What Is Growing That I Didn’t Have to Plant this Year

One of the nice things about being a perpetual homesteader is that there are foods that I am now growing that I didn’t have to plant this year. I have taken some permaculture practices and added them to my homestead so that I don’t have to reinvent the proverbial wheel every year by planting a strictly annual garden.

Today I want to share some of the fruits and vegetables that I planted last year that I don’t have to replant this year.

When I lived back in Springfield, I was growing these strawberries and brought them with me when I moved here. I have a nice little patch of strawberry plants growing. Though I plan to move them to a better larger location next year, this year, I’ll have a nice little supply for us to eat.

Planted next to the strawberries is the asparagus. They take three years to get up to eating size. I started these from seed back in Springfield so they are a year shy of us being able to eat them, and they are almost to the size we want. We didn’t get any of the asparagus this year, but the chickens enjoyed a few choice spears. Next year we should be getting a decent crop for our own use. I am sure they will be worth the wait!

Here on my peach tree, I have the first of two peaches growing. I am really excited because these are the first peaches I have ever grown. The variety is resistant to several peach diseases and insects. I am still learning about the various natural means of protecting these peaches from those problems.

I planted the peas this year, but is dill that I planted the year before last is coming in strong for the third year! This plant is not a perennial like the previous plants that I have shown. It is a self-seeding annual among several self-seeding plants that I have not had to plant this year. The rest of the vegetables that I am showing on this blog are also self-seeding annual vegetables.

Though I planted a lot of potatoes this year, I found that a whole row of self-seeded potatoes also came up in the area where I planted last year. Potatoes, of course, are not usually grown from seed, but from tubers from the year before. It looks as though I didn’t get all the potatoes last year but that’s okay because it just means we’ll have more to eat this year!

I also have some lettuce and radish seeds that seeded themselves and in a day or two, I’ll be able to make a salad from these early vegetables.

For More Information, Check out My Books

If you’re interested in learning more about how you can create your own perpetual homestead, I am working on a book series called The Perpetual Homesteader series that shows tips on how you too can produce a perpetual homestead of your own. In the meantime, check out my other gardening books. Simply Vegetable Gardening The Survival Garden And my latest book The Four Seasons Garden Get your copies today!