Perennial veg

Diana · Perennial veg

Anyone know of any good books about perennial veg? I saw one the other day, but it looked a bit sub-tropical to be of great use here.

Alternatively, what perennial veg do people grow and how does it do?

Does anyone dabble in the "let it self seed" annual method?

flingdizz

I grow asparagus, jerusalem artichokes and globe artichokes. The latter need quite a lot of protection over winter and spring but look lovely and the artichokes taste great!

I haven't tried the self seed thing yet. The weeds are the only things that manage that successfully!

cmiddleton

Rhubarb also grows really well, although thats technically a herb.

Diana

Really? I didn't know that - always thought of it as a veg.

cmiddleton

Have lots of rhubarb in between the fruit trees and berry bushes as it saves weeding. Not sure about sunchoke, as it may supress other plant growth as related to sunflower.

Also some trees:
cob nuts and wild hazel will grow up here. No other nuts are really edible, unless you include beech mast. Some apple trees grow well up here but check the keepers nursery website, which allows you to specify cold climates.

Ina

Sassinak

I'd love to have a look at that Ina please.

Maria

Me too.

Diana

Anyone who borrows it - can you check to see if Russets are suitable for up here please?

Ina

Right now - if you could tell me which storage containers it's in, and where the blimming keys are for those containers...

You may have to wait a few weeks. I know that James Grieve is very well suited - but mine died anyway!

Sassinak

The house next door to us here gets tremendous crops on a Brambleys cooking apple. The branches are laden down with them.
But they couldn't remember which eating apples they had bought

Ironworker

There are perennial Tree onions and rosa rugasa which produce huge fleshy hips that taste delicious.

Diana

Tree onions - are they the ones that grow the onions on top of a stalk rather than in the ground?

Ironworker

They do both, they form clumps like shallots and propagate by growing clumps of small onions on stems.
One of the things I like about them is that you you don't need to dig them up and store them, they just stay in the ground until you want some.

flingdizz

I tracked some down at Jekka's herb farm: jekkasherbfarm.com. I have put some on my wish list!

cmiddleton

I have had them for a few years and although they do split a little and form bulblets on top, they do propagate slowly and you need a lot to get a small crop. They are quite tasty though. Also known as walking onions I believe.

annepan001

On apple trees for NE Scotland, so far the only one that's done well for us is Discovery - the other 8 varieties we've tried so far get scab / canker etc.

It's a very early variety - ready from about Sept, and doesn't keep well, but tastes pretty good.

If anyone has good ideas for later/ storing varieties, would love to know!

Does anyone have any good tips for plum varieties that'll cope with our weather??

Ina

JamesB

its certainly worth going to look at pitmedden, every sept we buy apples from there and several are late storing (sorry cant remember the names!). as long as you give the blossums shelter then apples grow quite well here.

pereninal spinach is good, some varities are weeds such as fat hen but can use as spinach.

nettles are good as well as wild garlic (tastes good in soup)

I liked the idea in one of the permaculture books i was reading recently, growing fodder crops for hens eg lupins. you divide the ground into say 10 patches, let the hens onto a new patch every 6 weeks and plant fodder crops on the recently left ground. that way the hens harvest it for themselves 54 weeks later!

James

wildgarlic

http://books.google.co.uk/books?i...C&printsec=frontcover#PPP6,M1 have you seen this book Diana - there is a preview!

Diana

Yes - I think that's the book that prompted me to ask. I'd not seen a preview or review, but what I had seen of it made me think it was more suitable for a more sub tropical climate (not Scottish-snow-in-May kind of weather at any rate).

Thanks for finding that, I'll have a look.