Plant a Patch of Perennial Edibles

As you sit by the fire this winter dreaming of your seed purchases for the new year, consider planting a patch of perennial edible greens in a sheltered and well-drained spot of earth, window box or container. It will help to sustain you through the year with soup and salad embellishments and might just save you a few trips to the supermarket.

For a decade now, my family has been nibbling on the vitamin C-loaded and lemony leaves of large leaf sorrel (Rumex scutatus, zone 4), which endures through a good part of the winter and greets every spring with an explosion of crunchy new growth. ‘Rhubarb Pie’ sorrel (Rumex acetosa, zone 5) offers the same tasty leaves in striking shades of cream, gold and red.

French dandelion (Taraxacum officinale subsp. sativum, with tender and fleshy leaves, is a gourmet option to the weed. Hardy to zone 3, it is great in salads or steamed like spinach and brimming with vitamins A and C, calcium and iron.

Salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor) has delightful scalloped leaves that unfurl fan-like with a grace that makes it a wonderful edging plant for a flower or herb bed. Hardy to zone 5, the tender inner leaves are also a reliable source of vitamin C and give a nutty-cucumber taste to salads, cream cheeses, butters and soups.

All of these perennial edibles are easy to grow from seed and, in my experience, pest- and trouble-free. In addition, a few clumps of garlic chives and Welsh onion, perennial arugula, oregano, marjoram and Calamintha nepeta will help to keep the flavours of garden-fresh greens on your table throughout the coming years.