Perennial Vegetables

Vegetables contain a number of essential nutrients and are an important part of a healthy diet. They play a vital role in prevention of diseases and maintenance of overall health. One should try to consume vegetables on a regular basis to enjoy the various nutritional benefits offered by them. Vegetable gardening is practiced by many as a hobby or leisure activity! The joy of using home grown vegetables adds extra flavor to any kind of dish! How about a vegetable garden that provides vegetables year round without even having to replant them very season? Yes, this is quite possible! These vegetables are known as perennial vegetables and serve as a treat for lazy gardeners. All you have to do is plant them once and you will enjoy the food for many seasons to come! Given the right conditions, these plants will live for more than two years. No replanting, no tilling and not much maintenance is required to grow these vegetables.

Perennial Vegetable Plants

Growing perennial plants reduces soil erosion that occurs due to the process of tilling. By avoiding tilling, you disturb the soil less, thus allowing the roots to grow deep in the soil, making the vegetables sturdy as well as drought and frost resistant. Perennial vegetables serve as an integral part of cultural diets in many parts of the world. A number of wild plants and common weeds are also perennial and are often used in salads. Let us have a look at some of the common examples of perennial plants.

Perennial Leafy Vegetables

• Buckler - Leaved Sorrel - Rumex scutatus
• Canna Lily - Canna sp.
• Chicory - Cichorium sp.
• Comfrey - Symphytum sp.
• Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale
• Good King Henry - Chenopodium bonus-henricus
• Ground Elder - Aegopodium podagraria
• Herb Patience - Rumex patientia
• Lovage - Levisticum officinale
• Marsh Mallow - Althea officinalis
• Musk Mallow - Malva moschata
• Pink Purslane - Claytonia sibirica
• Salad Burnet - Sanguisorba minor
• Sea Beet - Beta vulgaris ssp. Maritima
• Katuk - Sauropis androgynus
• Pacific Spinach - Abelmoschus manihot
• Okinawan Spinach - Gynura crepioides
• Ceylon Spinach - Basella rubra
• Brazilian Spinach - Alternanthera sisso
• Winged Bean - Psophocarpus tetragonolobus
• Turkish Rocket - Bunias orientalis
• Wild Rocket - Sisymbrium officinale
• Winter Purslane - Claytonia perfoliata
• Winter Savory - Satureja montana

Perennial Root Vegetables

• American Groundnut - Apios Americana
• Camas - Camassia quamash
• Chinese Artichokes - Stachys affinis
• Chicory - Cichorium intybus
• Earth-nut Pea - Lathyrus tuberosus
• Elecampane - Inula helenium
• Hardy Yam - Dioscorea batatas
• Jerusalem Artichokes - Helianthus tuberosus
• Garlic Chives - Allium tuberosum
• Mashua - Tropaeolum tuberosum
• Oca - Oxalis tuberosa
• Pig Nuts - Bunium bulbocastanum
• Skirret - Sium sisarum
• Sweet Cecily - Osmorhiza sp.
• Ulluco - Ullucus tuberosus
• Yacon - Smallanthus sonchifolius

Perennial Stem and Flower Vegetables

• Asparagus - Asparagus officinalis
• Broccoli Perennial
• Cardoons - Cynara cardunculus
• Comfrey - Symphytum officinale
• Globe Artichokes - Cynara cardunculus
• Hops - Humulus lupulus
• Sea Kale - Crambe maritima

Other Perennial vegetables and greens include:

• Arrowhead - Sagittaria sagittifolia
• Arugula Rocket - Diplotaxis erucoides
• Earth Pea - Lathyrus tuberosa
• Elephant Garlic - Allium ampeloprasum
• Galangal, Thai Ginger - Alpinia galangal
• Garlic - Allium sativum
• Ginger - Zingiber officinale
• Golden Shallots - Allium cepa var. aggregatum
• Horseradish - Amoracia sp.
• New Zealand Spinach - Tetragonia
• Peruvian Parsnip - Arracacia xanthorrhiza
• Rhubarb - Rhuem rhabarbarum
• Sweet Potato - Ipomoea batatas
• Taro - Colocasia esculenta
• Turmeric - Indian Saffron, Curcuma domestica
• Water chestnuts - Eleocharis dulcis
• Welsh Onion - Allium sp.
• Three-cornered Leek - Allium triquetrum

Some of the plants mentioned above are used for their leaves as well as stems, flowers and roots, which means that all parts of the plant are edible. You can grow these vegetables in your home garden to enjoy their benefits for years!