There aren't too many perennial vegetables that I can think of. Asparagus of course, artichokes maybe. Tomatoes and peppers, even eggplant in some climates but not in your zone.

I did find this previous discussion on this question over on the Perennials Forum here that might help.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Perennial vegetables discussion

I agree with dave, the discussion in the perennials forum is very good. Zone 8 or above, we should limit to hardy perennials and there are a few. Most of them border on the little known or exotic however. Asparagus, Crosnes, Jerusalem articokes (sun chokes) Rhubard you have already listed. I would add perennial members of the onion onion family like Walking onions and perennial bunching onions, American Pokeweed, some of the docks, edible Chrysanthemums.
Bear in mind tho, that few of them are maintenance free. Most perennials are more work for me than annuals. weeding thinning, fertilizing, demands a lot of hand labor.

I agree with farmerdilla, the perennials are not necessarily less work. They can, however, be neglected for awhile and still survive. It is then alot of work to get them up to optimal production, tho. If you keep up with weeding and mulching them they aren't too bad. I have asparagus, rhubarb, blackberries, raspberries, currents, chives, and assorted mints which have survived and produced lowered yields during years I neglected them. With some weeding, fertilizing, and mulching they came back to good production quite well.

Also, many "weeds" are edible and grow fine with no help from us. With a little study you can go out and harvest alot of the weeds that take over so quickly and make a meal of them. Some are perennial, some biennial, and some are annuals that self sow and grow so quickly that you may think they are perennials.

gardenpro,

how about some horseradish ! my fave. i put out 4 sets this year.

i also have fruit and nut trees.

i will be making an attempt at catnip next season.

regards,
wildlifeman

It's true about plenty of work with perennials. JA's seem to block out weeds as does rhubarb. The rest... lots of mulching and probably more as well.
I'll check out the link, thanks for it!

Ostrich ferns are not only trouble-free, they are the only vegetable that can be grown in full shade, thus using spots in the yard that would otherwise go to waste. They need to be fertilized once a year but they will not need weeding as nothing grows under them.

Cattails, whose shoots are ready about 2 weeks before ostrich ferns, will thrive in a wet spot without any help.

Bamboo shoots need no help. They are ready at the same time as the ferns, and I consider them better than asparagus, but they are a lot more work to clean. I have the psyllostachys nuda variety (a hardy bamboo with quality shoots). Bamboo needs some mulch every two years or so because brambles and other unpleasant things will grow in it.

Herbs need no help once established, so long as they are in full sun. Oregano, thyme, sage and lemon balm are self weeding. Sorrel is one of the last things to go in November, and one of the first up in April, yielding a quality early and late vegetable without any work. Mint is extremely productive. Frozen, dried for tea, or mixed 2 parts ground herbs and one part sea salt (a mixture we call "roasting salt"), a few square yards of herbs provide for a family for the full year.

Intentionally sloppy harvesting of the potato patch will create a permanent potato bed, which will need a bit of fertilizer, wood chips as mulch, but at least at my site does not need water. Likewise, my neighbor has two spots where cherry tomatoes and lettuce come up every year. He lets them go to seed.

Perennials that either work for us or we are trying to grow:

Peppers
Eggplants
Artichokes
Kale
ginger
bunch of herbs as mentioned above
chayote squash (mirlitons)
runner beans (Phaseolus coccineous)

We are going to sow asparagus seeds soon too. I would like to plant turmeric root and galanga root too. I am going to have to try a Jerusalem artichoke too, I must buy one at the store and check its taste/digestibility before I plant some though.

Wildlifeman, how did you get the horseradish?

cabrita,

i made a request last winter to my local nurseryman that i was interested in some horseradish sets. lo and behold late spring he had a 1 gallon container for me. i believe he dug it out of his personal garden.

removed it from the pot,quartered it and planted it in 4 spots to ensure success. local wildlife seem to pretty much leave it alone , so it should be permanent.

sets are available mail-order for about the same price i paid,10 bucks. i understand u can just plant the root from a grocery and it will do just fine.

as much of the stuff as i eat this should be a long term winner and save lots of $$$.

regards,
wildlifeman

Thanks wildlifeman! grocery store? that works, this is how we started the ginger. Local wildlife ate my first one so I put my next ginger sprouts somewhere else and they seem to be doing fine, hopefully will survive the winter, or whatever passes for winter around here (not complaining).

This idea appeals to me and, although I have not yet done much about it, I have been collecting ideas for perennial vegetables other than herbs.

Asparagus is the most obvious choice. High maintenance? I'm not sure about that. I've harvested lots of asparagus which was growing wild in hedgerows and roadsides.

Cardoons, which are related to artichokes, serve a similar purpose but are hardier. The stalks, not the flowers are eaten.

Parsnips will self seed, which is the next best thing to being perennial.

Tomatillos also volunteer consistently after having been grown once.

Raspberries and black berries need no encouragement from me. I never planted any but if I don't control them they will take over every bit of my property.

Some management is required for perennial vegetables, especially the self seeding ones. Cultivating, thinning and perhaps moving them about is needed. It's an interesting idea, quite different from the usual way of vegetable gardening.

Jim

jimster,

you bring up tomatillos ! they have been on my radar and am wondering how they stand up to mooching animals. have u any info. on that scenario along with ground cherries in general ?

they do become a perennial here in my locale as i've been told.

i do like that plant once concept.

regards,
wildlifeman

The propensity of tomatillos to self seed is pretty well known I believe. Friends of mine have had the same experience. "Perennial" is a misnomer for self seeding, of course. The phrase "permanent planting" as used by the OP is more appropriate.

When the volunteer tomatillos appear, I move them around for better layout. Three or four plants are plenty unless you want to can them or make canned salsa verde.

I have no info on ground cherried, but I would expect them to behave similarly to tomatillos.

I believe I did not grow tomatillos prior to getting the severe ground hog problems I had a few years ago under control. So, animals haven't been a problem, but that doesn't mean they would not be.

Grow some tomatillos. They are easy and quite trouble free. Stake them well. They tend to get large and fall over.

Jim

Let me add two or three more things for consideration in colder climates. Often, these permanent plantings will offer something edible early, at a great time for the gardener who has suffered through the winter but has not yet anything ready in the regular (annual) garden. I do not care much for permanent plantings in summer, when the garden is pumping out vegetables at many times the rate one needs.

I let both corn salad and arugula reseed freely in the garden. I just pick their fruiting stems when the seeds are ready and shake them elsewhere in the garden. They are very small plants which will grow under anything (tomatoes, squash, beans, whatever). They are both extremely hardy, overwinter, and offer leaves very early in the season. In March in Michigan, all one gets out of the garden is garlic shoots, arugula, and corn salad. I will try to introduce claytonia in a similar way soon.

Also, in March and April the lawn is producing tender dandelions, a major medicinal detoxifying herb and wild green, making itself available at the time of the year when detoxification is most important. Surely you have noticed that they need no encouragement to grow. Less lobed leaves are less bitter, but also less medicinally potent. A mixed salad of dandelions (bitter), arugula (spicy), and corn salad (mild), is both excellent and highly nutritious.

Finally, there are mushrooms. A well-inoculated, freshly cut stump, will produce for 20-40 years, starting about two years after inoculation. This is another story entirely. Like ferns, it is a vegetable that must grow in shade, and like dandelions, it supports the human body in many ways. At Whole Paychecks, they cost $20/lb, and they are not as good as my own mushrooms.

Grapes are carefree for most of the year, but if you want to get the most out of them you will have to learn how to prune them. They also have to be grown on a trellis or overhead arbor that will itself need occasional maintenance. And if Japanese beetles are a pest in your area, they can do serious damage -- grape leaves seem to be one of their favorite foods.

I'm so glad I asked this here!
I have been trying to get tomatillo starts from a friend, maybe I should just try seeds.

Yes- all the orchard plants (trees/grapes etc) do need quite a bit of love. I have no qualms with this. Where JA's will self populate with abuse- tasty grapes are worth the time spent, every minute of it.

Glib, I'm VERY interested in your mushroom growing! I'm tempted to order from a local company (they only do mail order even though they're only about 10 miles away!) www.gmushrooms.com
I'm very afraid to pick them wild. There have been several deaths and liver transplants in the area due to people moving here from other countries and mistaking mushrooms they usually eat for "death caps" that look the same!
If you have any more info on growing mushrooms, I would love to hear about it! Nancy

I am interested in mushrooms too! I still have to buy these at the store.

I have issues with tomatillos. It seems they need to be planted in patches by themselves, as they are abusive to other plants. They really took over the pepper and eggplant bed and almost killed the other plants there. Here they attract stink bugs too. Then the stink bugs jump to the other plants like peppers and tomatoes. I have a volunteer right now (tomatillo) that just appeared in the former 3 sister garden. It has husks even though it is by itself. Husks and flowers, must like cooler weather? I have had tomatillos fail to make fruit when alone, but a couple of times they did make the husks. I thought they need other plants near by that they are not self pollinating, What's up with that? interesting plant for sure.

I have a shady spot that I want to plant with ostrich fern. I never thought of mushrooms. I too, would love to hear more. What an interesting post!

Purslane self sows freely and is very good for you.

short post because i have to work, but I want to see what you need to know. Thanks for reminding me of purslane, the other wild green which I eat in abundance.

www.fungi.com is a good start, but there are numerous books written By Paul Stamets (I have "Mycelium Running"). I also pick Coprinus Comatus because they are unique and present in great abundance in the Fall (google them as "ink cap"), to be distinguished from its edible evil twin, coprinus something, which disables your alcohol digesting enzyme, making you all red in the face. If you see them side by side you will distinguish them easily. The evil one is edible and choice, so long as you don't drink with it.

But I digress. There are fundamentally four ways to grow them

a) in beds outdoors
b) in logs outdoors
c) in stumps
d) in kits indoors

d) can be reused outdoors to inoculate any of a)-c) after it has fruited. All of you, from Zone 3 to Zone 11, can grow them. Logs is the most popular because, basically, you can force them to fruit, so that, say, 40 logs and a little of elbow grease will put mushrooms on the table at least every month. To force them to fruit you dunk them in water overnight, and then you put them somewhere where the temps are close to the preferred fruiting temps for that mushroom. That means leave them outside, about 8 months a year in MI, and take them to the basement the other 4.

Stumps are forever (forget diamonds), beds are for morels.
The fundamentals of growing will be discussed in my next post.

Evergreen bunching onions are perennials and spin off scallion sized onions. My clumps are almost 15 years old. I divide and give them away, and reset clumps every few years.

How to grow mushrooms on logs. Mushrooms need only 3 things to grow successfully: shade, moisture, and uncontaminated, appropriate wood. If you have spruce, you can buy mushroom that grow on spruce, but do not try shiitake on conifers.
Before I hit my stride I had numerous less unsuccessful experiences, so all this is from experience.

Wood: usually the seller will tell you which wood goes with which mushrooms. Most mushrooms will do well with hardwoods. A few will do well with softwoods, and a few specialize in breaking down the resinous conifer wood and only that wood.

Three simple steps will virtually insure successful wood inoculation: use freshly cut, live wood appropriate for the fungus you are interested in, wait 3-4 weeks for fungicide substances to dissipate, and protect it from contamination at all times.

I have had mixed results with wood brought in for free by tree companies. After all, when they cut a tree, it is already sick and often contaminated. I had best results with wood that I knew in person (from my yard or my neighbor's yards).

I have successfully injected contaminated logs with shiitake and oyster, two tough mycelia, but many other times I failed. To protect from contamination, keep the wood in the garage until ready to inoculate, but the best solution is to simply cover all open wounds with liquid beeswax applied with a paintbrush.

Logs are best cut to about 3 ft in length for ease of handling, with a diameter between 5 and 10 inches. As soon as they are cut, paint the ends and put them aside.

Moisture: robust, fast growth requires a steady moisture supply. Let me also mention that all mushrooms appreciate a bit of nitrogen, whereas P and K in the wood are sufficient for optimal growth.

Normal tap water is poisonous to the organism, due to chlorine. On a log, usually the water percolates slowly through the bark, in the process neutralizing its chlorine, but in a wood chip bed, with the mycelium enveloping the outside of the chips, one could really damage it. I use a variety of techniques. One could leave a bucket out overnight, or I mix a teaspoon of urea or of wood ash in the water. I also use a lot of coffee grounds (outdoors only, or they develop nasty, fungicidal molds), either to buffer the chlorine, or when I stack the logs, I fill the intra-log volumes with coffee on cardboard sheets to both provide N and keep the moisture in the stack high.
I believe that lots of coffee in wood chips beds is also beneficial as the high surface area will quickly buffer tap water.

It is best to water them weekly. I have a few cider gallon containers. They have a pinhole at the bottom, and placed on a stack, they will drip for several hours. But if I were a man, I would run a drip line there and be done with it.

Shade: mushrooms can not stand full sun. Full shade is best, with minimal wind.

Inoculation: initially you will be buying 5/16'' wooden dowels inoculated with the mycelium, though inoculating with sawdust is more efficient and substantially cheaper. When you receive the dowels place them in a cool dark place for a month or so. When ready to inoculate, soak the logs overnight. I use a trash can filled with water.

Then use the 5/16'' drill bit and drill holes in the log. In the holes, whack the dowels. Close the holes with liquid beeswax and place where the log can mature, possibly not in contact with the soil. Here it is best not to start them after Sept. 15, but in CA one could start them year round.

A majority of dowels will not take. Often a log is completely colonized by a single successul plug. Place at least 12 per log, 25 being best.

You then wait, 9 months to 2 years depending on species. The logs will fruit for about 4 years optimally, and then they will decline.

Great information Glib!
I have a lot of pecan logs. I am finding some nice uses for them, and this is certainly a great one. A quick search shows that shiitake mushrooms can grow on pecan (slowly). Have you had experience with either shiitake or other mushrooms on pecan? Do you think that shade under a larger tree would be enough (and soaker hose watering) to satisfy the darkness/moistness need in my area? (bright and sunny paradise here....) Would I be best placing the soaker hose wrapped several times on the log? (I do have lots of questions, don't I?)

Shiitake really grows on any hard or soft deciduous wood, so pecan will be just fine. Some suggestions (I assume you are in the SD or LA area):

1) keep those logs clean of contamination. When you make your pile, put a pair of 2X4 under, so the logs will be off the ground.

2) they will otherwise like to be in contact with any CLEAN stuff that can preserve moisture. I mentioned coffee grounds, but I also use cardboard, burlap, and I would use sawdust if I had it. I used boiled straw once (I brew, so I have the equipment to sterilize fairly large batches). Water that percolates through coffee or sawdust will instantly lose its chlorine.

3) open shade will be fine, but semiarid climate plus open (as opposed to deep) shade means more watering. You only need one soaker hose on top of the pile. As the water trickles, it will spread out. It is best to have a continuous drip, drip, drip, rather than a sudden downpour. Logs tend to shed water. That is why I still stick to the gallon milk containers with the pinhole.

4) types of mushrooms. They all have different fruiting temperature, so you should get shiitake, which prefers 60-75, and oyster, which has some strains that prefer higher temperatures. If you get your dowels from fungi.com, they should be able to advise you on which strain is better for your climate.

5) to force fruiting, you can either soak the logs overnight (which involves handling them), or water them for 24 hours running. It takes a week from soaking to fruiting, and during this week you should keep them moist. The weather may help you, or you can bury them in clean sand. I lean them against the garage, so I can see who is doing what. If needed, I hit them with the watering can. Ionly fruit them in spring and fall, so usually the weather cooperates.

Method I (soaking) is best to have continuous fruiting (you soak a few logs every week), Method II will involve no handling but they will fruit all at once. Shiitake dries nicely (string it up in the attic), oyster is best blanched and frozen.

Before attempting fruiting, check the log ends. They should show clear signs of the mycelium having colonized the log. With shiitake or oyster, it will take 6-9 months if you keep them moist.

Gojiberry,Mustard and Chives are my favourite perennials.I have to do in(winter) and out(summer) for Moringa oleifera and Murraya koenigii.