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Perennial Vegetables

Perennial vegetables are great in a permaculture garden, either to replace annual vegetables or to complement them. They add to your diversity and require less attention than do annuals – as such they suit someone who doesn’t have much time or interest in garden maintenance but still wants to eat from the garden. They’re more resistant to pests and are often available to you for more seasons; some can be picked throughout the year. Perennial vegetable have a high nutritional value. They cover the soil suppressing weeds and work very well in a no-dig system.

On the down side there are less varieties available and the yield from a plant may be less than that from an annual. And taste should be a consideration. Many annual vegetables have been developed to suit a sweet and bland palate; some people find the taste of some perennial vegetables to be overpowering by comparison.

Some plants with commercial sources

The best way to get hold of these is as cuttings or seeds from someone growing them on their garden or allotment. It is illegal to dig up wild plants from the wild without the landowner’s permission. Another good way is to get hold of them from seed suppliers – found below.

If you have any additional suggestions, descriptions and up-to-date sources for seeds or plants please amend this wiki page.

Plant Name – Tree Onion Allium cepa proliferum
Edible Description – Leaves and bulb, raw or cooked
Online Supplier – PWP BAH
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Plant Name – Welsh Onion Allium fistulosum
Edible Description – Leaves and bulb, raw or cooked, flowers raw
Online Supplier – PWP OGC
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Plant Name – Wild Garlic Allium fistulosum
Edible Description – Leaves and bulb, raw or cooked, flowers raw
Online Supplier – PWP OGC
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Plant Name – Potato Onion Allium cepa aggregatum
Edible Description – Leaves and bulb, raw or cooked. Bulbs Divide to produce several bulbs like shallots do. Eaten like “normal” biennial onions. Never buy onion seed or sets again!
Online Supplier – PFH
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Plant Name – Everlasting Onion Allium cepa perutile
Edible Description – Leaves and bulb, raw or cooked. Grows like really big chives. Used like spring onion in salads, etc.
Online Supplier – PFH
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Plant Name – Sea beet / spinach Beta vulgaris maritima
Edible Description – Young leaves raw or cooked
Online Supplier – BWF
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Plant Name – Kale – Jersey Walking Stick Brassica oleracea palmifolia
Edible Description – Leaves cooked
Online Supplier – OGC ALT
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Plant Name – Kale – Perpetual or Daubenton’s Brassica oleracea ramosa
Edible Description – Leaves cooked
Online Supplier – No UK sources found, suggestions please. Can be found on the French sites www.fabre-graines.com and www.plantes-et-jardins.com
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Plant Name – Turkish Rocket Bunias orientalis
Edible Description – Leaves and young stems raw or cooked
Online Supplier – CNS
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Plant Name – Sea Kale Crambe maritima
Edible Description – Leaves cooked
Online Supplier – OGC ALT
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Plant Name – Ground Elder Aegopodium podagraria
Edible Description – Leaves, raw or cooked. It would be a very bad idea to introduce this plant to your garden as it is invasive and difficult to get rid of. However, if you have a problem with it as a weed, then why not eat it into submission?!
Online Supplier – Common garden weed
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Plant Name – Globe Artichoke Cynara scolymus
Edible Description – Flower buds, raw or cooked
Online Supplier – OGC CNS
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Plant Name – Jerusalem Artichoke Helianthus tuberosus
Edible Description – Tubers raw or cooked
Online Supplier – OGC ALT
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Plant Name – Musk Mallow Malva moschata
Edible Description – Leaves and seeds raw or cooked, flowers raw
Online Supplier – BWF
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Plant Name – Garlic Cress Peltaria alliacea
Edible Description – Leaves raw or cooked
Online Supplier – None found, suggestions please
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Plant Name – Sorrel Rumex acetosa
Edible Description – Leaves raw or cooked. The cultivar ‘Profusion’ does not flower, thereby retaining it’s flavour year round, whilst never becoming invasive through seed dispersal.
Online Supplier – OGC ALT PFH
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Plant Name – Herb Patience Rumex patienta
Edible Description – Leaves raw or cooked
Online Supplier – ALT
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Plant Name – Skirret Sium sisarum
Edible Description – Roots cooked. Low maintenance, few pest problems, potato-parsnip flavour.
Online Supplier – PFH
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Plant Name – Bucks Horn Plantain Plantago coronopus
Edible Description – Leaves raw or cooked like spinach
Online Supplier – OGC

Self-Seeding Annuals

Ok, so this is cheating a bit! However, self-seeders, being capable of creating successive generations of plants year after year without human intervention, have many of the advantages of perennials. A number of tasty, productive vegetables fall into this category.

Plant Name – Rocket Eruca vesicaria sativa
Edible Description – Leaves, raw or cooked
Online Supplier – Most good seed catalogues
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Plant Name – American Land Cress Barbarea verna
Edible Description – Leaves, raw or cooked
Online Supplier – Most good seed catalogues
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Plant Name – Lambs Lettuce aka Corn Salad Valerianella locusta
Edible Description – Leaves, raw
Online Supplier – Most good seed catalogues
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Plant Name – Miner’s Lettuce aka Winter Purslane Claytonia perfoliata
Edible Description – Leaves, raw
Online Supplier – PFH

Supplier key:
PWP – http://plantswithpurpose.co.uk
BAH – http://www.beansandherbs.co.uk
OGC – http://www.organiccatalogue.com
CNS – http://www.cnseeds.co.uk
BWF – http://www.wildflowers.co.uk
ALT – http://www.allotment.org.uk
PFH – http://www.poyntzfieldherbs.co.uk