Perennial Vegetables

There is a good case for moving away from annual veges towards perennials. The more perennials we grow, the less work we have to do cultivating the soil and the more the soil organisms will thank you for allowing them to get on with their job in peace! To grow a continuous supply of lettuce you need to cultivate every 6-8 weeks. But there are a host of perennial salad greens available, from ground cover plants, bushes, vines and even trees, where the only work involved is in the harvesting. The perennial vegetables listed here include not only edible leaves but also shoots, stems, roots and flowers, all of which can be harvested from plants which live for at least three years, and many of which contain higher mineral nutrients than the annual vegetables we typically eat.