Cardoons are versatile plants and can stand very hot and cold conditions. Plant the seeds now and they will make nice fllowers in the summer. Cut them down at the end of August and they will regrow from the root. The new shoots need to be wrapped in cardboard to tenderise them a few weeks before consumption. Perenial lettuce (acertosa) is worth a try.
Globe artichokes are more difficult to grow. Like asparagus they need some winter sunshine and require fertile soil. Jerussalem artichokes are very easily grown and make yellow flowers in the Autumn. They need a dampish place to grow.
You can put a mulch round these vegetables to reduce the maintenance.
If I was buying fuit trees I would look for old varieties. Modern heavy cropping types seem to be subject to a lot of funghal illnesses. My most reliable fruit tree is a persimmon.
Bob Flowerdew has written about perrenial vegetable growing.

I was very pleased when I found some bushes when I was out for a country walk a few years ago. I go to pick them at 7am before anyone else arrives. I wonder if they are growing in the Abruzzo?

I have tried growing both and they didn't love it in my garden. I suspect that soft fruit isn't that easy to grow because it is not for sale at the local market. We just get strawberries from other regions.