Friday, July 9, 2010

Perennial Vegetables.

I was buzzing around the Amazon bookstore hoping to find a decent priced copy of This Book.
One of the recommendations listed along the page was a book on perennial veggies.  It sounded interesting so i went to the site. Here.  The site gives you a list of edibles that should be perennial in the area you choose from the left column, under the "Resources" heading.

Here is the list for my area:

 Cold Temperate
Cold Temperate: East, Midwest, and Mountain West

This is a large and highly populated region covering much the eastern and central United States, as well as much of the warmer parts of Canada. This region corresponds with USDA Zones 4–7, and Sunset Zones 2–4, 6, 11, and 32–43.

Perennial in all of the Cold Temperate zone:

Allium fistulosum Welsh onion-- have

Allium tricoccum ramps --plan to get

Allium tuberosum garlic chives

Apios americana groundnut

Aralia cordata udo

Asparagus officinalis asparagus --have

Bunias orientalis Turkish rocket

Camassia cusickii Cusick’s camass

Camassia leichtlinnii Leichtlin’s camass

Camassia quamash camass

Camassia scillioides wild hyacinth

Chenopodium bonus-henricus good king Henry

Cicorium intybus chicory

Crambe maritima sea kale  --have been looking for

Dioscorea japonica jinenjo

Dioscorea opposita Chinese yam

Helianthus tuberosa sunchoke  --have

Hemerocallis daylily

Laportaea canadensis wood nettle

Levisticum officinale lovage --have

Malva moschata musk mallow

Matteuccia struthiopteris ostrich fern  --have

Nasturtium officinale watercress

Oenanthe javanica water celery

Oxyria digyna mountain sorrel

Petasites japonicus fuki

Phytolacca americana pokeweed

Polygonatum biflorum canaliculatum giant Solomon’s seal

Rheum rubarbarum rhubarb --have

Rumex acetosa French sorrel

Rumex acetosa ‘Profusion’ sorrel

Rumex acetosella sheep sorrel

Rumex scutatus silver shield sorrel

Sagittaria latifolia arrowhead

Scorzonera hispanica scorzonera

Sium sisarum skirret

Stachys sieboldii Chinese artichoke

Taraxacum officinale dandelion -- who doesn't have this?

Tilia spp. linden

Urtica dioica nettles --have

Some of them i have, some of them sound interesting and some are...uh?  Like Linden. Flowers i understand are good for tea... but the nuts, i have never seen listed as edible.
I don't quite consider tea a vegetable.  Dandelion....  yes i know it is edible. I have eaten it and i would try making wine from the flowers if i dared to allow it to get out of hand that far.  I have seen seeds for a garden type, the leaves are larger, more tender and less bitter, but i think hubby would quit on me...as in no more help in the garden!  lol

Though it is not on the list, somewhere along the way i saw mentioned Walking Stick Kale.  Pinetree used to carry the seed, but it looks like they don't anymore which is too bad.  I did find a couple places that have it, so i will put it on my list for next year.   During that search i did enjoy looking through Baker Creek's website. I got their catalog last winter but i don't remember looking at it much. I tried to find it- i keep my favorite catalogs in plastic sleeves in a fat 3-ring binder.  Its the best way to keep them from being ruined or thrown away before they expire.  I might have to put myself on their mailing list to make sure i get a catalog for next Spring just in case i am mistaken about getting one.

Back to the perennial veg...  I didn't see Purple Sprouting Broccoli.  I have never grown that before, but i was under the impression that it was hardy enough to be planted around this time of year and it would survive the winter if mulched and be one of the first things ready to harvest in the Spring.
I plan to try it so i need to know. My idea is to have a few bites of broccoli before the incoming woodchucks discover my garden.
I guess i'll have to do more research on that.
I guess that is it so far on this subject.