Nad R wrote:
"Thos" wrote:

Okra.
It loves heat. Once they start producing you will probably have to harvest
every day. 5 or 6 plants will likely produce more than you can eat.

Okra for zone 5 ?

Since the location is hot and dry there's some sense in putting annuals
for a higher zone number there. Since the location is subject to snow
that approach won't work all that well with perrenials. It becomes a
little like a hot house in the summer yet like a freezer in the winter.

I solved a similar issue in Chicago metro by planting bushes and bulb
forming plants. Hostas (already mentioned in another post) and day
lillies did fine. Not edible so not sure how that works for
rec.gardens.edible. Hostas aren't actually bulb formers but close
enough.

Perhaps a variety of herbal plants. Rosemary, thyme, mint (put a hollow
bottom bucket in the ground for mint. Herbs can act like weeds if not
watchful. Camomile?

I like to grow herbs in pots on the deck. They grow great. Most don't
survive the winter. So far I've never gotten a rosemary to make it
through the Chicago winter. I have transfered plenty of herbs from the
pots on the deck to the southern edge of my back yard. The thyme and
the tarragon are the only ones that survived across the winter so far.
The thyme lasted two years before it got overwhelmed by the size of the
tarragon.