Rhubarb actually a vegetable with second year harvest! I planted a crown in early Fall 2023, but have previously had established plants that went gangbusters!
Rhubarb likes a rich compost/manure and needs to be left undisturbed. The crowns grow underground and can get too big if left untended, leading to less good fruit stalks up top, so split the crowns and plant elsewhere or give them away! My last garden had the rhubarb plant growing in the compost heap, and it was very happy!
Only the stalks are edible, the leaves are toxic to humans and pets so get rid asap.
Rhubarb has to be prepared with a sweetener of some kind because it is very tart. To me they taste like summer because I grew up in England and Rhubarb and Custard has its own cult following there. In Canada Rhubarb and strawberry pies are a favourite combo.
Rhubarb likes full or partial sun, and I was taught to make the last harvest at the end of July. Then at the end of August, heap up some manure around it and cover the ground with straw to protect it from the cold. It likes a time of being dormant where all the energy goes into the roots and makes it ready to explode with tasty celery like stalks in the summer. It’s hardy Zones 3-8 according to the Old Farmers Almanac.
If you find yourself in a new garden, plant this straight away, you’ll get your first harvest in year two.
Asparagus
You can start it from seed but it will take a long time to get a harvest. An asparagus crown is a better plan. Crowns are grown from seeds and are at least 2 years old. Plant crowns after last frost. From seed you have to wait 2-3 years for a harvest, you can harvest from a planted crown a year after planting. Not all garden centres stock asparagus crowns but most can order in.
If like me you live on the west coast, West Coast Seeds has an excellent article on growing asparagus from crowns here. This year will be my first time working with asparagus that isn’t already established so I won’t say too much about it. I’ll post stumbling blocks and successes as I go!
Jerusalem Artichokes
Also known as Sunchokes. It’s a potato like tuber that is prolific so best kept in a container or raised bed if you’re short on space. They are delicious with a sweet, slightly nutty flavour. Some people find it a bit hard on the stomach, but if you don’t eat too many, I find they’re just great. Put them in stews to bulk out along with carrots and mushroom etc. This year I’m starting Sunchokes from seed because I haven’t been able to source the tubers which can be planted directly into the soil. If you can find tubers, plant them or parts of them with “eyes” and they should take off and give you a decent yield.
Jerusalem artichoke seeds require cold stratification. This simply means exposing the seeds to cold and moisture before they can germinate. You can do this by soaking them and then putting them in a ziplock back with some peat in the fridge for a few weeks (depending on the type of seed), or by allowing the seeds to be weathered naturally over winter. Most seeds that require this will say so on the packet. Using the fridge basically imitates winter weather.
I got my seeds from Oak Summit on Etsy I don’t have any affiliation with them, but they shipped quickly and everything was nicely packaged.
Jerusalem artichokes store best in the ground and are best harvested after the first frost. In the fall they have a sunflower like bloom that lights up the garden, and the bees seem to like them a lot!
So these are the perennials I recommend planting as soon as you start a garden. Perhaps you have a different selection? Please let me know in the comments, and remember:
Grow – Eat – Repeat!
I’m incredibly grateful for the freedom to be able to grow my own food and the space to do so. I respectfully acknowledge that I live and work on the Tla’amin Nation territories. I am also grateful to God for bringing me to this beautiful place and blessing me with the abundance of this garden.
Moon Snail Microstead 