[Fwd: COMMENT Why Perennials]
- Jesse Chisholm (JesseChisholm@...) added the comment:
For a good answer to "why" so many annuals were "chosen" over history
for agriculture, read the book "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond.
This book has a section that talks about the domestication of plants
and animals and why some were chosen and others weren't.
There is a review at this site:
But perhaps the simplest reason for annuals is the number of years
that some perennials (for example fruit and nut trees) need to get
established before they produce. The annuals produce the very year
you plant them. If you need to migrate, you can plant in the new
location and have a crop that year.
All depends on whether you prefer being a hunter-gatherer or a
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