Compact veggie gardening - how does my garden grow?

Back in May as I watched our newly planted out winter and spring garden I was ever hopeful that my method would not be madness but would in fact give us greater yields from the space we have. I have worried about shade, water, overcrowding, pests and more as I have never seen anyone do what I did, although I know the basic principals are already out there and I simply adapted that knowledge for my space.

This method was much more compact than I have ever planted before and as everything started to grow I felt quite certain that they would have sufficient space to grow as I alternated root crops with leaf crops.

The peas and broad beans shot up in the centres and started producing their pretty flowers, the roots of the beets swelled and leaves of the spinach grew. around the ends the fast growing radishes and coriander was being used well before the other vegetables. Soon it became quite a jungle and much peeping and peering had to happen to grab the right plant for harvesting.

Broad beans in centre and onions, carrots and coriander on either side.

We have eaten so well from this plan having something on the table or in a recipe for the better part of 3 months now and its been so wonderful to do my weeks meal plan starting with what sides we will have with our meal. The garden has become a true pantry once again after my slump last year when I just was too distracted to get anything going.

Whether it is coriander in a Thai coleslaw or Happy Cow burger...

 Parsley onto our breakfast mushrooms...

Nasturtiums, peas, radish, broccoli sprouts and lettuce into the prettiest salad ever made...

Beetroot simply boiled and peeled and eaten warm...

Spinach and coriander in a homemade chicken neck stock ramen....

A bowl of peas to dip into hummus....

Or leeks and broad beans to add to a raid the larder soup....

All these daily offerings have been delightful.

There is so much still growing and waiting to mature in the soil like the onions and carrots. While they do their growing, I have been able to pull out the climbers in some beds (peas for instance) and have planted the first patty pan seeds which will now climb up the same frame.

Beets, coriander, lettuce and peas all together in one bed and repeated on the other side of climbing mesh

The cabbages, cauliflowers and broccoli that need to still develop large heads should be out of the ground in time to plant the summer crops in the same fashion. In fact tonight I am sitting down to plan my spring/summer garden and will use exactly the same model and see how that fares.

I have noticed that this interplanting has resulted in less bugs and white cabbage moth. There have been some aphids on some brassicas which have not been so heavily surrounded by other vegetables.

So here's to a happy urban farmer sharing something that did work this season! How are your gardens doing?

And then it becomes worth it...

You labor and toil...you sweat and you bleed...you water and weed...you labor some more....then all of a sudden you begin to harvest and eat.
We are eating from our garden every night, sometimes lunches and breakfasts too....

A handful of strawberries for a smoothie...a delicious basil, tomato and mozarella salad for lunch.

Two dinners we have enjoyed entirely from our garden were zucchini fritters with homemade tomato sauce and coriander, fresh beets and a french bean salad.

I also made some stuffed cabbage rolls served with new potatoes and french beans. As insipid as the color is it tasted truly delicious.

The winter garden

Now that it is officially winter I thought I would give you some snapshots of our winter garden. We are very fortunate to be able to grow veggies year round. We have a mediterranean climate here in Cape Town so while we do get cold, have lots of rain and winds, we escape the frost and snow that the inland provinces have to face.

What we grow now are called "cool season vegetables" - all the brassicas, spinach, kale, lettuces and my favorite - broad beans. We can get away with beetroot, onions, potatoes and sweet potatoes now although the growth rate slows dramatically.

This is what our newest veggie garden looks like today....who could think it was like this about 6 months ago!

Our lettuces are doing well...too many to eat in this cold weather. The broad beans have me salivating in anticiplation...

Curly Kale is a new veggie for us...I believe it is very tasty and iron rich.

Spinach as always - a staple food in our home!

Peas are making flowers...lots need to be staked. Oh...a gardeners work is never done!

Superman's chillies...some too hot even for him! We planted coriander in between the bushes and it is very happy.

Red and white cabbage, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli fill the other beds.

The only problem in winter is motivation :-) To leave my warm home, my book, my kitchen...and go and do something in the garden. I am sure it can wait until tomorrow :-)

Frugal Winter Soup

I have a self imposed "eat from pantry and garden" challenge simply because I cannot seem to get my act together and get to the shop!!

So we are eating some pretty creative meals...thank goodness I have the basics. One meal that wasn't too outrageous was our lunch from yesterday. A yummy winter cabbage, potato and bacon soup.

I had one cabbage in the garden ready to harvest...planted in summer...which was shredded and gently fried in butter. Then I added 1.5litres of homemade chicken stock, 4 peeled choped potatoes, salt, pepper and a pkt of bacon (sliced). This simmered during school time and was served with some fresh butter rolls.

Delicious.

Sunday in the garden

Next weekend we are going away to an apple farm so we had to get all our planting done. This meant cleaning out the last 3 beds...goodbye tomato stragglers, cucumber plants, rocket, corn stalks and hello potatoes!







We got some lovely spuds this time...must be at least 15kgs of the beauties.



Flower girl didn't want the pulled up marigolds to be put on the compost so she found somewhere to plant them.





Lucky played jungle dog...then came for cuddles.

We planted out our seedlings that we started in newspaper pots about 4 weeks ago. I hope they do well. We planted about 60 brassicas - red and white cabbage, loads of broccoli, purple cauliflower, Romenesco cauliflower and Brussel Sprouts.



Along with the beets, chard, peas, broad beans and salads we have planted we are almost full to the brim here.

So We Sow

When we do our garden work on Sundays I always have "Make 40 pots" on the list. Whoever gets to that job can do them as they are easy to make. All our junk mail newspapers go into pots.

We call them Ladies in Waiting...a bit corny I know, but when I say fetch the pots, there are just too many choices, so Ladies in Waiting it is.



We also sow seeds in empty punnets, we also tried toilet rolls once. All of these things work, but we have found the newspaper pots to be the easiest and the great thing is they go straight into the ground.



Some seed growing tips:
~Always sow double or triple what you need. Some don't germinate, others are weaker and often we underestimate how much we need. Any extras that you don't need can be given to friends.



~Rule of thumb is that larger seeds (beans, peas, corn, spinach) and root vegetables must be sown directly into their bedding place. They do not like being disturbed.



~Smaller seeds that aren't root vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, tomatoes) like to be mollycoddled. Sow them in rich potting soil (we use pure fine compost) in trays. Keep them in a warm spot and well watered. Then transplant into larger pots and harden off by placing them outside during the day or keeping them in a greenhouse. Plant out in season into a bed of well prepared soil.



~This is the part I find hardest to do - don't waste your time on the frail ones. Pull them! I feel so bad when thinning carrots and the like...RIP poor little seedlings :-( but all the weak ones do is compete with the stronger and after all we are in this to make food! Be ruthless while you shed a tear.

My garden challenge

We brought winter back with us from the mountains on Sunday! The icy cold weather set in on Sunday and the rain followed yesterday.

In a break in the rain I rushed out with my camera to take two photos of our garden as it stands. We have been so busy tying up the last week of schooling that my garden has been neglected for the last few weeks.


I managed to get some peas planted about 3 weeks ago and they are popping up. But besides those, I have mainly been eating from the garden.



Our broad beans are starting to flower...can't wait for them to mature so I can cook them!



We still have cabbage, beets, carrots, turnips, corainder,cauliflower and broccoli to eat from. I am quite anxious to eat up the cauli, broccoli and cabbage to make space for another winter planting of broad beans and peas....sounds like a hearty winter soup is called for!

What's to eat?

I love looking to see what we can eat in the evenings. Last year round this time I had not prepared in advance so most of my veggies were still in the early stages. This year I was a little wiser than before so I planted my winter veggies earlier.

Tonight we could choose between...



Red Cabbage or......



Baby cabbage.



We have about 12 broccoli plants which still need a few weeks but all have fist size heads. Spinach and carrots, peas, turnips, radish, beets, corainder and chives...all these could offer us some of a meal tonight.

Nurturing my cabbages

After a season of nurturing my cabbages we are starting to eat them daily. I had to hand pick off many many white cabbage moth caterpillars to allow the cabbages to grow without holes...as well as spray them with my vinegar mix.

But the hard work was worth it. Here are my 3 most easiest cabbage recipes.



For small cabbages, peel off outer leaves, cut in half, boil in a little water with a teaspoon of beefstock and when done sprinkle with grated paremezan.



For large red cabbage, wash and shred finely. Fry some onion in butter and then add cabbage. Peel and chop 1 apple and add. Add 1 tablespoon of baslamic vinegar then reduce heat and allow to gently cook in its own juices.



My simple coleslaw which is great on crusty bread....



Wash and shred your cabbage, add a good dollop of home made mayonnaise.