I just love perennial vegetables--wait perennial vegetables? Yup! While it is true most of our traditional vegetables here in the United States are annuals there are dozens of perennial vegetables that you can also grow.

This is Daron from @wildhomesteading writing another of my weekly posts which alternate between homesteading and running an online business. Watch for my posts weekly on Wednesday but now let's get back to perennial vegetables!

Perennial vegetables are vegetables that come back year after year without having to be replanted.

So are you growing any in your garden or on your homestead? If not you should really consider giving them a go.

Here are some of the reasons why.

Reasons Why to Try Perennial Vegetables

The first picture on this post is a salad from this spring. While a salad is normally nothing special this one was.

I had not planted any of the greens in the salad this year. All I did was walk around my homestead and harvest.

The salad was made up of perennial vegetables with a few biennials (plants that overwinter once before going to seed and dying) mixed in.

Some of these perennial vegetables are spreading so next year I will have even more.

Now I still have a garden filled with traditional annual vegetables but I love the freedom and resilience that perennial vegetables give me.

If I can't plant my garden one year then at least I can still get a harvest. Plus, this is a harvest that I don't have to water or really do anything after the first planting.

It always makes me feel a bit like I'm just going out and foraging!

This year I added kosmic kale (picture at the top of this section), French sorrel, and tree collards which are all perennial (plus a few native perennial vegetables). Each year I plan to add more perennial vegetables until I might not even need to plant regular greens!

But perennial vegetables are not just salad greens. There are root crops like sweet potatoes, and sunchokes. And of course there is asparagus which is the one most people know.

However, this is just scratching the surface. There are hundreds of perennial vegetables that can grow in most climate zones in the United States.

I have done a series of blog posts that you can check out to learn more.

• Plant Once With Perennial Vegetables
• 11 Perennial Root Vegetables for Your Garden
• 11 Perennial Greens You Will Love to Grow

Time to Grow Perennial Vegetables

A bunch of Turkish rocket (another perennial vegetable) that I sauteed with some garlic and olive oil as a side dish for dinner.

Ultimately if you plant enough of perennial vegetables you could have a great yearly harvest that you don't have to plant, water, or really do anything other than harvest.

That sounds really awesome to me and is a great way to provide for you and your family without being stuck maintaining a traditional garden.

So I hope you will consider planting some perennial vegetables on your homestead or in your garden. Check out my blog posts for some ideas and start planning now so you can plant your perennial vegetables in the fall or next spring (depending on the variety).

Thank you and watch this space next week for my next weekly post with @homesteaderscoop.

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Follow @wildhomesteading for more posts all about homesteading, working with nature, and growing your own food.

And check out my blog - www.wildhomesteading.com for weekly in-depth posts on working with nature to grow your own food and start/build your homestead.

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