TOENSMEIER

$35 USD | Gardening

“Toensmeier’s groundbreaking guide is destined to become
the bible for this new class of edible gardening.”—Booklist
PERENNIAL VEGETABLES
“Full of surprising edible possibilities, this book ‘promotes fresh thinking as to what a vegetable
garden can be,’ says Doreen Howard. ‘This topic is presented in a thorough and engaging way,’ says
Susan Eubank. ‘It teaches responsible gardening practices without preaching,’ adds Marty Ross.”
—From the American Horticultural Society’s announcement of the 2008 AHS Book Award

“Eric Toensmeier has comprehensively filled a huge gap in the sustainable landscape. Perennial Vegetables lets
you put away your tiller, and covers everything you need to grow, harvest, and eat vegetables and greens
that will keep coming back year after year.” —Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden

PERENNIAL VEGETABLES
“Toensmeier’s knowledge of edible plants is impressive and inspiring. His excitement for a sustainable
landscape helps us focus away from buying food to harvesting it naturally. —Ellen Ecker Ogden,
co-founder of The Cook’s Garden seed catalog, author of From the Cook’s Garden

“That there are more perennial vegetables than asparagus is no surprise, but that there are more than
100 species we North American gardeners can choose from is news. Toensmeier’s Perennial Vegetables, the
first comprehensive guide to growing them, will have all of us reexamining our plans for next year’s
vegetable plot.” —Karan Davis Cutler, author of Burpee—The Complete Flower Garden From Artichoke to
“Growing perennial vegetables is a true pleasure. This fine book gives the knowledge to successfully add
‘Zuiki’ Taro, a
variety to both the garden and the table while also enhancing the home environment.” Gardener’s Guide to
—Miranda Smith, author of The Plant Propagator’s Bible and Complete Home Gardening
Over 100 Delicious,
magine growing vegetables that require just about the spring tree, and the much sought-after, antioxidant-rich
I same amount of care as perennial flowers and shrubs—
no annual tilling and planting. They thrive and produce
wolfberry (also known as goji berry), Toensmeier explains
how to raise, tend, harvest, and cook with plants that
Easy-to-Grow
abundant and nutritious crops throughout the season. In yield great crops and culinary satisfaction.
Edibles
Perennial Vegetables plant specialist Eric Toensmeier intro- Including dozens of color photographs and illustra-
duces gardeners to more than 100 species of little-known, tions, and filled with valuable growing tips, recipes, and
underappreciated plants. Ranging beyond the usual sus- resources, Perennial Vegetables is a groundbreaking book
pects (asparagus, rhubarb, and artichoke) to include such that will open the eyes of gardeners everywhere to the
delights as ground cherry, ramps, air potatoes, the fragrant exciting world of edible perennials.

Eric Toensmeier is an experi- CHELSEA GREEN PUBLISHING

enced advocate and teacher of
permaculture and an expert on
the world’s most useful plants.
Marikler Girón Ramirez
White River Junction, Vermont • 802-295-6300
www.chelseagreen.com
Cover design by Peter Holm, Sterling Hill Productions

Cover photos by Eric Toensmeier, unless otherwise noted. Top row, left to right: air
He is the coauthor of the potato, water lotus, papaya. Middle row: fragrant spring tree (Raintree Nursery), oca.
award-winning Edible Forest Bottom row: hyacinth bean, tree collards (Brock Dolman), sweet potato.

Gardens with Dave Jacke. Eric

Chelsea Green

ISBN 978-1-931498-40-1
writes, trains, and consults 53500
full-time in English, Spanish,
and Botanical Latin through his Web site, www.perennial
solutions.org.
9 781931 498401
E R I C TOE NS ME I ER

Sheet Mulching: Instant Eden
Sheet mulching combines soil improvement, weed
removal, and long-term mulching in one fell swoop. This
technique, also known as lasagna gardening, can build
remarkable soils in just a few years. There are several
key components. First, a weed barrier like cardboard is
laid down to smother weeds. In theory (and quite often
in practice) the cardboard decomposes after the weeds
have all died and turned into compost. The second
ingredient is to add compost, or build a layered compost
pile that will enrich your new garden bed. The third step
is to add a thick layer of mulch on top, to keep new
weeds from getting established. I have had great results
The author’s Massachusetts front yard before
sheet mulching. The soils are very poor fill from
new construction.
By mid-summer the garden is thriving with sweet potato,
taro, edible hibiscus, and hardy bananas (yes, they over-
winter in Massachusetts, but they don’t fruit here).
PV Part1 pg final.indd 39
Techniques · 39
Chelsea Green E-Galley. Not for copying or distribution. Quotation with permission only. UNCORRECTED PROOF.
with sheet mulching, although sometimes the first year
is a bit rough on delicate species, until the raw materials
break down. You can use sheet mulching to turn lawns
or weedy waste areas into gardens in just a few hours,
or even to build soil from scratch inside built frames
for raised beds. Sheet mulch can range from just a few
inches thick to 2 feet or more, depending on how bad
your soil is and how much raw material you have avail-
able (it will cook down and settle quite a bit). For more
information see Patricia Lanza’s Lasagna Gardening, or
Edible Forest Gardens.
Addition of rotted leaves below thick paper bags as
a weed barrier with a layer of compost and mulch on
top—just a few hours of work.
Jonathan Bates enjoys the results of our first year of
sheet mulching. This garden has just gotten better each
year. Note the fantastic growth of hyacinth beans!
4/26/07 3:46:29 PM
 40 · Part One: Gardening with Perennial Vegetables
Chelsea Green E-Galley. Not for copying or distribution. Quotation with permission only. UNCORRECTED PROOF. Simple Steps to Sheet Mulching
1. Mow or cut your lawn, weeds, or other vegetation
right down to the ground.
2. Plant any crops that will require a large planting hole
(including woody plants, perennials in large pots, and
large transplants).
3. Add soil amendments (as determined by your soil
test).
4. Water the whole area thoroughly. You are going to
be putting a layer of cardboard or newspaper over
it, and rain and irrigation won’t soak through very
well until that weed barrier breaks down. Water also
helps the decomposition process get going.
5. If you have compost materials that may contain weed
seeds (like fresh manure, leaves, or hay), spread them
in layers on the ground. Put a dry, carbonaceous
layer of hay or shredded leaves below any manure
layer. Avoid thick layers, and make sure to get a good
carbon-to-nitrogen ratio just as if you were building
a compost pile (see Start with the Soil or other gar-
dening books for details). Water this layer well.
6. Lay down a weed barrier. I prefer to use large sheets
of cardboard from appliance stores, because these
last longer and are quicker to lie down. You can use
layers of wet newspaper too. Make sure to have a
4- to 6-inch overlap where sheets meet so buried
PV Part1 pg final.indd 40
weeds can’t find a route to the surface. If you have
already planted crops, or have other preexisting
plants, don’t mulch over them. Cut holes in the card-
board to make some breathing space for each plant
(or leave some room around each plant when laying
newspaper).
7. Now you can add your weed-free organic materi-
als. I like to keep it simple, and just add a nice layer
of compost. You can also do some sheet composting
here, alternating layers of nitrogen-rich materials like
fresh grass clippings with carbonaceous materials like
weed-free straw.
8. Now you add your final top mulch layer, at least 3
inches thick. Water the whole bed thoroughly once
again. Your sheet mulch bed is complete.
9. You can plant right into your bed if you like. To plant
tubers or potted plants, just pull back the top lay-
ers until you get to the weed barrier. Cut an X in the
cardboard or newspaper. If you are transplanting a
large plant, peel back the corners of the X. Throw a
double handful of compost in the planting hole and
then put in the plant. Pull the layers and top mulch
back around the plant, water well, and you’re all set.
Planting seeds is easy too. Just pull back the top mulch
to the compost layer and plant your seeds. You may
want to cut through the weed barrier below first, de-
pending on weed pressure below the barrier. If you
are planting seeds, be sure to water regularly, as com-
post on top of cardboard can dry out quickly.
Cross section of a newly sheet-mulched garden
bed showing layers of material.
4/26/07 3:46:32 PM
 Techniques · 41
Table 6: Materials for Sheet Mulching

Chelsea Green E-Galley. Not for copying or distribution. Quotation with permission only. UNCORRECTED PROOF.
Sheet mulch can be as simple as three layers: cardboard, compost, and straw. But compost isn’t cheap, and it can
be fun and thrifty to add layers of organic materials that will break down to make compost on their own. When
doing so, you want to alternate layers of high-nitrogen material (greens) with high-carbon material (browns),
just like the recipe you use to build an ordinary compost pile. You want to have more carbon materials than
nitrogen: The ideal ratio by weight is 30:1 carbon to nitrogen, which translates roughly to two to three times as
much carbon bulk as nitrogen. Keep these layers thin (3 inches at most) and they will break down more quickly.
Some items should be shredded first—leaves because they mat, and large items like cornstalks so they break
down more quickly. Remember also that some materials must be kept below the root barrier because they may
contain viable seeds.

Below the Weed Barrier: Above the Weed Barrier:

Seed-Containing Materials Seed-Free Materials

High-Nitrogen High-Carbon High-Nitrogen High-Carbon

aged but seedy manure dried leaves aquatic weeds & algae pine needles
fresh manure dried plant stalks coffee grounds sawdust
legume hay (e.g. alfalfa) grass hay aged, seed-free manure shredded newspaper
vegetable kitchen waste Note: You can use grass clippings straw
weeds seed-free carbon seaweed wood chips
sources if these are (top mulch only)
not available

article). You may also have other microclimate
modifications in mind, like cutting trees to
allow in more sun, or planting a windbreak. All
of these steps are much more easily achieved
before planting.
Planting and Establishment
Plant your perennial vegetables with love. Give
each one the time and tenderness that you
would give a cherished fruit tree that will live
for 100 years. Planting perennial vegetables is
usually not an act of mass production. Instead
of seeding out 100 annuals, you may be plant-
ing only a few plants. Follow these tips and you
will be repaid with years of kindness.
Give your plants room to grow
I am always planting my perennial vegetables
too close together. I am usually working with
tiny seedlings or small mail-order plants, and
it is just hard to imagine that in a few years
my Turkish rocket is going to be as big as a
mid-sized shrub. This means that I am always
digging plants up and moving them later—a
disturbance that some of them resent heavily,
and often delays growth in even the most resil-
ient. I have also lost some plants that were too
close to neighboring giants. The silly thing is
that I know better: The rules for plant spacing
are quite simple.
Space clumping plants at “crowns-touching” distance at
a minimum
Clumping plants are plants that stay put,
perhaps growing a wider clump each year but
not spreading aggressively. Space your clumpers
so when mature they will not be touching any
other vegetation. This helps to increase airflow,
preventing diseases and competition for light.
Note: Lower groundcovers may touch the base of

PV Part1 pg final.indd 41 4/26/07 3:46:32 PM