Madeira Vine is a frost tender perennial climber producing masses of edible pleasantly flavoured leaves that are a really good spinach substitute. It also produces edible tubers that have a mucilaginous texture, this characteristic is lost when roasted. It’s quite ornamental with it’s thick heart shaped leaves and white flowers in autumn. We have been growing it in our greenhouse and we’ve been harvesting leaves right up to the first hard frost in early December. We planted right in the center of the greenhouse and we like to take a nibble when walking by. These plants take up a tiny amount of space whilst producing a considerable amount of food. They should do fine outdoors too, which we will try in the next growing season. It forms a ball of 3-5cm long tubers just beneath the surface of the soil which makes for easy harvesting. Harvest video below.
