Vernal Vibe Rise is dedicated to producing quality organic perennial vegetables for market, and I am always looking for new and old varieties to add to the gardens. The first perennial vegetable that most people think of is asparagus, which I grow organically in two of my gardens–interplanted with other suitable perennials, and enthusiastically popping up each Spring.
I also grow perennial greens, such as Good King Henry and Horseradish (which is also known–and grown–for its spicy root), as well as Caucasian Mountain Spinach, Nettles, Egyptian Walking Onion, and many others. VVR has a wooded riparian area that is well-suited for fiddleheads (a tasty young fern), and shady forest where I maintain a spreading patch of ramps (West Virginia’s famous wild leek). These are just a few of the perennial veggies that one can expect from Vernal Vibe Rise, with more varieties growing each season.
Garlic–and the deliciously versatile garlic scapes (pictured above)–are not perennial, of course, but they do grow here every year from the same line of stock, and are an important part of the VVR vegetable/allium landscape.
Have you seen Caucasian Mountain Spinach in the Fedco catalog? I started some in the fall, but probably a little late. We’ll see if it survived. Here is how Fedco describes it: “…a very hardy perennial growing 6′-9′ long for 2-3 months in the very early spring when few other edible greens have surfaced. It’s also very tasty: both early shoots and subsequent leaves make a delicious and tender spinach-like vegetable without any bitterness. Moreover, it’s beautiful, was originally introduced into Sweden around 1870 as an attractive vine to screen manor houses with its heart-shaped leaves. And, finally, though it is best grown in sun to maximize its productivity, it will also do well in its native habitat, the understory of temperate forests. Best germinated with stratification and slow growing in the first year.”