Edible Climbing Vines help maximise growing space and double the amount of food in each garden bed or container. One thing that I think is so underrated is the ability to grow food up π
Today I am going to share a list of edible climbers to grow in your garden and utilise vertical space and create shade and protection. These 10 edible climbing vines are perennials which means they will produce more and more food each year without us having to replant them!
There are so many incredible reasons you should be growing food vertically.
Not only to maximize space but also to increase airflow to reduce rot or disease, strategic shade, or like me to reduce some of the heat in my garden by covering my ugly fences!
Click to watch for bonus Planting Tips π
Annuals vs Perennials πΏ
Annuals will allow you to still change up your garden beds each season and have the flexibility of space. Whereas perennials (which grow for longer than 2 years) will allow you to get a crop established and provide long-term protection and produce more and more food each year.
10 Perennial Edible Climbing Vines
1. Passionfruit
Passionfruit is one of my favourite fruits to eat and the main reason I am growing this edible climber in my garden. They are also evergreen so it has leaves all year round to create shade and protection. Passionfruit have thick, lush leaves so they work perfectly to cover fences or create screens to block out unsightly structures or areas.
Watch the video above to see how to plant passionfruit from a store-bought fruit!
BONUS TIP: Purchase a passionfruit plant that is NOT grafted. Grafted passionfruit needs to be carefully maintained or the rootstock can quickly take over and become invasive with no fruit.
2. Choko /Chayote
Choko is a quick-growing vining edible plant that can make great summer shade to protect your summer garden. They will often die back over winter but will pop up and regrow each spring. Any fruits left on the ground will also easily regrow.
Choko are similar to a large zucchini or marrow and can be used as a substitute for potatoes or even apples to bulk up pie recipes.
3. Sweet Potato
Growing Sweet Potatoes / KΕ«mara (Ipomoea batatas) in your home garden is a great step toward self-sufficiency. They are my favourite permaculture plant and are an easy crop to grow for beginner gardeners. It is important to grow plants that support and encourage other plants and beneficial insects in your garden. Creating a cohesive ecosystem that promotes the growth and success of your garden’s health and supports abundant harvests.
Sweet potatoes send out runners and can easily be trained up a vertical trellis. Plus, many people do not know that the leaves of the sweet potato plant are also edible.
4. Grapes
The great thing about growing grapes as edible climbers is that they are deciduous. This means they lose their leaves in winter so you can plant grapes strategically to provide shade in summer and let light through in winter!
5. Malabar Spinach
Malabar spinach is a fantastic edible climber for warm or tropical climates. It thrives in summer during warm weather when most other spinach and leafy greens die off. This can help fill the gaps in your seasonal harvests. Malabar spinach can be grown in pots or containers. It has succulent-like leaves so can handle hot weather but it can be frost sensitive.
6. Butterfly Pea
If you love colour then this edible climber will be perfect for you! With bright blue-purple flowers the butterfly pea is a striking addition to an edible garden. The flowers can be used as a natural food colouring or infused in teas or cocktails. Plus, if you add acidity such as lemon juice the colour will transform to hot pink! Such a fun plant to grow.
7. Kiwifruit
Kiwifruit can be grown over structures to create great canopy shade. They are prolific produces and the fruit can be eaten fresh, frozen for smoothies, made into jams and even dehydrated for naturally sweet treats. You will need to have both a male and a female plant for pollination.
8. Kiwiberry
Kiwi berries have a similar taste to the kiwifruit but are much smaller around the same size as a grape. Kiwi berry vines grow really well in containers or urban gardens.
9. Nasturtium
Nasturtium is often known for its wild rambling nature but it can be trained vertically as an edible climber. The whole plant is edible including the leaves, flowers and seed pods. Nasturtium has a strong peppery taste and can be used in salads, flavoured salts, pickles and many other recipes. Here in Perth, my Nasturtium dies down in summer but will pop up and regrow by itself in Autumn/winter.
10. Scarlett Runner Bean
Scarlet runner beans are also known as the 7-year bean because they pop up and regrow each year (for about 6-7 years). Beans are a great addition to an edible garden and can easily be cooked or frozen to preserve.
Annual Climbing Vines πΏ
Annual climbers are also great because they don’t need dedicated space so you can grow, harvest and remove then grow something different each season! Having a mix of annuals and perennials will help you grow more food all year round.
Annual climbers can be plants such as Cucumber, Squash, Tomatoes, Pumpkin, and Melons.
Perennial plants are an investment in your future food production. Perennials grow back each year and provide long-term sustainable harvests. When creating a self-sufficient garden, perennials can form a really good base to build from.Β Annual vegetables can be a lot of work and it can be devastating if you lose a crop after all that time and effort. Having a mix of perennials in your garden will give you the comfort of knowing you will still have food available that will re-grow year after year.
Most of the vegetables we see in the supermarkets are annual vegetables that are grownΒ for a single season and then harvested. This means that perennials are a little unusual for home gardeners to grow and cook.
What is a Perennial Vegetable?
Annuals – Grow for a single season and then harvested completely or die off
Biennials – Grow for a season and then flower or seed for the second season. Most are grown as annuals or left to collect seeds.
Perennials – Grow for more than two years and many can continue to grow for decades. They often die back in winter and re-grow in spring on their own accord.
Why Grow Perennial Plants?
Re-grow each year without planting
Stable consistent food supply
Create diversity in the garden
Economical plant purchases
Low maintenance
Form deeper root systems to require less watering
Stabilise soil and reduce erosion
Require less feeding as they are slow-growing
Habitat for wildlife long term
Support no-dig gardens
Pros and cons of Perennial vs Annual?
Many perennial plants are quite slow-growing. This helps them form strong established root systems to feed and support their growth for many years to come. This can mean that you may not get food from your perennial plants within the first year or two. However, all good things take time and time is going to pass anyway. Think of it as an investment that will have compounding growth and provide you with a sustainable future food supply. Saving your future self, time, and money!
Perennials stay in the same spot and regrow year after year so you need to make sure you select a suitable spot from the start. Look into how much sunlight/shade and type of soil they prefer before planting. This also means your garden beds will be allocated to that plant long-term. The great thing about annuals is that you can mix and match different plants constantly.
Note: Plants behave differently in each climate. What may grow as a perennial in some climates may not in others. For instance if it gets too cold or too hot each year the plant may die off and need to be replanted each year just like an annual would.
A-Z Top Edible Perennial Plants
Artichoke
Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus
Full Sun – summer harvest
Edible flowers
Beautiful aesthetic plant
Very popular with the bees!
Most produce in their second year
Harvest buds before they flower
Reproduce from side suckers
Asparagus
Asparagus officinalisΒ
Full sun – spring & summer harvest
Produces for up to 30 years
Beds can look bare for part of the year
Grow underground and pop up in spring
Mulch well
Feed with animal manure
Seeds form from berries
Brazilian Spinach
Alternanthera sisssooΒ
Sub-tropical or tropical climate – All year round
Low growing lush green plant
Hardy easy to grow plant
Use as you would spinach
Propagate from cuttings
Likes humid weather
Blueberry
Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus
Full sun – part shade
Grow to about 2m tall
Can fruit for up to 30 years
Likes acidic soil
Fruit starts really producing after two years
High in antioxidants
Produce up to 7kg of fruit each year
Chicory
Cichorium intybus
Full sun – part shade
Eat fresh or cooked to reduce bitterness
Great animal feed
Beautiful edible flowers
Attracts bees for pollination
Can be grown as an annual or perennial
Short lived 7 year perennial
Fennel
Foeniculum vulgare
Full sun – part shade
Green variety can be invasive
Edible leaves, flowers, seeds and bulbs
Easy care free plant
Leaves, seeds and flowers are great for flavouring pickles and ferments
Medicinal qualites
Horseradish
Armoracia rusticana
Full sun – part shade
Root crop that spreads (can be invasive)
Edible leaves and roots
βwasabiβ like flavour used as a condiment
Great for flavouring pickles and ferments
Medicinal qualities
Likes cooler climates
Jerusalem Artichoke (sunchoke)
Helianthus tuberosus
Full sun
Edible roots
Low maintenance
Attracts Bees and Butterflies
Abundant production of crops
Drought tolerant
Good for mulch and biomass
Can be invasive and allelopathic (stops other plants from growing near it)
Pepino
Solanum muricatum
Full sun – part shade
Low-lying fruiting shrub
Melon flavour
Abundant production
Frost sensitive
Easy to grow, low maintenance
Easily grown from cuttings
Pineapple
Ananas comosus
Full sun – warm climates
Low maintenance
Re-grow from the top and side suckers
Low lying and can be grown in pots
Slow growing can take 2 years to fruit
Regrow to have many on the go and have regular fruit
Queensland Arrowroot
Canna edulis
Sun – Part shade
Edible leaves and roots
Substitute for potatoes
Reproduce easily from side tubers
Easy to grow
Leaves can also be used as mulch
Raspberry
Rubus idaeus
Full sun
Plants grow for 8-10 years
Grow easily from cuttings or if the canes touch the ground so can be invasive
Prefer cooler climates
Vigorous growing
Canes die after fruiting so need pruning
Rhubarb
Rheum rhabarbarum
Sun – part shade
Edible stalks
Leaves are toxic but can be used to make a bug repellant
Welcome to my garden in July. It is the middle of winter here in Perth, Australia and although the temperatures have been quite mild, we have been getting a whole lot of rain! Today we take a look around my sustainable permaculture garden to see what we can find to harvest! I will also go through what I am going to make or preserve with what I pick.
It has been non-stop raining for two weeks with more rain forecast. Two days of fine weather finally arrived and I managed to get out and see what was ready. Heavy rains can cause some issues when your fruit and veggies are starting to ripen. Extra water can cause them to split open and then bugs can get in and I want to make sure I harvest as much as I can.
Citrus are ripening over winter and I have quite a few young trees. Citrus grow really well here in Perth, as they can handle our hot dry summers. Citrus trees are also a little more pest resilient than many other fruit trees. So, I have quite a few varieties – Lemon, Blood Orange, Lemonade, Lime, Finger Lime, Kumquat, and Mandarin.
Click to Watch my July Harvest
Sustainable Permaculture Garden Harvest
Just for fun I decided to weigh out my produce. Listed below is how much I harvested.
Lemons || 2.078kg
Blood Orange || 683g
Arrowroot || 170g
Lemonade || 682g
Broccoli || 93g
Parsley || 477g
Lettuce || 300g
Rainbow Chard || 127g
Purple Sweet Potato || 1.251kg
Hawaiian Sweet Potato || 667g
Fennel || 506g
TOTAL: 6.578kg
Harvest Gallery
Most of my Citrus trees are still young and this is the first harvest of fruit. What I love about fruit trees, is that they continue to grow more and more fruit each year. Fruit trees are powerhouses in abundance and such a valuable food source for any sustainable permaculture garden.
Join me on YouTube for new gardening videos every week – Click to subscribe
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!
Autumn is often a slow time in my urban permaculture garden. Summer annuals are ending and the Winter seeds and seedlings are not yet up and running. There is a calmness to autumn which I love. I have filmed a new garden tour of my Urban Permaculture Gardens that you can watch below. For more garden tours and videos head over and subscribe to my YouTube Channel. That way you will get a notification each time I upload a new video (hopefully weekly!).
Here come the Feijoas!
Growing Feijoas here in Perth is a little piece of home that I cherish. They are the first fruit trees we planted here at our house and I have been lovingly caring for them for the past 5 years. Every year I get so excited and hope for fruit. They started producing in their 3rd year with just a couple of small fruit. The next year there was around 10 and this year there will be over 30. Hopefully now, each year there will be hundreds! Gardening definitely requires some patience, but it is so worth it in the end. I am celebrating this win!
What are Feijoas and Why Grow Them?
I definitely need to do a whole video on the Feijoa as they are one of my favourite fruit trees for any home garden. Feijoa or Pineapple Guava – Acca sellowiana is an evergreen fruit tree. They produce fragrant green fruit that are sweet and taste like a mix of pineapple /guava. Feijoa foliage is lush, thick, and grows quickly, which makes them a great option for a hedge or fence screening. Plus, an edible hedge is the best kind of hedge! They are also known to have fire retardant qualities so it can be a good idea to plant along with your fire-prone boundaries.
Most feijoa plants are self-pollinating, however, having multiple trees will increase your pollination rate and produce better yields. I highly recommend choosing named varieties rather than generic seedlings as they produce much quicker and better quality fruit. You can find these at your local fruit tree nursery.
Autumn Urban Permaculture Garden
My summer annuals have just about all finished with just some basil and capsicums holding on. All my winter seeds and seedling are in and are starting to take off with a little bit of recent rain. This can be a slow time in the garden but I do have some cross-overs with my fruit trees and perennials to keep my food production up. The Feijoa and Hawaiian Guava are starting to ripen and the Lemons are coming through thick and fast. I also have plenty of sweet potatoes which not only provide large tubers for eating but also bucket loads of edible leaves which can be a great substitute for spinach. The banana capsicums are still producing and I have lots of herbs such as basil, parsley, rosemary, and sage. So there are still plenty of meals to be made using my homegrown ingredients.
Edible Front Garden
My front garden has transformed from a pumpkin patch into a cabbage patch with lots of red cabbage and brassicas. I have also interplanted with rainbow chard and flowers. It is a great space for all my larger vegetables as they take up too much real estate in the pallet planters. The front fruit trees are flourishing and I have one blood orange fruit, 3 lemonades, and a million baby limes coming through.
Pallet Planter Boxes
The pallet planters are where I grow most of my annuals and quick-picking greens and herbs. These are great because I can move them about to get the best sunlight during the winter months. In summer I am busy doing the opposite and giving them shade from the burning heat! My pallet planters are all mixed in with lots of brassicas, rainbow chard, edible flowers, lettuce, onion, and Asian greens. I also plant radish in between all my crops because they are ready to harvest from seed in just 28 days, so they will be ready before the main crops are overcrowded. This is a great way to maximize space in a small urban garden. Plus it’s a great way to get some quick food during a slower transition phase in the garden.
It is important to take down notes at the end of a season and that way you can make improvements for the next one. I have created these seasonal gardening review sheets which have helped me establish when things fruit and where the gaps are in my food production.
Let me know if you would like to see more regular garden tours maybe Monthly?
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!
Hi everyone! Today I take you on a tour of my urban permaculture kitchen garden and show you what I have growing here in Perth, Australia. My kitchen garden is my permaculture zone 1 and really close to the kitchen so it is convenient to grab what I need for dinners. My Kitchen garden is growing in pallet planters and pots which means I can maximise the sun and shade to grow successfully all year round.
Watch myKitchen Garden Tour
Zone 1 Permaculture areas
My kitchen garden is located right outside my kitchen window so it’s very close and convenient which is key! Zone 1 permaculture areas are ones that are frequently used or pathways on the way to frequently used areas. If you can see your kitchen garden, you are more likely to utilise it and give it the love and care needed to make it thrive. This is where pots and containers can be a great option as you can create kitchen gardens in your outdoor living areas, balcony, windowsill or patio. I grow lots of herbs, chillies, edible flowers and greens in my kitchen garden that I can easily pick to add to salads and meals as needed.
Pallet Planter Boxesfor Urban Gardening
I am passionate about growing as much of my own food as I can and building my own urban permaculture homestead. These pallet planter boxes help me grow more food on my suburban block and provide so much fresh homegrown food. Urban gardening means trying to find creative ways to best utilise the space available to grow food. These DIY pallet planters can be made with recycled pallets that are often available for free. Use heat-treated pallets and not ones chemically treated. Make sure you do your own research.
Creating a cheap and efficient way to grow your own veggies and start a kitchen garden. Adding wheels means you can use them on concreted or paved areas and push them in and out of the sun/shade/rain as required. Perfect for growing in the heat of summer in Perth, Australia! You do not need to have the βperfectβ place to grow food it is important to get to know your surroundings and just start by growing a few things. Itβs all part of the journey and you will continue to learn and develop along with your garden. I hope you enjoy this video and get inspired to grow more of your own food.
Leave a comment below if you have any questions about my Urban Permaculture Kitchen Garden, Pallet Planter Boxes or anything I have growing in this video.
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!
