Chaos Gardening for Perpetual Harvests

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Chaos Gardening

Learn how to reduce your labor with chaos gardening techniques. Save money on seeds with this list of over 80 reseeding and perennial vegetables, herbs, flowers, grains, and fruit.

Beginners and experienced gardeners alike toil away every summer. We prep, plant, pull weeds, and manage pests. Gardening takes months of work before the harvest. But, what if you could skip all that labor and get right to the harvesting? Sound like a dream? Too good to be true? It’s surprisingly easy with proper planning and management. Mother Nature is happy to do most of the work for you as long as you give her a chance.

More ideas to make your garden grow . . .

E-book | Saving Vegetable Seeds – a quick start guide

Gardening 101: 9 Simple Steps to a Fantastic First Season!

Unlock the Secrets to a Perfect Garden Layout! (A Reference Tool for Gardeners)

Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Plan

Garden Design and Planning Tool

(Scroll to see the awesome list of plants!)

How does chaos gardening work?

I first discovered this idea by accident. In my first year of gardening, I planted a small garden with cherry tomatoes using an easy-to-set-up raised bed kit. I was lazy and didn’t clean up all the fallen tomatoes at the end of the season.

My pigs were fenced in what would be next year’s garden to till, fertilize, and prepare the soil. Throughout the season, I fed my pigs fresh kitchen scraps and overripe tomatoes from the raised beds.

The next year I had massive quantities of those cherry tomatoes in both gardens! Along with some lettuce, spinach, and parsley that also came back. From then on I started planning my garden in anticipation of these crops coming back on their own.

Edible Landscaping

Edible Gardening is a landscaping design technique that incorporates vegetables and herbs into visually dynamic layouts. Replace traditional flowerbeds with edible alternatives to save space and keep your yard clean.

Plant in groupings or rows for visual effect. Taller plants in the back and shorter plants in the front, making sure everything gets the proper amount of sun. Here is my raised bed garden design from 2018 if you need some inspiration.

Permaculture Design

Permaculture principles and companion planting can be used to organize your garden. This ensures that mutually beneficial plants are placed next to one another. Some plants can be used as ground cover or mulch to suppress weeds. Others can add nutrients and enrich the soil. Some attract beneficial insects and others repel pests.

Now for the important part. What species of plants thrive in this style of garden? The answer is, almost anything. Just remember not to harvest everything at the end of the season.

Most plants, given the chance will reseed themselves, just as nature intended, and continue the life cycle. Plant the first year and let seed pods and overripe fruits fall to the ground for next year’s growing season. Or place them in a different spot in the garden in autumn to reseed for next year. Biennial plants like onions and parsley won’t produce their seeds until the second year. And perennials such as strawberries and asparagus will come back again and again (as well as reproduce).

Planning and Management

The most important thing to consider when planning your garden is plant quality. Stay away from hybrid and genetically modified varieties. Look for the term heirloom, meaning the plant will retain its original genetics and produce viable offspring. These can, however, be pollinated by neighboring plants.

Take care to control invasive herbs. These widely spreading herbs, such as mint or horseradish, can overtake an entire garden. These are better off in contained pots or raised beds.

You also need to leave room for all your plants to grow and spread in future years. Add fences, arbors, and trellises for climbing vines like squash, melons, beans, and grapes. This approach saves space and reduces soil-borne diseases. Don’t forget to check whether your plant is a “bush” or “vine” variety while planning the trellises.

Diseases can also take hold of plants like tomatoes and potatoes, so annual rotation is necessary. While these systems require minimal maintenance, you may still struggle with problems such as root rot. In this case, consider the benefits of a take-all root rot treatment. This can help you take the best care of your plants and focus on managing your garden as a whole. 

List of Reseeding and Perennial Vegetables, Herbs Flowers, Grains, and Fruit

Here’s the list. Make sure to check your zone and research the variety you plan on purchasing before planting.

Reseeding Vegetables:

• Arugula
• Beets (biennial)
• Broccoli raab
• Carrots (biennial)
• Collard Greens
• Kale (biennial)
• Lettuce
• Melons
• Mustard
• Onions (biennial)
• Parsnips (biennial)
• Radish
• Spinach
• Squash (pumpkins, butternut, acorn, etc)
• Tomatoes
• Tomatillos
• Turnips

Reseeding Herbs and Flowers:

• Amaranth
• Bachelor Button
• Basil
• Calendula
• Celosia
• Chamomile
• Cilantro
• Comfrey
• Cosmos
• Dill
• Mint
• Nasturtiums
• Parsley (biennial)
• Poppies
• Sunflowers
• Sweet Alyssum
• Viola
• Zinnias

Perennial Veggies:

• Asparagus
• Broccoli (Nine Star, Purple Cape)
• Good King Henry
• Groundnut
• Jerusalem Artichoke
• Lambsquarters
• Lovage
• Onion (Egyptian and Potato)
• Potatoes
• Radicchio
• Ramps (Wild Leeks)
• Rhubarb
• Scarlet Runner Beans
• Sea Kale
• Skirret
• Shallots
• Spinach (Ceylon, Malibar, Sissoo, New Zeland)
• Sweet Potato
• Tree cabbages/tree collards
• Water Cress

Perennial Herbs and Flowers:

• Basil (African Blue, East Indian)
• Black Salsify
• Borage
• Chicory
• Chives
• Comfrey
• Fennel
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Horseradish
• Lavender
• Lemon Balm
• Marjoram
• Mint
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Plantain
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Sorrel
• Tea
• Turmeric
• Thyme
• Violets

Perennial Grains and Grasses:

• Alfalfa
• Sugar Cane

Perennial Trees, Bushes, and Fruit:

• Aloe Vera
• Apples
• Apricots
• Avocado
• Bamboo
• Blackberries
• Cinnamon
• Cherries
• Chocolate
• Currants
• Coffee
• Dates
• Figs
• Goji Berries
• Honeyberries
• Huckleberries
• Gooseberries
• Grapes
• Jackfruit
• Kiwi
• Lemons
• Limes
• Mulberry
• Nectarines
• Olives
• Oranges
• Peaches
• Pears
• Peppercorns
• Persimmon
• Plums
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Quince
• Vanilla

Plan your vegetable garden like a pro with these tools

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If you know of any other veggies, herbs, or fruits to add to my list please comment below. I would love to hear more ideas and garden success stories.

If you are new to gardening or seed starting, check out my Veggie Garden Supply List (includes starting seeds indoors)!

If you’re looking for a large scale design you can apply to your entire property, check out my article, Farm Layout Ideas: Site Plan Designs for Your Homestead.

Explore more gardening articles . . .

• Unlock the Secrets to a Perfect Garden Layout! (A Reference Tool for Gardeners)
• Farm Layout Ideas: Site Plan Designs for Your Homestead.
• The Comprehensive Guide to Raised Bed Gardening
• Gardening 101: 9 Simple Steps to a Fantastic First Season!
• Chaos Gardening for Perpetual Harvests
• Best Gardening Books: Beginners to Masters
• Planning a Survival Garden for Food and Medicine
• Building a Climate Victory Garden to Regenerate Soil
• The Bare Soil Dilemma
• The Ultimate Guide to Planting an Herb Garden
• 90 Unique Spices to Grow in Your Herb Garden
• 75+ Side Hustles for Farmers to Boost Income
• My Passion for Permaculture (and how to apply it to your homestead)
• How to Make a Succession Garden Schedule
• Start your Garden Renovation: Budget and Planning Guide
• How to Build a DIY Outdoor Pizza Oven
• Tips for Garden Critter Control
• The Gardener’s Guide to Pest Insects
• Expert Tips for Gardening Safety
• How to Grow Tomatoes
• 30 Unique Heirloom Vegetables for your Food Garden
• How to Start Seeds Indoors and Keep Them Alive!
• The Secret World of Seeds: Ancient Knowledge
• How to Grow a Medicinal Tea Garden (Plus over 40 Plants!)
• Top 20 Flowers for a Cottage Garden
• 20 Perennial Flowers that Bloom all Summer
• Wildflower Cottage Garden Design
• 12 Culinary Herbs for the Flower Garden
• Learn to Pressure Can Veggies!
• 8 Ways to Preserve Your Harvest
• How to Harvest, Dry and Cure Cilantro
• Companion Planting: Cracking the Code
• Plant Friend or Foe: Companion Planting in the Vegetable Garden
• Most Wished for Gardening Accessories!
• Veggie Garden Supply List

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