Most vegetables are annuals, meaning they live for a year before dying. But, many vegetables (most of which are not well known) are perennial, meaning they live for three or more years. In woodlands and other habitats with minimal human intervention, perennial plants are most common.
So, what are the benefits of perennial vegetables?
Lower maintenance - because they don't need replanted every year.
Less water - perennials have longer roots than annuals so can find more water themselves.
Less soil disturbance - the soil doesn't need re-tilled every year. (for minimising soil disturbance, though, the best thing to do is adopt a no-till approach)
Lower nutritional requirements - annual vegetables have been bred to grow in unnaturally fertile soil.
Healthier - perennial vegetables are thought to be more nutrient-dense.
So, what vegetables are perennial? Here are some...
NOTE: Forage or grow unusual plants at your own risk! I do believe that all my information is correct, but I am not responsible for what you eat!
Perennial alliums (onion family)
Wild garlic - Woodland plant, shade tolerant, native to the UK, leaves and flowers can be eaten. (I believe there is a similar plant in America called ramps)
Babington's leek - Coastal plant, native to the UK, eaten like a leek but smaller and a different flavour (more garlic-y).
Crow garlic - a uk native similar to chives
Spring onion - Yes, they are perennial! You just have to not pull them up when you harvest the shoots.
Chives - A strong flavour and pretty purple flowers.
Garlic chives - Garlic chives have a very nice flavour.
Walking onion - A perennial onion which 'walks' by producing bulbils at the top of the plant, then the plant droops and the bulbils grow into new plants.
Perennial salad greens
Dandelion - Often considered a 'weed' (really, there is no such thing as a weed, they're wildflowers), all parts of the dandelion are edible and highly nutritious. You should heat the leaves before using them for salads, as this is meant to destroy most of the bitter flavour.
Scorzerona - A mild-tasting relative to dandelions.
Sorrel - I presume you are familiar with sorrel. Should probably be limited in salads due to the oxalic acid.
Mallow - A wildflower native to the UK. I believe all parts are edible.
Lime/Linden - The small leaved lime and large leaved lime trees are both native to the UK. If grown purely for the greens they can be pollarded to a shorter height.
Perennial shoots/greens for cooking
Nettles - Yes, stinging nettles! If you cook the leaves they lose their sting. Very nutritious!
Perennial kale - I believe conventionally grown kale is a biennial grown as an annual, but you can get truly perennial kales. You can buy varieties with unusual foliage and some are meant to grow huge!
Sea kale -
Sea beet - The ancestor of chard and beetroot, some forms are perennial.
Cardoon - Related to globe artichoke, cardoon has edible leaf stems similar to celery. I've heard it is the national vegetable of Italy
Asparagus - You know asparagus, don't you? It is said to be higher maintenance than most perennial veggies.
Ostrich fern - The only fern known to be completely safe to eat. The fiddleheads can be boiled/steamed then eaten.
Solomon's seals - A very pretty plant, the young shoots can be eaten like asparagus.
Hops - This climber's female flowers are used to flavour beer, and the shoots can be eaten as well.
Perennial edible flowers
Nine star broccoli - This is actually said to be more like a cauliflower.
Globe artichoke - Fairly familiar, I believe.
Day lily - A lily-like plant related to Aloe vera, it has edible and sweet-tasting petals. I have heard that some varieties are mildly poisonous.
Perennial root vegetables
Jerusalem artichoke - Not related to the globe artichoke, the Jerusalem artichoke is a member of the sunflower family. It has edible tubers, similar to potatoes, which some have trouble digesting.
Chinese artichokes/Chorogi - A member of the mint family, Chinese artichokes have edible, crunchy tubers that look like maggots!
Skirret - A vegetable originating from Asia, skirret produces pencil-thickness roots that have a flavour like parsnips or carrots
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