Edibles - Bare Roots, Garlic, and more
Edible Bare Roots, Garlic & Perennial Starts: Establish a Lifetime of Harvests
At Firefly Farm & Mercantile, we believe the most rewarding gardens are those that return year after year. Our Edibles collection features high-vigor, dormant starts designed to establish permanent edible patches in your landscape. Rather than paying premium prices for potted nursery plants, starting with bare-root crowns, berry canes, horseradish roots, and seed garlic bulbs gives you more value for your money and superior root-to-soil establishment. These non-GMO, farm-selected varieties are acclimated to withstand harsh winter conditions, ensuring a reliable, high-yield food source for seasons to come.
The Permanent Food Pantry: Crowns, Canes, and Hardy Rhizomes
The secret to a successful perennial crop is root health. Our dormant strawberry and asparagus crowns are shipped without soil, allowing their massive root systems to wake up directly in your native soil without the shock of pot-bound constriction. From spicy, vigorous horseradish starts to sweet summer-bearing berry canes and gourmet planting garlic, this collection is designed to build a self-sustaining edible landscape. Whether you are planting a dedicated berry patch, an asparagus trench, or interplanting fruit along your borders, our starts provide the biological momentum your soil deserves.
Quick Perennial Edible Growing Facts:
- Planting Windows: Asparagus crowns, strawberry crowns, horseradish, and berry canes are best planted in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked. Seed garlic is planted in the autumn for a mid-summer harvest.
- Soil & Drainage: High. All rootstocks and crowns demand well-drained, organic-rich soil. Standing water is the primary cause of root rot in dormant starts.
- Sunlight: Requires full sun (6-8+ hours) to support maximum sugar production in berries and vigorous foliage growth in perennial vegetables.
- Long-Term Yields: A well-tended asparagus bed can produce gourmet spears for over 20 years, while strawberry beds will naturalize and produce offsets for ongoing harvests.
- Expert Tip (The First-Year Sacrifice): When planting asparagus crowns or strawberry starts, resist the urge to harvest in year one! For asparagus, allow all spring spears to grow into tall, feathery ferns to build crown energy. For strawberries, pinch off all blossoms for the first 4 to 6 weeks after planting. This forces the plant to redirect its energy into establishing deep, resilient roots, ensuring a massive and reliable yield in year two and beyond!
Explore our selection of dormant edible roots, crowns, and planting bulbs below. Every order is shipped at the ideal planting time for your specific USDA hardiness zone.
