I was reading an interesting forum elsewhere about allowing annual vegetables to reseed for next year's crop. Does anyone do this?

Were you at the permies forum?
Alan bishop?

It always helps get the conversation going to provide a little more information.

At my previous garden, my little hot peppers self sowed like mad.
Having a difficult time getting them established here in the sandhills... They grow, I just haven't planted them anywhere that they return yet.

Cow peas returned for me in my previous garden too.

I did have cherry tomatoes and watermelon return for me this year...

Even Jerusalem artichokes fail!

While not annuals, I do have hog peanut and apios Americana planted, and elephant garlic...

This year I planted tepary peas... Will see... Seems likely... Last year my Cherokee tears beans returned, this year, I was able to plant the beans that over wintered on the teepee... And they grew...

Stone - yes I do check the permies forums from time to time. I try to incorporate as much as I can into my long-established perennial gardens with just a small space for veg growing. I'm in an oak/hickory woods and not a lot of direct sun so am limited but curious. I was wondering about veg like radish or peppers. Tomatoes I get popping up from compost but haven't had the space to experiment with the possible fruit results. I have hog peanut but it currently grows in the shade around perennials. I let a few radishes flower this year but seeds aren't ready yet. I let a missed carrot from last year go to flower this year, more for beneficials.

Broccoli family has some greens that will reseed well. You are a bit colder zone than me but I think they would.
Red mustard and some of the Asian greens come back for me. I would pick one, though, as they might cross pollinate if you do more. Red mustard can be pretty, with dark red big leaves and then bright yellow flowers.
I'm pretty sure tomatillos are going to volunteer. Next year I may just look for volunteers, and have them coming on as tomatoes are winding down.

Sally - are the Asian greens volunteers or did they winter over? I was going to try experimenting with radishes this year but we got into a hot dry spell and the radishes left in the ground did a little flowering but ended up not growing well enough to produce seeds. I'll probably get 'Matt's Wild Cherry' tomato volunteers but most of my Asian greens are grown in pots. I did try one of DD's volunteers from what we think was a delicata squash but it was big, too hard to cut into and had a large seed cavity which didn't leave much edible remains.

I've had tatsoi, bok choy, mustard, komatsuna,and maybe others from a 'spicy salad greens' mix. I think in general they can take some frost but probably not live all winter. I now get odd volunteers but no idea where they are on the spectrum of brassica greens, or even wild. I never ate mustard greens in the past, but grew them along a south facing wall and here, they were productive all winter that year. And tasted good, up until spring near flowering got them hotter. In an open garden, I think hard freeze eventually gets them. Then again, I did have flowering mustard this spring, and more seedlings this summer. So it seems like some lived thru winter here zone 7.
Kale will look awful in winter but I think will live and give you spring greens before flowering.

I do grow kale both in the ground and in a pot - curly in the ground and dinosaur in a pot. The curly has been harvested for DD (whose ducks and chickens have a fondness for it) and I've already harvested some of the dinosaur but have more to cut. I did leave one curly plant (at least the roots) in the ground and will see how it does next spring. I may leave the dinosaur roots in the pot to see if it comes back but may be too cold for it in a pot. Have never eaten mustard greens but maybe I'll have to give them try.

I've had lettuce self-sow in the past. And chard has overwintered for me at times, so it might be pretty reliable where you are.

Sandy - I haven't grown lettuce in the ground here but it do grow some small ones in the little GH over winter. I did let some radishes go to seed (as pitiful as the more mature plants were). I did harvest the top of a curly kale plant earlier. If the roots winter over and it regrows in the spring, it will probably go to flower early and I'll let it self-sow. Currently growing kale over chard taste-wise as I don't have room for both.

I always figure that anything I get that way -- self sown, unexpectedly overwintered, or whatever -- is a bonus! I'm thinking about putting some of my potatoes in now, before the ground freezes, to see how they will do in the spring; I really don't see how that won't work since every year I have potatoes coming up from ones I missed the previous fall.

Also, bean seeds are really easy to save if you haven't tried that.

The potatoes sound like an interesting experiment. Do you grow those in your hoop house or out in the open?

Out in the open.

I let the herbs self-sow but I tend to plant veggies in particular spots in my guilds. But dill, cilantro, arugula, borage and basil - depending on the season - are everywhere and anywhere.

Urban - I do have Greek oregano growing in the ground along with thyme and chives. Only the latter self-sows to my dismay (I edit those) and the rest are generally harvested for drying before they flower. I did plant some radish seeds back in the spring and, due to our wonky spring, it got hot too early and I didn't get any bulb formation. I'm toying with the idea of letting them go to seed to see what happens.

Overwinter in my zone, I raise lettuce. When it warmed this spring the lettuce bolted. I left the blooms as bees and butterflies love them.

Now that I've replanted the bed with sweet potatoes and peppers, I see volunteer lettuce plants all over. The down side it they won't survive the heat and humidity.

I intend to watch them and see if the sweet potato vines will keep the ground shaded and cooler.

Kristi - do you think lettuce seeds will continue to sprout throughout the summer into the fall?
I figure letting my "failed" radish plants continue to grow may at least help the soil.

I hope they will continue to sprout and perhaps give me a jump on the winter crop. It will be an interesting test just to see the outcome.