Thinking outside the box, some cool perennial vegetables.

[Nature's Babe]

I already have asparagus and artichokes, and rhubarb cane fruit and trees and bushes which come up every year they are doing very well, and I was looking for other suggestions? I found this RHS link -

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Shows-Events/Hamp ... ng-new-veg

Any more ideas would be appreciated.

[John]

My local garden centre has some good pots of sorrel in at the moment. I've never tried it before but I think I'll give it a go and it is a perennial. I see that it is usually included in the bags of salad leaves that they have at supermarkets.
Has anyone tried it - maybe for growing on in pots?

John

[adam-alexander]

Sorrel is in the dock family, latin name rubex acetosa, it is rather too sour and acid to eat large quantities like spinach. Classic dishes are sorrel soup with egg & cream and as a filling for omelettes. - bon appetit !

[Nature's Babe]

Yes sorrel is useful in small quantities, I also have lovage which addds a nice yeasty celery-like flavour to winter stews and soups

[Urban Fox]

How about.... Egyptian walking onions?

According to Mark Diacono you can get 4 harvest a year from one plant. Novelty value alone makes this an interesting plant to try

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/pl ... lways.html

http://www.epinions.com/review/Onion_Bu ... 7570619012

[Primrose]

I'll be sowing Frissee endive any time now. I find it's pretty hardy where we live and providing I can get some seedlings to a reasonable stage by mid/late September, they usually continue growing throughout the winter under cloches. It's a useful salad when it's too cold for anything else to grow outside.

[Nature's Babe]

The Egyptian onions sound good and the frisee.
i bought some Asda parsley for 50p a few weeks ago and used the top, then separated the plants and planted them in rows between my asparagus it's big bushy and thriving now,two rows, have done it before and in a mild winter it kept me in parsley overwinter for soups and garlic bread etc, I could try covering it if we get a hard winter i guess. parsley and asparagus always look happy together, companion plants

[ken]

I can add to the discussion on sorrel - it is quite true that you don't need a lot. It makes a very good sauce, mixed with creme fraiche or a bit of cream, to have with salmon.

[Primrose]

It's probably true that you only need one sorrel plant because it bulks up quite quickly and a little goes a very long way. The problem I have with it is that when you cook it, it seems to turn a distinctly unappetising mushy brown. If anybody has a way of eliminating this problem I'd be delighted to hear it.

[Nature's Babe]

Try chopping fine first and add to the sauce at the very last minute of cooking it is very tender so only needs a minute to warm through.

[Diane]

I like the sound of the Egyption walking onions. Does anyone know where you can buy them? I don't remember seeing them in any of the catalogues, unless they go under another name?

[Nature's Babe]

I don't know where you can buy them, but I think their other name is tree onion Diane.

[alan refail]

Other perennial vegetables worth a try are

Good King Henry (“Lincolnshire asparagus”) – Chenopodium bonus-henricus

Turkish rocket – Bunias orientalis

Bistort (“Easter ledges”) – Polygonum bistorta

Ramsons – Allium ursinum

and, of course, the indispensable nettle.

I have grown all of these at one time or another.

An excellent source for “unusual” vegetables is Simon Hickmott, Growing Unusual Vegetables, Ecologic Books, 2003.



http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1899 ... d_i=468294

Unfortunately, Simon’s venture, Future Foods, which supplied many of the crops listed, ceased trading some years ago.

A comment, if I may, on the link in the original post: two of the plants listed I have grown and they are not perennial. Amaranths are half hardy annuals – only “perennial” if you let them seed; then they will appear everywhere, as I know from experience. Buckshorn plantain is at best biennial, though usually annual – another prolific self-seeder. I found it palatable only in early spring when very young.

PS If anyone does decide to grow Apios americana or Sagittaria latifolia it would be extremely interesting to hear their experiences.

[Nature's Babe]

Hi Alan, good to see you posting again, thank you for the ideas, and the warning about the ones that seed very prolifically. I planted a wildflower mix which included teasles, they have seeded all over the place.

[Tony Hague]

I agree with Alan, Simon Hickmott's book is great. I used Future foods a few times and was disappointed to see it go.

I have grown grain Amaranth, it produced around a pound of grain per square metre. Shame it is not nicer to eat - it made bread like a brick, or if steamed a rather gritty and earthy tasting alternative to couscous. Very impressive plant though !