Try growing some perennials on your plot for veg you can plant once and harvest every year.
Most classic veg are annuals that have to be grown from seed each year, meaning more work and more resources involved. Perennial vegetables can be sown or planted once and then harvested for many years to come. We have suggestions for a few tasty ideas you can try for yourself.
Asparagus
A classic perennial vegetable crop, although it needs a lot of space, and a lot of patience! Growing from the seed is the cheapest option, however you’ll have to wait for three years before harvesting any spears. They can also be bought as dormant crowns, which cuts down your waiting time a bit – but you will still have to wait for two years before you enjoy your crop! This is because they need time to establish and to produce their ferny top growth that will feed the plants for the coming years. You can grow other crops in between your asparagus rows to get more out of your plot – tomatoes do well with asparagus, as does spinach and lettuce, and herbs like dill, parsley and coriander. See our blog post on companion planting for ideas for veg combinations.
Sorrel
A leafy veg that is a good alternative to spinach, with a tangy taste. You can get green leaved or red veined sorrel, which has beautiful leaves with dark red veins and stems. They can be harvested young as a cut and come salad leaf or left to mature and cooked like spinach. Pinch out any flowering stems to stop them self-seeding where you don’t want them – they can be difficult to dig out if they pop up in the wrong place!
Globe artichoke
A beautiful, very architectural plant that makes a real statement in your garden. Like asparagus, it’s best to wait two years to harvest them to make sure the plant gets well established and produces more fruit in the coming years. The bees will thank you for this too, as they absolutely love the flowers! In the third year, get to them before they flower, when they’re the size of a golf ball, cutting them about 10cm down the stalk. Avoid cutting off any new buds though – as these will also mature into tasty artichokes the same year.
Jerusalem artichoke
Completely different to Globe artichokes, these are tubers, similar to potatoes, that grow underground and send up lots of tall leaves with sunflower-like flowers – in fact they are the same family as sunflowers. They can be left in the ground and harvested as you need them – they don’t store very well so it’s best to dig them up as and when you want them. Leave a few in the ground to make sure you have a crop the following year. One word of caution – as they contain a carbohydrate that isn’t broken down during digestion and can cause wind if you eat too many! Stick to just a few at a time and you should be ok though.
Egyptian walking onion
This veg will travel around your garden just like the name suggests. Bulblets grow on the top of the shoot, which then bends over as they dry out and the bulblets take root and grow new plants where they touch the ground. The plants can travel up to 60cm a year, so you will need to be happy with them wandering all over your garden or plot. You can most parts of the plant – the shoots can be cut early in spring and use like chives, the bulblets can be broken apart and harvested and used like garlic, or once a new plant has popped up, you can dig up the original and use the bulb as you would a shallot.
Fruit and Herbs
Lots of veg gardens and allotments already have perennials growing on them – fruit trees and bushes as well as many different types of herbs, and these are worth including if you don’t already have some.
Why not try some perennial veg as well? You can plant them with other annual veg, or even try and incorporate them into a flower bed – see more ideas for this in our previous blog post on growing veg with flowers.
