30 More Forgotten Vegetables That Grow Like Weeds And Feed You Forever

Somewhere between the industrial seed catalogs and the supermarket produce aisle, we lost something enormous. Not one plant. Not ten. Thirty. Thirty vegetables that fed families for generations. Vegetables that practically grow themselves, come back year after year without replanting, and produce more food per square foot than anything you'll find at a garden center today. Vegetables so tough, so productive, and so deeply rooted in human food history, that calling them forgotten feels like an understatement. They were buried, and today, I'm bringing every single one of them back. By the end of this video, you'll have a list of 30 plants that laugh at drought, shrug off neglect, spread on their own, and keep feeding you season after season with almost zero effort on your part. Ah, the number one plant on this list has been growing wild across North America for centuries. And most people pull it out of their garden as a weed without ever knowing what they're throwing away. Stay with me all the way through. This one is going to completely change how you look at your growing space. Welcome back to Evergreen Home Living, where we dig up the plants history forgot, and put them back in your garden where they belong. This channel is about growing real food with less effort, less money, and a whole lot more abundance. If that's the kind of gardening you're here for, hit subscribe and ring that bell right now. Let's get into all 30. Number 30, Lamb's Quarters. This one grows wild in almost every garden in North America, and most people yank it straight out of the ground. Big mistake. All Lamb's Quarters is one of the most nutritious greens on the planet. Higher in calcium, iron, and vitamins than commercial spinach, and it self-seeds so reliably you'll never plant it twice. Let a few plants go to seed each season, and it returns every year without any help from you. Eat the young leaves raw in salads, or cook them exactly like spinach. Harvest before flowering for best flavor. It thrives in zones 3 through 10 in any soil, full sun to partial shade. A weed that feeds you better than half the produce section. Stop pulling it. Number 29, Purslane. Another plant most gardeners wage war against. Purslane is a succulent leafed ground cover that spreads prolifically in warm weather, tolerates drought better than almost anything you'll intentionally plant. Aachen contains more omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy vegetable. It's been eaten in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking for thousands of years. Pick young stems and leaves for salads, stir-fries, and soups. It self-seeds aggressively and returns every summer on its own. Zones 4 through 11, full sun, any soil, zero effort required beyond changing how you see it. Number 28, Good King Henry. This perennial was a staple cottage garden vegetable across England and Europe for centuries before spinach replaced it on the dinner table. It comes back every spring from established roots, grows 18 to 24 inches tall, and produces harvestable leaves for weeks before most spring vegetables are even transplanted. Young shoots can be eaten like asparagus. Leaves cook like spinach. It tolerates poor soil, partial shade. Ah, and neglect with equal indifference. Plant once in zones 3 through 9 and harvest for a decade. Number 27, Scorzenera. Plant this once and you'll be harvesting from the same roots for years. Scorzenera produces long, black-skinned roots with a sweet, nutty, oyster-like flavor that was wildly popular across Europe before the potato arrived and pushed everything else off the plate. It's a true perennial root vegetable. Roots left in the ground over winter and continue growing the following season, getting larger every year. Grow in deep, loose soil in full sun. Zones 3 through 9. Harvest roots in fall of the second year for peak size, or leave them to keep growing. Number 26, Skirrit. Skirrit was a staple root vegetable across Europe from medieval times through the 1700s. It produces clusters of slender, sweet white roots from a single crown. Like a bundle of small parsnips. And the same crown comes back and expands every year. The flavor is genuinely delicious. Sweet, slightly spicy with a creamy texture when roasted. It disappeared almost entirely when the potato arrived, which is the food world's loss. Plant crowns are seeds in rich, moist soil in full sun to partial shade. Zones 3 through 9. Once established, it spreads and produces indefinitely. Number 25, Lovage. Lovage is a massive perennial herb. It grows 5 to 6 feet tall. That tastes powerfully of celery. Every part is edible. Leaves for soups and stews. Seeds as a celery-flavored spice. Hollow stems as natural drinking straws or vegetable flavoring. It comes back every spring from deep roots. Spreads slowly to form a productive clump. And produces abundant leaf from early spring through fall. Full sun to partial shade. Moist, rich soil. Zones 3 through 9. One plant produces more celery-flavored seasoning than most families can use in a season. Number 24, Welsh Onion. Welsh onions, also called bunching onions or Japanese onions, are perennial alliums that form expanding clumps rather than single bulbs. Divide them every year or two, and you'll have onions spreading across your garden perpetually. They're among the first plants to push up green shoots in early spring, giving you fresh onion flavor weeks before anything else is ready. Use the greens like scallions, chop and freeze for winter cooking. Or let them flower for edible blossoms. Zones 3 through 9. Full sun to partial shade. Average soil. Plant once. Harvest forever. Orchard number 23, Alexanders. Before celery was cultivated as a commercial crop, Alexanders were the go-to celery-flavored vegetable across Britain and coastal Europe. Every part is edible. Leaves, stems, seeds, and roots. With a bold, aromatic flavor somewhere between celery and parsley. It's a biennial that self-seeds so reliably it behaves like a perennial in practice, always maintaining a presence in the garden once established. Partial shade suits it well, making it useful in spots where other vegetables struggle. Zones 5 through 9. Grow it once and it maintains itself. Number 22, Kanja. Turkish rocket. Despite the name, Turkish rocket is a perennial brassica. A permanent, low-maintenance green that returns reliably each spring and produces edible leaves, shoots, and flower buds for months. On the young leaves have a peppery, amoeba arugula-like flavor. Flower buds cook like broccoli rabe. It tolerates drought, poor soil, and partial shade without complaint. Zones 4 through 9. It spreads gently by self-seeding without becoming invasive. Once it's in your garden, you'll always have something to harvest, even in the lean weeks of early spring. Number 21, Sea beet. Sea beet is the wild ancestor of every beet and Swiss chard variety in existence. It grows naturally on coastlines across Europe and has been eaten since before recorded agriculture. As a garden plant, it's extraordinarily tough, tolerating salt, wind, poor soil, and drought while producing abundant, glossy, spinach-flavored leaves from spring through autumn. It self-seeds reliably and maintains a garden presence once established. Zones 5 through 10. Yigsa harvest outer leaves continuously and the plant keeps producing all season long without fuss. Number 20, Sorrel. Sorrel is one of the first edible plants to emerge in spring, sometimes pushing through snow, and one of the last to quit in autumn. It's a perennial with bright, lemony-sour leaves that make extraordinary soup, sauce, and fresh salad additions. French sorrel and broad-leaved sorrel both form tidy clumps that expand slightly each year and require almost zero maintenance. Cut them back hard after bolting in summer and they flush fresh new growth for fall harvesting. Zones 3 through 9. Partial shade to full sun. Plant once and it feeds you for a decade or more. Ive. Number 19, Groundnut. Apios Americana. This North American native was a primary food source for indigenous peoples across the eastern continent for thousands of years. It produces edible tubers along underground runners, tasting like a richer, nuttier version of a potato. And the process is self-perpetuating. Tubers left in the ground after harvest continue producing new plants the following season, spreading slowly through the bed over years. It's also a nitrogen fixer, improving soil while it grows. Zones 3 through 9. Partial shade tolerance. One planting feeds you indefinitely. Number 18, Malabar Spinach. Regular spinach bolts and quits in summer heat. Malabar spinach doesn't. This tropical vine takes over when the heat arrives, climbing trellises vigorously and producing thick, glossy, I mild flavored leaves through the hottest months of the growing season. It fills the summer-hungry gap that most leafy green growers know too well. Direct sow after soil warms past 65 degrees Fahrenheit in full sun and rich, moist soil. Zones 7 through 11 as a perennial. Zones 4 through 6 as a warm-season annual. One vine produces more summer greens than most families can eat. Number 17, Minutina. Minutina, also called Herba Stella or Buck's Horn Plantain, is a fine-leafed Italian salad green with a mild, slightly crunchy texture that fills the cold-season salad bowl beautifully. It's extraordinarily cold-hardy, surviving temperatures that destroy most other greens, and in zones 7 and above it grows nearly year-round as a cut-and-come-again crop. Sow seeds shallowly in rich, moist soil in partial to full sun. Ynean self-seeds reliably once established. Zones 4 through 10, an underused salad staple that deserves a permanent spot in every productive garden. Number 16, Ramps, Wild Leeks. Ramps are wild forest alliums, native to the eastern U.S. with a flavor somewhere between garlic and onion, deeply pungent when raw and mellow when cooked. They emerge in early spring in woodland settings, producing beautiful broad leaves weeks before most garden plants wake up. They spread slowly by seed and bulb division, building a colony over years that permanently occupies shady spots where little else grows productively. Zones 3 through 7, plant bulbs in partial to full shade in rich, moist woodland-type soil. They ask almost nothing and give you a gourmet spring green every year forever. Quick pause right here. If this list is already making you rethink the empty corners of your garden, smash that like button. It genuinely helps this channel reach more people who want to grow real food from forgotten plants. And drop a comment below. Tell me which of these you've already grown or which one surprised you most. I read every single comment. Now let's finish the top 15. Number 15. Ostrich Fern. Fiddleheads. Ostrich ferns produce edible fiddlehead shoots every spring, the tightly coiled young fronds that emerge before the full frond unfurls. They taste like a cross between asparagus and green beans when briefly blanched or sautéed, and gourmet markets charge $8 to $12 per small bundle for them. Plant rhizomes in partial to full shade in moist, rich soil. Zones 3 through 7. They spread steadily each year, eye-filling shady spots permanently and producing a spring harvest that genuinely cannot be bought fresh anywhere most people live. Number 14. Egyptian Walking Onion. The Egyptian walking onion is one of the most self-sufficient food plants in existence. Instead of producing seeds, it grows small bulblets at the top of its flower stalks. When the stalk bends under their weight, the bulblets touch the ground and root, literally walking themselves across the garden over years. Every part is edible, greens, bulblets, and base bulbs. They overwinter reliably in zones 3 through 9 and produce fresh green shoots earlier in spring than almost any other allium. Plant once and they maintain and spread themselves indefinitely. Null number 13. Caucasian Spinach. Hablitsia. Hablitsia is an extraordinarily rare perennial climbing green from the Caucasus Mountains that produces edible shoots and leaves from early spring through summer, dying back in winter and returning reliably from deep roots for decades. Young shoots taste remarkably like spinach and can be eaten raw or cooked. It climbs fences and trellises easily, making it ideal for vertical growing. Zones 4 through 9. Partial shade to full sun. It's extremely hard to find commercially, which makes growing it yourself both a practical and a preservation act. Number 12. Sea Kale. Sea kale is a coastal perennial that produces magnificent blanched shoots in early spring. Tender, sweet, asparagus-like stalks that form beneath a forcing pot placed over the crown as it wakes up. The flavor is genuinely extraordinary. Later in the season, young leaves and flower buds are edible as cooked greens. It thrives in poor, sandy, well-drained soil in full sun, conditions where most vegetables fail completely. Zones 4 through 9. Establish a crown, force it each spring, and harvest for 20 years or more from a single planting. Number 11. Oca. Oca is a South American tuber crop, the second most important food crop in the Andes after the potato. That produces small, bright, jewel-colored tubers with a tangy, slightly lemony flavor unlike anything else in the vegetable garden. It's a perennial where frost-free, and in colder zones it's grown as an annual from saved tubers, replanted each spring. Foliage is attractive enough to double as an ornamental. Zones 7 through 10 as a perennial. There's zones 4 through 6 as an annual. Harvest tubers after frost kills the tops and store in a cool, dry place for months. Number 10. Ground cherry. Ground cherries are small, sweet fruits, like a tomatillo crossed with a vanilla pineapple candy, wrapped in papery husks that fall naturally when ripe. They self-seed so aggressively that once you grow them once, they return every year in the same spot without any effort from you. Eat them fresh, make jam, dry them like raisins, or bake them into pies. They're productive, low-maintenance, and genuinely delicious. Full sun, well-drained average soil. Zones 4 through 10 as an annual self-seeder. One planting and they take care of themselves indefinitely. Number 9. Perennial kale. Dobington's kale. While standard kale is a biennial that needs replanting every year or two, a Dobington's kale is a genuine perennial. A woody-stemmed kale plant that keeps growing year after year, reaching shrub-like proportions in mild climates. It doesn't set seed, so it puts all its energy into producing leaves instead of flowering. Propagate by cuttings rather than seeds. Zones 7 through 10 as a perennial. Zones 4 through 6 with winter protection. One established plant provides continuous leaf harvest for years. It's the kale plant you never have to replant. Number 8. Mashua. Mashua is an Andean climbing tuber that was cultivated alongside OCA and potato for thousands of years in South American highlands. It produces vigorously, climbs readily up trellises and fences, and yields edible tubers with a peppery, mustard-like raw flavor that mellows dramatically with roasting into something sweet and complex. But it's said to have been so productive that Inca armies carried it as a field ration. Zones 7 through 10 as a perennial. Colder zones as an annual from saved tubers. Extremely productive, extremely neglect-tolerant and almost completely unknown in modern Western gardens. Number 7. Perpetual spinach. Perpetual spinach is not true spinach. It's actually a form of Swiss chard selected for its spinach-like leaf flavor. But what sets it apart is longevity. While true spinach bolts at the first hint of heat or cold stress, perpetual spinach keeps producing through summer heat, mild frosts and everything in between. One planting in spring gives you cutting after cutting for 12 months or more in mild climates. Zones 6 through 10. Full sun to partial shade, average moist soil. The name says everything you need to know about why it belongs in every productive garden. Number 6. Tomatillo. Tomatillos are extraordinary self-seeders. Grow them once and drop a few ripe fruits on bare soil in autumn. They'll germinate on their own the following spring and produce a full crop without any help from you. They're more disease-resistant than tomatoes, more heat-tolerant and produce prolifically in average soil with minimal fertilizing. Each plant yields dozens of papery husked fruits, perfect for salsas, roasting and cooking. Full sun, well-drained soil. Zones 5 through 11. Plant 2 for cross-pollination. Let them self-seed and they'll maintain themselves in your garden indefinitely. Echilla. Number 5. Grounsel. Silveta arugula. Wild silveta arugula is a perennial form of the arugula species that produces smaller, more deeply lobed leaves with a much more intense, peppery flavor than standard annual arugula. Unlike its annual cousin, it comes back every spring from established roots, self-seeds freely, and fills garden gaps and edges without demanding anything from you. It tolerates partial shade, poor soil, and dry conditions with ease. Zones 5 through 9. Harvest young leaves for salads all season. It's the arugula that plants itself and never stops. Number 4. Groundhog bean. Amphicarpia. This native North American legume is one of the most fascinating forgotten food plants on the continent. It produces two types of seeds, above ground pods like a standard bean. Ion and underground pods that develop beneath the soil surface, which are sweeter and richer than the above ground ones. Indigenous peoples harvested both. It fixes nitrogen, improves soil structure, tolerates partial shade, and self-seeds reliably. Zones 4 through 9. It was a genuine staple food for eastern woodland communities for generations before agriculture marginalized it entirely. Number 3. Sunchokes. Jerusalem artichoke. Sunchokes are perhaps the most aggressively productive food plant you can legally grow in a backyard. One tuber planted in spring becomes 5 to 10 pounds of tubers by fall harvest. Leave a few in the ground and the bed doubles in size the following year. They grow 6 to 10 feet tall, tolerate poor soil, drought, and partial shade, and produce sweet, nutty, ashwater chestnut-like tubers that roast beautifully and taste nothing like an artichoke. Zones 3 through 9. Give them a contained bed. They spread assertively, and they'll feed you more food per square foot than almost any other perennial vegetable in existence. Number 2. Stinging nettle. Stinging nettle has one of the longest food histories of any plant in the northern hemisphere. It's been eaten as a spring green across Europe and Asia for thousands of years. Blanching or cooking neutralizes the sting instantly. And it's extraordinarily nutritious, packed with iron, calcium, and protein at levels that rival many commercial supplements. It spreads aggressively from rhizomes in moist, rich soil, returning every spring in expanding clumps. Young spring shoots are the prize. Cook them like spinach. Brew them as tea. Eye or blend them into soup. Zones 3 through 10. Wear gloves for harvest. Everything else takes care of itself. And at number 1. The forgotten vegetable that grows wilder than any weed, feeds you more completely than most things in your refrigerator, and has been dismissed, ignored, and mowed over by American gardeners for generations, is dandelion. Not the lawn dandelion you curse every spring. The cultivated Italian broadleaf dandelion, varieties like Catalogna and Verde Montmagny. Bred specifically for food production, with leaves three times the size of wild types, and a flavor that ranges from pleasantly bitter raw to deeply savory when braised or sauteed. Every single part is edible. Young spring leaves for salads. Older leaves braised in olive oil with garlic. A classic Italian preparation that transforms bitterness into something rich and complex. Flower buds sauteed like capers. Open flowers for wine, fritters, and infused syrups. Roots roasted and ground as a coffee substitute, or dried for liver-supporting herbal tea. It grows in every soil type from pure sand to heavy clay. It tolerates full shade and full sun. It survives drought, flooding, compaction, and complete neglect. It returns from its taproot every single spring no matter what you do to it. Zones 3 through 10, essentially the entire country. It requires zero inputs, zero irrigation once established, and zero maintenance of any kind. Cultivated dandelion seeds are available from Baker Creek, strictly medicinal seeds and Richter's herbs. Sow directly in early spring or fall, barely covering seeds in any prepared bed. Harvest outer leaves continuously once plants reach six inches across. For the mildest flavor, blanch by covering the crown with a pot or tile for one week before harvest. Leaves grown in darkness lose most of their bitterness and develop a tender, almost buttery texture. Organic dandelion greens sell for $4 to $7 per small bunch at specialty stores and farmer's markets. Dandelion root tea runs $8 to $12 per box. Dandelion tinctures command $15 to $25 per bottle in herbal supplement shops. And in your backyard? It costs you nothing. It asks for nothing. It comes back every single year without fail, feeds you from early spring through late fall, and offers more nutritional value per leaf than most of what's sitting in the produce section. The most forgotten vegetable in America has been growing in your yard the entire time. You just didn't know you were supposed to be eating it. Bonus tip. Here's something experienced forager gardeners know that completely changes how productive a forgotten vegetable garden becomes. And it sounds almost too simple to be true. Stop clearing your beds completely in autumn. When you leave plant debris, spent stalks, and dropped seeds in place through winter, you're not being lazy. You're building next year's garden. Most of the self-seeding plants on this list, ground cherry, tomatillo, purslane, lamb's quarters, dandelion, sorrel, deposit viable seeds in the soil as they finish the season. A hard autumn cleanup removes those seeds along with the debris, forcing you to replant every spring. Leave the beds rough through winter. Rake lightly in early spring to break the surface crust and watch what emerges on its own before you plant anything new. You'll be surprised how many volunteers are already waiting. Work around them, eat from them, and let your garden begin feeding you before you've spent a single dollar on seeds. The most productive forgotten vegetable gardens don't start in spring. They start with what you don't do in autumn. 30 plants. 30 vegetables that grow like weeds, come back year after year, and feed you more abundantly than anything you'll find in the produce aisle. All from a single planting in ordinary soil with minimal effort. From lamb's quarters, volunteering in your beds, to sea kale, forcing up spring shoots for 20 years. Every plant on this list is proof that the most productive garden isn't the most complicated one. It's the one planted with the right things. So tell me, which of these 30 are you hunting down first? Drop it in the comments right now. I want to know, and I read every single one. If today's list opened up your garden possibilities, subscribe to Evergreen Home Living and hit that bell. We're here every week uncovering the plants history forgot and putting them back where they belong. In your backyard, on your table, and in your hands. Now get out there and grow something that grows itself. I'll see you in the next one. Growing food that grows itself.