Perennial vegetables are parts of plants that are prepared and eaten like a vegetable

Vegetable

The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....

, and that are also perennial, in other words, the plants live for more than two years.

Some well known perennial vegetables from the temperate regions of the world include asparagus

Asparagus

Asparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennialplant species in the genus Asparagus. It was once classified in the lily family, like its Allium cousins, onions and garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the family Amaryllidaceae and...

, artichoke

Artichoke

-Plants:* Globe artichoke, a partially edible perennial thistle originating in southern Europe around the Mediterranean* Jerusalem artichoke, a species of sunflower with an edible tuber...

 and rhubarb

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing from short, thick rhizomes. They have large leaves that are somewhat triangular-shaped with long fleshy petioles...

. In the tropics cassava

Cassava

Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...

 and taro

Taro

Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...

 are grown as vegetables, and these plants can live many years.

Perennial vegetables are an integral part of many cultural diets around the world, particularly in tropical agriculture

Tropical agriculture

Worldwide more human beings gain their livelihood from agriculture than any other endeavor; the majority are self-employed subsistence farmers living in the tropics...

. Perennial vegetables fell out of favor in most of Europe, and other western influenced cultures, once industrial agriculture

Industrial agriculture

Industrial farming is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of livestock, poultry, fish, and crops. The methods of industrial agriculture are technoscientific, economic, and political...

 gained a foothold. Some of the older temperate varieties include: seakale

Seakale

Crambe maritima is a halophytic perennial plant in the genus Crambe that grows wild along the coasts of Europe, from the North Atlantic to the Black Sea. It has large fleshy glaucous collard-like leaves and abundant white flowers...

, skirret, sorrel

Sorrel

Common sorrel or garden sorrel , often simply called sorrel, is a perennial herb that is cultivated as a garden herb or leaf vegetable...

, and Good King Henry

Good King Henry

Good King Henry , also called Poor-man's Asparagus, Perennial Goosefoot, Lincolnshire Spinach or Markeryis a species of goosefoot which is native to much of central and southern Europe....

.

These plants are an integral part of any successful forest garden, being incorporated into both the herbaceous

Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...

 layer (like a ground cover), or even low growing canopy layer (like overstory trees and shrubs).

See also

• Leaf vegetable
  Leaf vegetable
  Leaf vegetables, also called potherbs, green vegetables, greens, leafy greens or salad greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots...
  
  
• Root vegetable
  Root vegetable
  Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. Here "root" means any underground part of a plant.Root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They differ in the concentration and the balance between sugars, starches, and other types of...
  
  
• Breadfruit
  Breadfruit
  Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...
  
   is an example of a tree fruit that is perennial, and is used as a vegetable
• Perennial (disambiguation)
  Perennial (disambiguation)
  Perennial is a word with several meanings relating to yearly or ongoing activity. Perennial may refer to:* Perennial plant, a plant which lives for more than two growing seasons, including all trees and shrubs. See also Perennial vegetable...
  
  

Further reading

• Craig Elevitch. 1998. "Leaves to Live By: Perennial Leaf Vegetables". Agroforestry.net.
• Eric Toensmeier. Perennial Vegetables: From Artichokes to Zuiki Taro, A Gardener's Guide to Over 100 Delicious, Easy-to-Grow Edibles. Chelsea Green, 2007. ISBN 1931498407
• Simon Hickmott. Growing Unusual Vegetables: Weird And Wonderful Vegetables And How to Grow Them. Eco-Logic Books, 2006. ISBN 1899233113
• Ken Fern. Plants for a Future: Edible & Useful Plants for a Healthier World. Permanent Publications, 2000. ISBN 1856230112