It's garden time!!!! -A blog for fellow gardeners

Just turned over our veggie garden plot and doing some research on Heirloom seeds and perennial food crops. I was thinking of going heirloom, which I assuredly will to a certain extent (and learn to save seeds), but perennial food sounds so much easier. So, here is the beginning of this year's research (Man, I have to email this to Cheryl when she gets back! I love talking gardens with Cheryl. She has an awesome greenhouse, which I am jealous of.)

Perennial Foods

http://www.lesslawn.com/articles/article1068.html

Chou Daubenton Kale- grows to be 3'x3'. Can be eaten raw or cooked. (Hard to find)

http://perennial-food-crops.blogspot.com/2009/02/chou-daubenton.html

Hostas (belive it or not- popular in Japan ~ http://www.hostas.com/articles/hostas/edible/hosta_cookery.html ~ ) I have found no poisonous varieties upon my google search- only recipesJerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes) ~ http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1541595/perennial_food_garden_series_sunchokes.html ~they multiply prolifically!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_artichoke
http://www.floridata.com/ref/H/heli_tub.cfm
Daylilies!!! All cultivated varieties of daylily are edible.
Flowers and flower buds of daylilies are delicious and quickly prepared for eating. The flowers are used in soups, meat dishes, and with noodles. Prepare the flowers for eating by removing the basal end (ovary) and dicing the rest. Flowers can be used for garnishing foods in somewhat the same way as mushrooms are employed. These flowers add substance, color, and pleasing flavors to foods. Fresh flowers are best for eating since some flavors are altered when they are preserved by drying and freezing.....all parts of the plant -- the sprouting leaves that appear in the spring, the summer buds and blossoms, the leaves and even the rhizomes -- are edible.
~ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/09/HOG7UC42QO1.DTL ~
Shallots and Potato Onions (multiplier onions): According to the National Gardening Bureau, multiplier onions can produce a larger yield per area than any other vegetable except staked tomatoes.
http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/potato-onions/


Herbs to grow as annuals this year:
~ Rosemary ~ Basil ~ Lemongrass?! ~ Cilantro ~ Dill ~ Parsley
Lemongrass - http://www.harvestwizard.com/2008/07/lemon_grass.html
{To Suria: I am so jealous that for some of these herbs that are annual pain in the butts for me, are glorious perennials to you......what a stinker.}

Note: Do not plant similar varieties of heirloom and non-heirloom veggies close to one another, if they cross pollinate they will render your heirloom seed useless (non-heirloom seeds aredesigned unable to reproduce so you have to buy seeds every year. )

Probably more to come, still investigating....