Kathy Crittenden

Forget about removal.  The roots are extremely deep and determined!

Here in zone 4b, I grow sweet potatoes every year, by sprouting last year's tubers suspended in water in a jar in a sunny window. I remove the sprouts and put them in water to grow roots, and then plant them as slips.  No seeds necessary.  It's good to have loose soil fairly deep, as in a raised bed. BTW, the sweet potato vine tips, lightly steamed, are a delightful addition to salads.  After harvesting, and the requisite heat treatment, I just put the tubers in shallow cardboard trays, not touching, under the bed.  A few stringy ones dry out, but most last all winter.

Kat Peters-Midland wrote:

Kathy Crittenden wrote:Two perennial vegetables I would endorse are hopniss, already mentioned, and hostas, which are a real delicacy just as they are coming up as shoots.  I understand one can also eat the older leaves, but I haven't tried them.

Hi Kathy - so how do you prepare the hosta shoots?  saute?  raw?

All of the above. Here are some ways I have tried:
Two from https://foragerchef.com
• Vignarola – a stew of early spring wild greens
• Pan Seared Hosta Shoots with Ramp Butter
From https://learningandyearning.com
• Bacon Wrapped Hosta Shoots
From https://barbaraprice.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/eat-shoots-and-leaves/
• crisp salad of hosta shoots served over baby greens dressed with a reduced balsamic vinaigrette, crumbled fresh goat cheese), and toasted pecans.

Enjoy!

I live in Southwest Wisconsin.  Comfrey grows easily here and plants itself wherever it pleases.  It has many uses, but I offer one warning.  It is impossible to kill or remove.  Don't plant it anywhere you wouldn't want it forever.  I once needed to move a fruit tree that had comfrey growing next to it.  We built a 10-foot deep mound over the spot where the fruit tree had been.  Within a year, the comfrey was growing out of the top of the mound.

Mullein flowers infused in olive oil make the most effective remedy for earaches.  A few drops in the ear are antiseptic and instantly kill pain.  A more advanced version adds garlic, but expect to be very smelly.

Two perennial vegetables I would endorse are hopniss, already mentioned, and hostas, which are a real delicacy just as they are coming up as shoots.  I understand one can also eat the older leaves, but I haven't tried them.

We  have lots of space here in southern Wisconsin, but I can offer a few suggestions.  Peas grow on a trellis and the vine tips are delicious.  We have ground peas (hopniss), which are very high protein tubers,  on a fence, and the flowering vines are beautiful.  Hosta shoots are delicious, and harvesting them seems only to invigorate the plants.  Sweet potato vines are great eating, but don't eat potato leaves!

We planted Duborskian without companions, just a little weeding and regular watering.  If you are planning to harvest, then any companion should lay low to the ground. Our biggest challenge was hulling the rice.  No hauling it to the rice mill in a carabao cart in Wisconsin.