Sallygarden Smallholding - The Forum For Sustainable Living

I am working towards the philosophies of permaculture in my gardens and something that's suggested is instead of planting annual crops year after year that we plant as many perennial crops as possible. This saves us much time, effort, energy and preserves the soil structure.

I have been googling perennial crops but haven't managed to find much. Can anybody please suggest some more crops I can try?

My list so far (apart from usual fruit & nuts etc) are ;
9 Star Brocolli, a perennial brocolli bush. I have grown some from seed and can't wait to see the results.
Asparagus. It can grow for 30 years before needing replacement, but the beds do need constant weeding so not that low maintenance.
Good King Henry. Grows like a small bush and the leaves can be harvested like spinach, and the early shoots like asparagus.
Jerusalem artichoke. A delicious root crop, but can cause alarming amounts of wind!
Globe artichoke. Delicious globes of edible leaves and a scrumptious 'heart' in the centre.

I totally agree about having as many perennial vegetables as possible in the garden. It makes a lot of sense. Here's what I've discovered. Green peppers are perennial, but, if your area experiences frosts (as mine does) you will need to over winter them in a basement, porch, or unheated greenhouse. I did it last year and my pepper plant is incredibly sturdy and productive in its second year! I've added French Sorrel, Welsh Onions, Egyptian Onions, Rhubarb and Lovage to the items you've listed. I just read that Scarlet Runner Beans are perennial. If that's the case, I'd imagine they'd need special winter care like the pepper plant I mentioned. Some plants re-seed easily and would be the next best thing to being perennial. I'm counting on that to help keep my Quinoa, Millet and Amaranth going (along with seed saving). As for seed sources....I found a great place in California, U.S. called Bountiful Gardens. This place also has a lot of printed material on subjects like Biodynamics and Foliar Feeding.

Hi there. What part of the world are you living? I'm wondering if some of the plants you grow will survive here in Ireland. I tried amarynth in the tunnel but it didn't grow more than a couple of inches and didn't flower. I shall look up the other suggestions ... the bean especially. Thanks for your list of perennials.
I find coriander and chervil both self seed well, I don't need to plant them anymore in the tunnel, just wait for the 'volunteers' to show themselves over the season!

Hi. I'm in Pasadena, MD. I live within about a half hour to an hour's drive from Baltimore, Annapolis and DC. Our zone is 7a. I say "a" because, on a recent trip to Alabama, which is quite a bit south of here (by several states), I discovered part of that state is zone 7b and is 20 degrees warmer most days. What I saw growing there was quite different from what we have in our gardens here! Our temperatures usually don't go below the teens and that's even pretty rare. Summers are quite muggy and hot, usually. Now for the subject of how MY Amaranth is doing...so far so good. This is the first planting. My Millet has developed its seed tops and will be ready to harvest soon. I probably missed the optimum planting time for the Quinoa, which prefers things a bit cooler. By the way...I just found a source in BC, Canada for Sylvetta Arugula, Nine Star Sprouting Broccoli and Good King Henry. I hope these perennials are all still in stock! The name of the place is THE GARDEN PATH CENTRE. The pricing and shipping seems reasonable and I think they ship all over the world.