All organic gardeners love the time of year when the last frosts have been, the soil is warming up and the daffodils nod their heads, saying that spring is here. It’s time to start planting your annual vegetable garden.
But what a fantastic supplement to the garden would it be if there were vegetables available that don’t need to be replanted each year? You plant them once, then feed and water them and you can just keep picking them year after year.
Well, there are vegetables that you plant in a permanent position and they provide you with food on an ongoing basis. A perennial is defined as having a life cycle lasting more that two years. They generally die back during the cold winter months and emerge the following spring.
So a perennial vegetable is an edible plant that comes back each year. This way you have less to do, you disturb the soil less and your perennials become more drought and frost hardy as their roots grow deeper every year.
Soil Preparation For Perennials
All perennials will benefit from soil preparation that increases the nutrient levels and the moisture holding capacity of their garden bed. I like to grow my perennial vegetables separate from the annual plots, so that I’m not disturbing them on a regular basis.
If you have clay or heavy soils your perennials will benefit greatly if you use raised beds, as most perennials need good drainage to perform well.
Adding humus or compost to the soil will greatly improve growing conditions in heavy soils that dry out in summer, as well as lighter soils. Improving the soil will also increase the life and productivity of your perennial plants.
You want to prepare the beds well in advance of buying your plants. You want to make all of your amendments long before you bring your perennials home.
When you have got your new plants home, this is how you need to plant them into their permanent positions.
- Dig a hole in the soil twice the depth of your plant and fill with water
- Mix in a generous amount of mature, rich, organic material or compost to the soil that you took from the hole
- Backfill the hole with the humus enriched soil. The addition of the mature organic matter provides extra nutrients below the soil that will also have increased water holding capacity, maintaining the moisture available to the roots of these perennial plants throughout the dry summer months.
- Spread a light layer of organic fertiliser on top of the soil to help quickly develop a good root system
- Mulch the soil around your perennials, making sure that the mulch doesn’t come right up to the crown or base of the plant as it may cause your plant to rot
Perennial Vegetables you might like to try – bearing in mind your climatic zone, as some of these perennials are not frost tolerant.
Artichokes, Asparagus, Beans (perennial), Broccoli (perennial), Cardoon, Chard (perennial), Chicory, Chives, Chokos, Corn Salad, Dandelions, Fennel, French sorrel, Garlic Chives, Ginger, Good King Henry, Japanese hornwort, Jerusalem artichokes, Lemon Balm, Lovage, New Zealand spinach, Purslane, Rhubarb, Rocket, Sorrel, Sweet potato, Tamarillo, Walking Onions.
Perennial vegetables are a perfect addition to an edible landscape gardening plan or permaculture garden. Many are very attractive and make excellent feature plants as well as give you food.
Remember that since they will grow in the same soil for many years, it is vitally important that they are given a sunny position, with well-drained soil full of organic matter. Planting perennial vegetables is a truly rewarding investment in your organic garden and you kitchen.
Each year as it warms up in spring, give your perennials a generous layer of organic fertilizer, then mulch with a layer of compost, leafmould or straw – or even better, both.
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