GARDENING: PURSUING PERENNIALS
Vegetables that grow back year after year of their own accord, requiring minimal attention, are a major plus in any garden, particularly in ‘forest garden’ conditions.
Such perennial vegetable plants, especially those whose roots can be left completely undisturbed for years, are a major boon to gardeners who — for a wide variety of reasons, including those of health — view purely seasonal vegetables as being far too much trouble to cultivate at home. In many cases, these can be purchased at reasonable cost from the market.
Perennial vegetables aside from asparagus are, for some unknown reason, rarely found in bazaars and, when they are, they tend to be exorbitantly expensive — with the exception of drumsticks.
Vegetables that grow on their own year after year can be a very useful addition to the garden
A perennial vegetable doesn’t mean a vegetable which can be harvested all year round. It, too, has a season in which it is productive and seasons in which it grows and rests according to its inherent nature. Though it is permanent or semi-permanent, some species live longer than others. A plant/tree once planted and correctly tended and cared for has the potential to be productive for many years to come, thus negating the need for seemingly endless soil preparation, seed sowing and transplanting, etc.
There are a number of perennial vegetable species which, with care, can perform extremely well here, although not all of these have the potential to do as well in Karachi as they will, for instance, in Islamabad with its very different soil and climatic conditions and, in some cases, vice versa.