Continuing my series of photographing my veggies, all from the garden this time. Just three this time, added to a pea soup.
Allium nutans (or hybrid) (Siberian nodding onion)
Hablitzia tamnoides (Caucasian spinach, stjernemelde)
Rumex patientia (patience dock, hagesyre)
Category Archives: Perennial vegetable shoots
An alternative spring harvest
Somebody asked me the other day if I use floating mulch (fiberduk / agryl) to be able to harvest all these greens so early. No, no and again no….this is one of the biggest benefits of perennial vegetables….it is totally natural, no microplastics are released into the environment, no oil is needed to plough the fields, significantly less migrant labour is needed and little or no fertiliser and water is needed, it is almost totally free once established and can yield year after year! So, whilst large areas of farmland in the northern hemisphere are being covered by plastic mulches to bring on annual crops for the market earlier, I’d just like to point out that there’s an alternative better way!
So, here are the plants that I harvested for yesterday’s delicious green pasta sauce:
Armoracia rusticana shoots (horseradish / pepperrot)
Myrrhis odorata (sweet cicely / spansk kjørvel)
Houttuynia cordata “Chinese Market” (shoots and rhizomes from the cellar; this cultivar is significantly larger than other Houttuynia I’ve grown) (Fish herb, Himalayan water creeper)
Allium senescens x nutans (hybrid Siberian onions)
Laurus nobilis (bay / laurbær)
Brassica oleracea (perennial kales)
Crambe maritima (sea kale / strandkål)
Taraxacum officinale (dandelion / løvetann)
Allium x proliferum (walking onion / luftløk)
Hablitzia tamnoides (Caucasian spinach / stjernemelde)
Dystaenia takesimana (giant Ulleung celery, seombadi)
Oenanthe javanica (seri)
Polymnia edulis (yacon) (second picture)
plus garlic and chili
An Aristocratic Vegetable
Sea kale Crambe maritima is sometimes referred to as the King of the Vegetables (Queen is perhaps more fitting!) . This is partly due to the fact that it was in the past cultivated in heated greenhouses for nobility in the UK for Christmas! Maybe not the King, it is certainly an aristocrat and the easiest perennial brassica in cold climates (along wtih even hardier Crambe cordifolia) as it is hardier than perennial kales as it resprouts from the roots every spring and can easily be covered by a mulch of leaves or suchlike in colder climates. I do this every autumn just in case we have a very cold winter (I have experienced plants to resprout from deep roots when the surface roots have been killed in winter). I would normally take off the leaf mulch early April, but this winter it’s been so mild I removed it a few days ago and the plant had already put out delicious sprouts…I’ve been snacking on them! My oldest sea kale is approaching 40 years old, but hasn’t appeared yet (oldies sleep longer I guess!). Much more about Sea Kale in my book Around the World in 80 plants or by searching here: https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?s=sea+kale
They are also beautiful. The pictures show the cultivar Lily White which is only about 8 years old.
19th March Veggies
Continuing my series of veggies harvested from the garden. this time used in a baccalao with parsnip (pastinakk), potato (potet), bulb onions .(kepaløk), Jerusalem artichokes (jordskokk), (bought) organic tomatoes and chili. Greens used from the garden:
Urtcia dioica (nettles/brennesle)
Aegopodium podograria (ground elder/skvallerkål)
Hablitzia tamnoides (Caucasian spinach/stjernemelde)
Rumex patientia (patience dock/hagesyre)
Taraxacum officinale dandichokes (dandelion /løvetann)
Ficaria verna (lesser celandine/vårkål)
Allium sativum shoots (garlic/hvitløk)
Japanese victory onion
Allium victorialis earlier this week in the garden. I harvested half of these shoots. This is an accession I received seed from Iku Kubota in Japan in December 2002. 
Self-produce from the garden
Here’s yesterday fresh produce* from the garden….the joy of perennial vegetables! However, snow overnight will make harvest more difficult thenext few days! Here’s today’s list:
Aegopodium podograria (ground elder / skvallerkål)
Allium hymennorhizum
Allium sativum (garlic / hvitløk)
Allium cernuum (noddding onion/ prærieløk)
Allium victorialis (victory onion / seiersløk)
Rumex acetosa “Arkhangelsk” (sorrel / engsyre)
Hemerocallis middendorfii (day lily / daglije)
Brassica oleracea (various perennial kales / flerårige kål)
Hablitzia tamnoides (Caucasian spinach / stjernemelde)
Myrrhis odorata (sweet cicely / spansk kjørvel)
Ficaria verna (lesser celandine / vårkål)
Taraxacum officinale ” Moss-leaved” (dandelion / løvetann)
Angelica archangelica “Vossakvann Markusteigen” (kvann)
Used in a green pasta sauce.
* “Produce” they aren’t as most produce themselves without little input from me: Self-produce is a better word! 
Catch of the day!
Yesterday’s harvest mostly from the garden (blanched dandelions and horseradish from the cellar):
Ground elder (skvallerkål)
Lesser celandine (vårkål)
Perennial kale (flerårige kål)
Seombadi (Dystaenia takesimana)
Dandelion (løvetann)
Allium x proliferum (walking onion / topset onions; luftløk)
Allium scorodoprasum (rocambole; bendelløk)
Allium nutans
Horseradish (pepperrot)
Ground elder (skvallerkål)
Lesser celandine (vårkål)
Perennial kale (flerårige kål)
Seombadi (Dystaenia takesimana)
Dandelion (løvetann)
Allium x proliferum (walking onion / topset onions; luftløk)
Allium scorodoprasum (rocambole; bendelløk)
Allium nutans (pepperrot)
Hablitzia tamnoides (stjernemelde)
Winter Tradescantia shoots
I’d potted up some Tradescantia ohiensis shoots in the autumn as I’d planned to offer a few roots to members of the Norwegian Seed Savers’ (KVANN) perennial vegetable guild though our autumn catalogue. Well, I lost them….and relocated them this evening as the shoots had grown quite long in the dark cellar, so I cut them to eat this evening:
They have a pleasant mild taste.
One of the 80 in my book Around the World in 80 plants:
Dennis’ veggies
As Storm Dennis brought similar temperatures to southern England to Malvik, this was today's harvest from the garden....more like mid-April. These were used in a stew: Alliaria petiolata / hedge garlic / løkurt Hablitzia tamnoides / Caucasian spinach / stjernemelde Taraxacum officinale / dandelion / løvetann Allium cernuum / nodding onion / prærieløk Allium carinatum / keeled garlic / rosenløk Ficaria verna / lesser celandine / vårkål Brassica oleracea / perennial kales / flerårige kål (flere) Dystaenia takesimana / Korean celery / Koreansk selleri Rumex acetosa / sorrel / engsyre Rheum x rhabarbarum / rhubarb / rabarbra
Sprouts in the cellar
A much warmer winter than normal and I returned home to well developed blanched dandelion shoots in the cellar together with horseradish shoots and the sweet cicely shoots (Myrrhis odorata) had also germinated en masse!
This post shows the dandelion roots being dug and planted at the end of November: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=23997
Dandelion 
Horseradish 
Myrrhis odorata (sweet cicely)