Ep. 159 – New Perennials I am Planting this Spring

As I get older, perennials have become more important in my garden.

It is the first week of May, and this Spring I have not planted any new annuals, besides potatoes. But that doesn’t mean that I do not have anything to eat. A couple of years ago I focused more and more corners of my garden and raised beds on perennials. I have bloody dock and other sorrel to add to salads. Bloody dock has a lemony taste, and it’s blood red veins add an intriguing conversation piece when added to a guest’s salad.

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The Milpa bed has 2nd year cabbage, arugula, and mustard greens that can be foraged and added to salads and smoothies. The arugula and mustard greens need to gathered early before they go to seed.

Narrow leaf plantain is also added to smoothies.

I have oregano in a raised bed kitchen garden that is far better than any store bought oregano (and I will never go back!).

I have walking onions that are so numerous that I have many to thin and add to other beds and into the food forest. As well as gift to friends, for I have more onions than I can eat.

Jerusalem artichoke (sunchoke) tubers are mostly sprouting new plants, but some can still be harvested. I planted a variety a few years ago that is white, more circular and less lobulated than most sunchokes.

I have added raised bed kitchen gardens in Zone 1 near the house, using two Vego Garden Modular Metal Raised Beds, and I want to increase my perennial options.

Skirret

This year I will add Skirret, which is a perennial that looks like a carrot and is described as “the sweetest carrot you’ve ever eaten.” Skirret is a European perennial, popular in medieval times. Instead of one tap root, the skirret has multiple tubers off of a plant. I got the seed from Perma Gardens at plantonce.com

Yacon

Yacon is a plant that has a deep tubers that look like a small sweet potato, and smaller tubers near the surface that look like sunchokes. Above ground it will look like a sunflower. It reportedly has a juicy fruity flavor like celery or fruit. I bought my Yacon at Raintree Nursery, and they also have a purple variety.

Mashua

Mashua is a plant in the Nasturtium family. It is a vining and flowering plant, but also forms tubers. The leaves and flower are edible. And it repels some insects and nematodes, so you can plant it between other plants. The tubers can also come in different colors. I bought my Mashua at Raintree Nursery.

Sea Beet

Sea beet is an ancestor of our beets and chard. It will have large edible leaves. It seeds in Year 2 and then, in midsection of country it would likely go perennial in Year 3.

It is not a red beet, and I expect it to be more like a chard taste or closer to a sugar beet. I bought mine at Experimental Farm Network, which has unique things you may not find in your regular store or the usual online seed places.

Perennial Kale

I frequently can get kale to come back in the next year, especially if it is a thicker leafed kale like Scotch Kale. You can also get some ornamental kale that comes back every year. Those may not be great in salad, but you could eat the tender new “baby kale” or blend it into smoothies. Experimental Farm Network has been experimenting with choosing kale varieties that would be more likely to go perennial. They call it the ‘Homesteader’s Kaleidoscopic Perennial’ Kale Grex. “Grex” is a horticulture term meaning a hybrid. I have tried this (and will continue to try it) to discover the elusive perennial kale.

Chicory

And I go back to my tried and true chicory, which also comes back. I plant this along borders in the garden and in ground beds. I also have it growing wild up and down the driveway. You can roast chicory root as a coffee substitute (although I don’t care for it). My chickens love the greens and I add it to smoothies.

Try some of these plants, especially the tubers, and increase your self sufficiency by experimenting to see if you can get some of them to turn perennial.

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Thriving Food Forest Design: Let us create an edible foodscape, perennial paradise for you so you can grow more food and be more self sufficient. Schedule a free consult session with me at:

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Buy my chestnuts, hazelnuts, elderberry, and comfrey that are adapted to the Midwest.

GrowNutTrees.com

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Raised beds that I am building to test Perennial Kitchen Garden layouts:

Vego Garden Modular Metal Raised Bed (which I will make 5′ x 3.5′, 17″ tall).

I use this for a perennial kitchen garden – growing herbs to use daily in the kitchen. Just come along and pick what you need for tonight’s dinner.

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Meadow Creature Broadfork is my favorite tool for starting new garden beds. I turn over the sod, add a layer of compost, then Milpa, and cover with woodchips.