the yellow H. lilioasphodelus
(only these two) (http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/how-to-sustainably-harvest-daylilies-zbcz1307), (deer resistant): Thriving on sun and neglect, these permaculture
plants provide edible spring shoots, flower buds that are prepared like green beans, and edible flowers and fall tubers. As aggressive as they are hearty, they’re best used in an area outside of the vegetable garden, or in an area around which one can
mow.
Garden Rhubarb (Rheum x cultorum or Rheum x hybridum)(second-year
plant, deer resistant): Beneficial as a
pioneer plant, meaning it will grow in poor soils while improving them, rhubarb
is also a great ground cover. The large
leaves will shade out weeds while funneling available water to its roots. Another plant best left undisturbed the first
year. The flower heads are edible as
well as the stems.
Garlic (http://www.onestrawrevolution.net/One_Straw_Revolution/Article_Garlic_Plant_Once.html
)(deer-resistant): There are many varieties of garlic, some producing delicious
harvestable scapes and some not. Smaller
bulbs left in the soil at harvest’s end will become next year’s mature garlic.
Garlic chives, allium
tuberosum (deer-resistant): These
hearty wonders can be eaten as a salad green, cooked, or dried.
Good King Henry, chenopodium
bonus-henricus (http://tcpermaculture.blogspot.com/2012/02/permaculture-plants-good-king-henry.html) (second-year plant): This is a true permaculture plant. Good King Henry
is in the same family as spinach, so its leaves are used in much the same
way. Its shoots are eaten like asparagus,
flower buds like broccoli, and the seeds are an edible grain. Add its ability
to grow in some shade, and this is a prince among plants. Allow the first growing season to establish vitality
prior to harvesting leaves the second year.
Groundnut, Apios Americana: A plant utilized
by the Native Americans, this vine boasts subtle purple flowers and edible tubers. A few tubers left in the ground at the end of the season
will ensure next season’s growth. A great addition placed near a trellis or
nearby shrub, vines take advantage of vertical space at the edge of a garden or
bed.
Jerusalem Artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus,
strain Stampede (second-year plant): These sunny wonders are very invasive, and
should be grown in their own bed, one that can be mown around, in containers on
a porch or in a patch of wild space at the perimeter of a lawn. Tubers are a good potato alternative - great
for pollinators, too.
Lovage, Levisticum
officinale: This hearty perennial is a great celery
substitute, with leaves and stems more powerfully flavored than the supermarket
staple. Only a single plant is needed,
as it can reach six feet in height, which may make it perfect for the back of a
vegetable or flower bed. Tolerates
partial shade.
Ostrich Fern, Matteuccia
struthiopteris: A
shade-happy camper, the fiddleheads from these highly ornamental greens are a delicacy in early spring.
Ramps , Allium tricoccum (deer-resistant): Both tubers and leaves
are edible from this shade lover. Ramps can be
naturalized under trees to save garden space. Harvest only leaves,
and only half of them, in order to ensure plants survive from season to season.
Scarlet Runner Beans, Phaseolus
coccineus: A permaculture hero: young leaves, tubers and beans (beans both as
green beans and dried) are gifts of this plant.
Sea Kale, Crambe maritime: This favorite is usually grown
as an ornamental, and its pretty sea-foam or pink leaves
are a nice contrast to most vegetables.
Sorrel, Rumex
acetosa: Fresh fall leaves feed new bulbs that will
grow around the parent plant, so allow for some expansion space when planting. Tolerates partial shade.
Walking Onions, Allium
cepa var. Viviparum (deer-resistant): Tiny onions are produced at the top of the stems. This plant can be aggressive, so consider
giving it its own bed.
Watercress, Nasturtium
officinale: Grow
from seed in running water, or toss a harvested bunch with roots intact into a small stream or riverbed
for years of effort-free greens. Permaculture traits include edible spring
shoots, mature leaves, and edible seeds. Growing along moving water saves garden beds for other favorites.
Wild Arugula, Diplotaxis tenuifolia (deer resistant): This peppery cousin of the supermarket arugula is actually a self-seeding biennial, which means it still only has to be planted once if some plants are allowed to go to seed. Mulching the woody stem over the winter will ensure years of delicious, crisp greens.
Wild Arugula, Diplotaxis tenuifolia (deer resistant): This peppery cousin of the supermarket arugula is actually a self-seeding biennial, which means it still only has to be planted once if some plants are allowed to go to seed. Mulching the woody stem over the winter will ensure years of delicious, crisp greens.
Jill Emerson
October, 2017
October, 2017
