This year our asparagus bed is close to maximum production. In two weeks we've gotten about 30 lbs of asparagus! (That's about $90 at store prices and no e. coli-contaminated hands touching it.) And we are weeks before anything else will be coming from the garden. So, once again, I am encouraging people to plant foods that are perennial--berry and fruit bushes, Jerusalem artichoke, asparagus. Not to mention all my herbs--I've already been drying mint, comfrey, chives and angelica. This year I am trying a "perpetual Swiss chard." I just think it's smart to include perennials in your food production plan.