It only takes a minute...

[Holly]

... and there's just one day left to see your contributon make it into the September magazine, so make your voice heard right now!

Simply name your favourite perennial crop and the reason why.

I learnt this month that chillies are grown as perennials in their native S.America... any tips for oerwintering other crops that people may not think of normally?



All response gratefully received!!!



your comment may be edited and printed in the September issue of GYO

[HeyWayne]

Has to be rhubarb. For the occasional gardener like me, it really is easy to grow. Doesn't ask much, but rewards greatly if given some occasional attention.

[chris]

Globe Artichoke for me, I love the silvery-green foilage - when the flowers do open if you leave them I think they constrast brilliantly with the leaf colour.

Oh, and I do like to eat them too.. struggling at the moment with a small plant and the slugs/snails!

When I overwinter chillies, I give them a bit of a haircut - pretty much prune them right back to the main stem/'branches'. I've not done it this past year, but the year before I probably watered mine 3 or 4 times and pretty much left it to it. Come Janurary I saw new growth, and by March is looked like it was a new plant I did get a head start on the chillies that year, I must do it again.

I'm going to try Flummery's method of overwintering a tomato (albeit not a perennial) this year, by taking a cutting and bringing it inside, when it's grown too leggy over winter, I'll take a cutting off that cutting (or sideshoot if we get to that stage) and pot that up, disgarding the original cutting... I believe that Flummery kept doing this and had a good head start with her tomatoes this way!

[bearded bloke]

Fennel particularly in the bronze variety,great for "peeping up" a salad & requires no effort beyond cutting the flower heads off when they are almost finished,bag & dry them & use the seeds in your cooking.

[Pumpkin Becki]

Raspberries for me! If you plant Summer and Autumn fruiting varieties, you can enjoy the delicious, sweet burst of flavour for 4-5 months of the year.

[planetologist]

Sage. Produces all year long, tastes great, both cooked and in salads, bumble bees love it too.

[planetologist]

Can I have a second go?
Apples. Keep the doctor away, store well, 9 months of the year my breakfast is home-grown apple, rolled oats and sunflower seeds.
I'd also like to second the raspberries.

[rustylady]

My Victoria tree. The plums get made into all sorts of things, both sweet and savoury, as well as eating them fresh.

[Holly]

Thank-you all! Top comments, as ever
xxx

[Nicos]

Black cherries....yum!!!!!

[gillian62]

Parsley - you get the first flourish in the 1st year, and then before you have chance to start a new lot, as the soil warms up it pops up for another outing. This gives enough leaf until it goes to seed, by which time this year's new crop are ready for use.

[Nicos]

Chives- we use loads of them.
They're especially delish on freshly picked tomatoes and also on hot potatoes rolled in butter.
The flowers are really pretty too!

[Thelma Sanders]

oregano.......one taste and I'm back in Greece....happy holidays

[salilah]

I'm not very good at keeping herbs going - last winter killed off the rosemary :-(
However I love having the bay "tree" (more a bush) close enough for fresh bayleaves for cooking, that has to be the best!
This year we planted 3 apple trees which I'm attempting to espalier - so I hope that in a year or two's time, I'll be saying the best perennial is one of my apples!
(and yes I like the raspberries when I get them, but sadly all 8 of my gooseberries disappeared over a weekend when I went to visit family - bother!!)
S

[scarey55]

For me it has to be Jerusalem artichokes. I very rarely eat them for obvious reasons but they come back every year without any effort (in fact, they do say the only way to get rid of them is to move house ), the flower is very pretty and they grow very tall and make excellent shade for plants such as lettuce and peas.