What if you could plant just once and then harvest
for many years to come - and all with minimal effort?! Well you can, if you grow perennial
vegetables! These are fantastic vegetables with superb culinary qualities and often good
looks too. They are great for filling the 'hungry gap' - that time of year when the winter
vegetables are done but the newly-sown vegetables aren't quite there yet. So come on, let's get
started! First up is the globe artichoke; a big, bold plant whose thrusting eruptions of glaucus
foliage make for a really architectural statement! You can start them off from seeds but better to
get a head start with young plants like these. I just love this plant because it's so attractive
in its own right. I'm planting mine into an area of ground that gets plenty of sunshine and that
has well-drained soil. They might not look like much now but these grow into absolute whoppers! So
if you're planting more than one plant like I am, leave about three feet or a metre between plants
so they've got room to grow. These will require a little bit of aftercare of course: Keep the
area weed-free, water (especially in the summer) and especially during their first year, while
they are establishing. And then next spring, mulch around the area to keep weeds down and to
feed all that eager growth. If you're in a really cold region you might also want to cover the crown
once it's died back down in the autumn with some sort of straw or compost to protect it from the
worst of the winter cold. It's the tight flower buds that are harvested, once they reach about
golf ball size and definitely before they open. The buds can be steamed or boiled till tender.
Then, to eat, the individual scales are picked off and dipped into a sauce before sucking
the delicious flesh from each scale. You're then left with the tender heart- the real
centerpiece to the whole affair! You'll often get a second cut of flower buds after harvesting
the first, but do allow some of these to flower because honestly this is probably the most
bee-attracting flower I think I've ever seen! The bees absolutely love it and it's endlessly
fascinating to watch them go about their work. Another perennial vegetable very similar to the
globe artichoke is cardoon and it loves exactly the same conditions: plenty of sunshine and a
well-drained soil. But in this case it's not the flower buds you're eating but the stems.
They look a lot like a bunch of celery and can be used in the same way as celery: baked,
gratinated or turned into soups for example. And if you're looking for a bold statement of a
vegetable for colder, damper parts of the garden, you really can't beat rhubarb. We did a video
on that a few weeks back and if you missed it, I'll pop a link to it in
the video description below. Now, come and have a look at these!
These are bulblets of Babington's leek; a type of perennial leek which I'm told has
a garlicky leek flavor. So I'm planting them into pots of an all-purpose potting mix. You can
plant them directly outside into prepared ground but I'm starting them off indoors so I can keep
an eye on them. It'll protect them from the winter wet in their first season and also stop my dog
getting at them, who seems to have a thing for leaks for some reason! So they're going in about
- hmm, what's that? - about an inch deep and I'll grow them on to plant out in spring.
They'll be planted out about 6 inches (that's 15 centimeters) apart, to form a really
nice decent-sized clump. Plants should be left alone in the first year following planting so they
can bulk out and establish. Then, from the second spring you can begin harvesting the stems, cutting
them off at ground level so the bulb beneath can continue to grow. In early summer they should
send out flower stalks and these flower stalks will contain lots of tiny bulbils. These
bulbils either drop down to the ground or weigh the stalk down so they make contact with the
ground that way. And when they get buried in the soil, these will start growing, also further
expanding your clump of Babington's leeks. Other perennial alliums to give a go include: the
Welsh onion (a type of perennial bunching onion) and the tree onion or Egyptian walking
onion, which walks its way across your garden using its top setting bulbils that
flop onto the ground, root and then grow. Another perennial vegetable I'm making room
for is perennial kale. I love perennial kale because it can reach epic proportions - almost the
height of a person! But it's easily kept in check to a reasonable height through regular harvesting.
Perennial kale is exceptionally hardy; it's very resilient too because it easily shakes off any
caterpillar damage and perhaps the best bit of all is that it can be harvested almost year-round,
anytime you need fresh, tasty greens straight from the garden. The best way to introduce perennial
kale to your garden is with cuttings taken from side shoots. Big, chunky cuttings like these which
are about 10 inches (or 25 centimeters) in length. They came by post already trimmed. If I bring you
in a bit closer here you can see how they prepared them. The bottom here has been trimmed just below
a leaf node and then the lower leaves have been stripped off (to reduce stress from evaporation),
leaving just the top leaves there. These are ready to plant so let's get on and do that! I'm planting
the cuttings into pots of an all-purpose potting mix. I'll keep the potting mix nice and moist
to encourage root development and keep these in a nice, bright spot. And then they will go out
in the spring once they've rooted and grown on. This type of kale is Taunton Dean kale. Others
to look out for include Daubenton's kale, Ethiopian kale (which is a great choice for warmer
climates) and the Sutherland kale, which has its roots in the crofting communities of the far north
of Scotland, making it a very tough plant indeed! Now what if I told you there was a root crop
that's as easy to grow as potatoes but that suffers from few of the pests and diseases
associated with the common spud? Well that'll be oca - also known as the New Zealand yam. Oca
can be cooked just like potatoes too: boiled, baked, fried. But they can also be shaved raw into
salads for a lovely lemony tang. And that lemony zest is also in the leaves too so you can cut
those fresh and use them as a salad ingredient! Oca isn't frost-hardy so to get it off to a
strong start you'll need to start it early by planting them into pots and then planting
them outside after your last frost date, about 3 foot (that's 90 centimeters) apart.
They'll grow on throughout the summer and they won't form their tubers until the autumn,
so they form really late in the season. You'll then harvest them, usually when
the foliage has died back after the last frost. Just dig them up, dry them off and then
store them in exactly the same way as potatoes, in a cool dry place. Keep over some of the
tubers though, to replant for next season. Another really popular tuber is the Jerusalem
artichoke, also known as the sunchoke. These ones are from the grocery store and I bought
them along just to show you what they look like; the size and the feel of them. It's autumn
now and they're not planted until the spring, but in the spring I'll plant these about 3 inches
(or 7 centimetres) deep and space them maybe a foot apart (that's 30 centimeters). And then water
them and grow them on. They're members of the sunflower family and grow just as big and tall
and have pretty flowers as well. Once they die back in the autumn (next autumn), you can then dig
them up and use them like potatoes for example. Have I saved the best till last?! I reckon
so! My final must-grow perennial vegetable is that royalty of veg, asparagus! Asparagus
loves free-draining soil and basking in full sunshine. You'll need a little patience to grow
it, but boy it is worth it! The easiest way to establish an asparagus bed is using dormant roots
or crowns, which are available from early spring. As soon as you see them, buy them straight away
because they're better they're planted fresh. To plant them, dedicate an entire area just for
asparagus because you won't want to disturb them once they're planted. Prepare the soil
by weeding it and then digging it over and incorporating plenty of well-rotted manure
or compost. Then dig a trench about a foot (or 30 centimetres) wide and 8 inches (that's 20
centimetres) deep. You then want to create a little ridge within the trench and then splay
the roots out over this, spacing the crowns about 18 inches (that's 45 centimeters) apart.
And then when you create another trench space that the same distance apart 18 inches (or 45
centimeters). Then backfill and water to settle. At this stage you can add a mulch of well-rotted
manure or compost to keep weeds in check and to feed that crown as it establishes. You'll then
need to resist the temptation to cut spears for at least two years to give plants time to
establish. Then from the third spring onwards, harvest as they appear for up to 6 to 8 weeks
until about mid-summer, when the stems should be left to develop their ferny foliage which will
recharge the crown's resources for next year. You'll need to watch out for asparagus beetle
which can chew notches in the spears, causing them to grow crooked before setting to work on
the foliage. Control them by picking or knocking them off into soapy water and be sure to tidy
away old dead foliage at the end of the season. Other than that they're largely pest-free! There
are lots of other perennial vegetables to give a try and many of them are flower boarder favorites,
for example hostas for their tender young leaves or how about daylily flower buds?! All
delicious for sure! Don't be afraid to explore, but please do your research first to stay safe.
Now, if fruit is your thing you really won't want to miss our next episode when we'll be growing
fruit for free from cuttings. It's really very easy to do and very rewarding so you won't want
to miss out! And the way to do that of course is to subscribe and make sure you've turned on
all notifications! I will catch you next time. you
