How to select and grow edible perennial plants | Growing Fruit and Vegies | Gardening Australia

Josh plants some of his favourite edible perennial plants, that look as good as they taste. Subscribe 🔔 http://ab.co/GA-subscribe
There are plenty of edible perennial plants that will produce year after year for less work.

Globe artichoke is a perfect example. Josh has one growing alongside the driveway, under a mulberry tree in north sun. The silvery foliage and electric blue flowers are attractive. The flower bud is what we eat. The best way to propagate is via sucker. After flowering take some suckers off the base and replant. They can also be planted out from seedlings grown from seed. Josh adds compost and manure to prepare his site, before planting the seedlings. He mulches and waters in.

Behind one of Josh’s water tanks is a garden full of native plants. He’s putting in a midyim berry, another native that produces masses of sweet, slightly tart berries. It’s the perfect plant to fill a gap. Midyim berries prefer free draining soils, so Josh’s sandy soil is perfect, with a little amendment and fertiliser to help it establish. He mulches and waters in, and can expect it to grow 1x1m.

Strawberries are the perfect perennial for growing in pots. Josh has the ‘Elan’ cultivar. It’s a medium-sized, sweet fruit and is an “everbearing variety”, meaning it will crop spring-autumn.

Josh chooses a broad pot, to allow the strawberries to spill out. It’s also not very deep, because of the shallow roots. It’s glazed, to stop the mix drying out. Josh pots his 3 plants up with premium potting mix, added fertiliser and blends through. Josh says one of the biggest mistakes with strawberries is overplanting, leading to them becoming congested and diseased. He mulches with lupin mulch, and can expect these plants to keep cropping over several seasons.

Featured Plants:
GLOBE ARTICHOKE – Cynara cardunculus
MIDYIM BERRY – Austromyrtus dulcis
STRAWBERRY ‘ELAN’ – Fragaria x ananassa cv.

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