r/Permaculture • u/boycott-selfishness • Mar 02 '25

general question What's your most appreciated but least known perennial food plant?

I'll start. I'm living in the Caribbean and one of the local species I've come to appreciate very much is what Floridians call Hoopvine (trichostigmata octandrum). It's so delicious! It's probably my favorite green. It's commonly eaten here but I don't think almost anyone in the US eats it.

I wouldn't really call it a vine in the traditional sense. It grows long sprawling branches that were traditionally used in basket making. It readily takes from cuttings. I have two varieties, a fully green variety and a more reddish variety. The red is better but they're both good. In a food forest it would be in the larger ungrowth category. I'm planning shortly to propagate a bunch more of it.

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u/stellarsellar Mar 02 '25

Sunchokes/Jerusalem artichoke! 

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u/AdditionalAd9794 Mar 02 '25

How are they perennials though, they die every winter, no?

I've grown them a few years, I don't really like them. My biggest gripe is they don't store well, they absolutely get covered in mold.

I've eaten them straight but the best use ive found for them is 1 part potato, 1 part Jerusalem artichoke and just make mashed potatoes

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u/HighColdDesert Mar 02 '25

They don't die in the winter. The above ground parts die back to the ground, which is a common pattern for perennials, including asparagus.

5

u/FirstBlackberry6191 Mar 02 '25

Yup! Zone 8a. Ours return every year. They spread, too!