perennial vegetables zone 5

Has anyone heard of multiplier onions? Apparently it grows like a daffodil and can be replanted every fall to produce multiple bulbs to lift the next summer. Does anyone know how they taste?

I'm trying to become a bit more self-sufficient and grow more of my family's food. I'd like to establish a garden which will provide most of our fruit and veggie supply. There are plenty of fruits that come back year after year (many fruit trees, berries, etc). Veggies are something else...

I'd like to try as many perennial veggies as possible. This year I'm putting in asparagarus, think I may try the multiplier onions, and am trying to track down some chufa. We already have walking onions. I also count garlic cause you can start new plants from the cloves of the old plants.

I've never saved from seed and will try that for the first time (do know I need to grow OP types as opposed to hybrids) but am looking for suggestions. A lot of veggies are biennial and I won't be able to save seed as it gets too cold here for many to overwinter.

Assume I'm a pretty raw newbie (have grown peppers, tomatoes, and basil in abundance) who finally has the space to try more. I appreciate the input and wisdom of all the "masters" on this site!

I'm not sure of American terminology; but I think you may mean what we calll shallots. They are fairly small onions. Plant them with the tip just below the surface. (A lot of books say the tip should be just above the surface; but certainly in England many birds seem to mistake the tip for a worm and pull them up!) They're quite mild. You can use them just like other onions; but they're a favourite for pickling.

Asparagus is good; but don't pick any in the first year, and pick sparingly in the second. Make sure you buy all male crowns.

Not perennial; but what we call runner and you call pole beans are very easy and give a good yield from a small space provided your growing season is long enough. I grew them every year in England, but I've found them a challenge here because they're frost tender. First frost here seems to be end of August or beginning of September, and last about mid-June.

Hostamomma, don't discount the wild edibles that invade a lot of gardens. Every year mine produces chickweed, purslane, claytonia (Miner's Lettuce), and dandelion greens--all of which are tasty in a Spring salad! I planted ground cherries about 3 years ago and I get them back in the same place every year. I don't think they're perennial, just re-seed themselves. And, yes if anything you plant is open-pollinated, you can save the seeds. I save lettuce, spinach and broccoli seeds and re-plant them in the Fall, where they over-winter and produce the following Spring. I also leave my potatoes and carrots and parsnips & beets in the ground covered with a thick mulch of shredded leaves and dig as needed all Winter. Who was it that wrote the book, "Four Season Harvest?" Can't remember off the bat, but a lot of info. there regarding your question.
Sorry for the rambling reply, but hopefully I've helped some.

Good for you on growing more of your familys' food. I think many of us are working toward that goal. I wonder why I planted those ornamental plants instead of blueberries or blackberries or elderberries. Wondered why I planted some trees and shrubs instead of peaches and plums and .... if I had, we'd be feasting on them already. I am trying to turn over a new leaf here this year and only purchase edible plants or seeds of vegies and herbs. I said purchase instead of grow as I have lots of flower seeds so don't need to buy more of them.

I grow walking onions too, do you leave yours in ground year around? You asked about multiplier onions, I grow one that is called a multiplier or bunching or potato onion. It will produce clumps of small ping pong ball size onions. I leave them in ground year around here. I do not know if you could do that in your area. Is that what you were thinking of?

I might also suggest you find some herbs are perennial that you would use. Oregano is one that comes to mind. It is hardy and is commonly used in Italian cooking... spaghettis and pizza and breads. There are others that will survive your winters. I am just not too sure about perennials in your zone.

I'm reading the book "Perennial Vegetables" by Eric Toensmeier I definitely recommend checking it out (mine's from the library), LOTS of great info on this exciting topic.

Jerusalem artichokes, horseradish and many herbs are perennials. Horseradish is very easy to grow in zone 4 and I used to grow artichokes in zone 3. However, moles can be a problem. The artichokes have pretty flowers too. Best of luck to you!

Jerusalem Artichokes can also become quite invasive so choose a place where they can "run". No matter how often I rip them out of a spot they manage to come back. They are along the side of my garden wall and have now turned the corner! It's really hard to keep them back only along that wall! Will agree the flowers are pretty!

We grow Egyptian onions, also known as multiplier onions. They were here when we got our property over twenty years ago. I tried to use them every which way for years but still don't get them. They are weedy and dry. You may be looking for true scallions which are green onions that do not bulb but rather continually offset non-bulbing shoots or as Patgeorge mentioned shallots which are bulbs.

I have grown Jerusalem artichokes in another life. Make sure you have a lot of recipes. They are worse than invasive but tasty if you can keep up with them and have a strong shovel arm. I like arugula because it can both supplement as well as replace lettuce and reseeds readily for both an extended Spring/Summer harvest and Fall. We have been cutting since April and are still harvesting for cooking and eating raw.

You may want to try growing sorrel. It has a long history in Europe. I grew up eating cold shav, a soup made from sorrel. There is info online.