Vegetables are planted every season but do you know there are some of them that are planted once and harvested many seasons? Here are the best Perennial Vegetables You Can Plant Once & Enjoy for Years!
Check out the best perennial herbs you can plant once and enjoy for years here
Perennial Vegetables You Can Plant Once & Enjoy for Years
1. Horseradish
Botanical Name: Armoracia rusticana
USDA Zones: 4-9
Average Age: 4-6 years
Plant horseradish in spring in a sunny area. You can harvest the roots during fall and early winter. This vegetable tastes great when fresh and growing it gives you a constant organic supply.
It will be ready to harvest one year after planting, and then you can also enjoy its edible leaves for years.
2. Rhubarb
Botanical Name: Rheum rhabarbarum
USDA Zones: 3-8
Average Age: 8-12 years
You will have to wait for at least 8-12 months before the plant gets ready to harvest. This perennial grows easily, so you can enjoy it for a really long time to come.
Learn about growing rhubarb in pots here
3. Asparagus
Botanical Name: Asparagus officinalis
Average Age: 5-6 years
Asparagus can also be grown in pots, so you don’t need to have a big garden for it. As long as you are using well-draining soil and providing it plenty of sunlight.
4. Artichoke
Botanical Name: Cynara scolymus
USDA Zones: 7-11
Average Age: 2-4 years
This delicious short-living perennial is packed with essential nutrients. You can grow it in pots under full sun in fertile soil.
Check out 15 types of artichokes here
5. Malabar Spinach
Botanical Name: Basella alba
USDA Zones: 7-10
Average Age: 3-5 years
This tender perennial is edible and can be grown as an ornamental vine too. It has a mild and peppery taste.
6. Water Cress
Botanical Name: Nasturtium officinale
USDA Zones: 3-11
Average Age: 3-4 years
Watercress gives a similar peppery flavor like arugula and is rich in many nutrients. While growing it, keep an eye on pests and diseases as it is susceptible to them. As it grows best in damp soil, here are a few more vegetables that like such conditions.
7. Sweet Potato
Botanical Name: Ipomoea batatas
USDA Zones: 8-11
Average Age: 2-3 years
This perennial root vegetable prefers hot weather and long growing periods. You can easily grow it in large containers or grow bags on a sunny patio or balcony too.
Find how to grow sweet potatoes at home here
8. Purple Yam
Botanical Name: Dioscorea alata
USDA Zones: 4-5
This herbaceous perennial grow tubers, which taste great when roasted, boiled, or fried. You can propagate yam by small tubers easily.
9. Tree Kale
Botanical Name: Brassica oleracea var. ramosa
This nutritious perennial vegetable is also known as ‘perpetual kale.’ After planting, you can harvest it in succession for a long time without planting new ones.
10. Sorrel
Botanical Name: Rumex acetosa
USDA Zones: 5-7
Average Age: 3-6 years
Sorrel adds flavor to dishes with tangy, lemon-like sourness. Sow seeds in rich, well-draining soil under full sun. Also, it grows best in well-draining soil.
11. Sea Kale
Botanical Name: Crambe maritime
USDA Zones: 5-9
Popular for its ornamental gray-blue leaves and white flowers, it is also a great plant to have on your platter! The shoots, young leaves, and blooms are all edible, and you can prepare delicious coastal recipes using it.
12. Egyptian Walking Onion
Botanical Name: Allium x proliferum
Also, called tree onion, this perennial onion gives you a never-ending harvest. All you have to do is to give it plenty of sunlight, use a rich growing medium and it will keep on growing. In cold climates, it looks scraggly and like it is no more in winters, but it comes back strongly in spring.
13. Drum Stick
Botanical Name: Moringa oleifera
USDA Zones: 9-11 (Can be grown indoors in winters in colder zones)
Average Age: 18-25 years (Even More)
The miraculous moringa tree grows these slender green vegetables. It is the pod of the moringa tree, which is called a drumstick. These sticks contain edible seeds and pulp that have a smoky flavor like no other thing in the world.
They taste great in Indian curries and stews. For best growth, plant where it gets full sun for the most part of the day. To learn more, check out this drumstick growing guide here.
14. Rocoto Peppers
Botanical Name: Capsicum pubescens
Average Age: 3-8 years
The long-lived perennial grows up 4-5 feet in height and vines beautifully with purple blooms. The plant prefers full sun to partial shade to produce mildly hot peppers.
15. Jackfruit
Botanical Name: Artocarpus heterophyllus
USDA Zones: 10-12
Average Age: 60-100 years
This tropical tree grows the world’s biggest size fruits. The yellow flesh is sweet when ripened, whereas when immature, jackfruit is consumed in curries and stir-fries. Interestingly, unripe jackfruit tastes very similar to chicken when cooked.
16. Papaya
Botanical Name: Carica papaya
USDA Zones: 9-10
Average Age: 5-7 years
Papaya is a popular fruit with many benefits but do you know you can also eat it as a vegetable when unripe. It tastes best in curries and is quite popular in many Asian cuisines. The plant grows best in full sun.
17. Runner Beans
Botanical Name: Phaseolus coccineus
Scarlet runner bean is a perennial but treated as an annual. It is frequently planted as an ornamental plant for colorful blossoms. This bean favors full sun and rich soil.
18. Tamarillo
Average Age: 7-12 years
If you want a tomato that looks like a small tree, then this is the one to grow. It produces sweet and tangy fruits that taste best in salads and pizza.
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