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?

Sun seekers

Today is one of those gorgeous mild winter days when the sun is shining, the wind non existent and the temperature gentle. The inside of our home has a few delightful sunny patches which the animals migrate to as the sun moves up above.

The humans tend to bundle up because a lot of our home is rather cool, to say the least. But around lunch time we head out doors to eat and are followed by the other sun seekers. Some will go to extraordinary measures to get their few rays.

Buster enjoying his lunch in the sun

Teddy looking for the perfect spot

To grow vegetables you need three vital ingredients - good soil, water and sun. In winter we have a bit of a sun issue...take a look at the following pictures...this first one is where we have our two apple trees, an orange tree, curry leaf tree, some strawberry baskets and behind (not visible) is the granadilla vine. It is in full shade for all the deep winter days.

Having taken about 10 steps forward you are now looking into the main veggie garden. The geometric shadow is the house casting its shade for winter. I have planted in these beds, they will grow slowly for the next two months until the angle of the earth starts to change again and then the growing will speed up.

The dappled shade cast by the fences is not too much of an issue...

The one that fell

Calendula in the dappled shade

We loose more or less ⅓ of our growing space in winter, mostly on this side of the garden and one bed of the original 5 we started with in 2008. It just goes with the territory.

Compact veggie gardening

Yes, I last posted 3 weeks ago and have not in fact dropped off the end of the world. I have however been very caught up in life. Too much life and feeling the need to trim back a bit so that the pace is slower, that there is more time for the things I love doing, more time to watch seedlings grow and just breathe.

One of the biggest challenges is that we are redesigning our back yard. It has been perfectly functional for many years, but is a bit grungy and has needed an overhaul to better suit our family's lifestyle for a while. With the older ages of our children we need to give them the space they need which led to us renovating the granny flat to make space for our elder son to have his own room, studio and entertainment space.

This in turn led to a total make over, including a newer, but smaller pool, raised beds for herbs and permanent veg, pizza oven, built in bar (BBQ) and more. This is what the back area looked like last night after 3 weeks of workman. We have at least another 3 weeks to go...at least.

This back area held a fair amount of vegetables in barrels and pots and all had to be relocated. This was the perfect timing to prepare the pavement garden and send the plants out there, along with some new ones. The fig tree fell in two when we dug it up so we carefully put them onto the pavement. The Tea Tree bush was also transplanted as well as the rosemary plants, rosebushes, blueberry shrubs, asparagus, strawberries and herbs.

I think a separate post about the pavement area would be a better idea, but the idea is that this will be an indigenous herb/medicinal plant space...except for the two Elderflower trees which I am very excited about!

All the transplanting has taken up most of my spare time, but I have also had time to keep up with my bi-weekly planting up of a bed. The goal is to do consecutive plantings every two weeks until all the beds are full with the selections of plants.

This bed below is my absolute favourite combination of plants and while I don't think the photo shows its beauty and fullness it will soon be full to overflowing. The drip irrigation that we now have is great for planting in straight lines :) My ideas that I had a few weeks ago to increase production in this space rely on planting in a different way than before.

Down both sides of this bed are onion seedlings. Then there is a row of beetroot, then spinach and then against the trellis, some peas. This is repeated on the other side of the trellis.  I have alternated root and leaf crops (although technically beet leaves can also be eaten.) Pretty crowded in there, methinks!

This next bed is slightly different...this was taken a few weeks ago. On the sides of this bed I have two rows of coriander. Then two rows of carrots, a row of spring onions and against the trellis, broad beans.

The below picture was taken today. Two weeks ago I planted garlic here which you can see. In between I have angel hair chicory and lettuces which are difficult to see. Against the wall are black palm kale.

Other beds have been planted with radish along the edges, then rocket, then beets then peas. Another favourite bed is the garlic, red cabbage, brown onions and broad beans.

By using this method - admittedly as an experimental year - we should be using every inch of space in the soil for roots. I have richly fed all the beds with manure and compost to give them all the nutrition they need.

So whats growing in your garden?

Seed soup or trying something new!

Mmmh, ok, so not the most catchy title for a blog post but I honestly don't know what else to call this.

A few weeks ago I had an open morning when about 20 people came to visit our garden and see how we grow veggies in the heart of the suburb. While chatting a friend mentioned someone who says the most natural way to grow vegetables is the way nature grows when left undisturbed.

I have been thinking about this idea and wondering how I can implement it in the garden. I know nature has been disturbed to the point where the balance in the ecosystems needed to copy nature. I also will never be able to truly replicate the food forest movement that I so admire.

Anyone who grows vegetables also know that a lot of what we do in the veggie garden, is not planting and harvesting, but keeping the bugs and disease and weeds away from prospective food until you can reap the benefits of your hard work.

So the basic idea from nature is that birds and other animals come along and eat the fruit and as they fly they drop seeds through their poop. There is no form to this, they just move from one fruit bearing plant to the other, eat and move on. Of the seeds that are dropped the fittest will survive to full production. Some may be eaten off as shoot by another critter, others will die but in nature there is enough left to sustain the next level of life. Alongside them will grow other flower producing plants and "weeds".

The simplest thing I could come up with was a seed soup kind of idea and am going to do a little experiment. I currently have two bed empty and have not decided what to plant in them because I didn't follow my very good garden plan. (I think I am about to give up on planning like this, it never happens in real life like it says on paper!)

Here is how I proceeded with my seed soup:

Choose your seed mix - I have lettuce, tomatoes, radish and coriander to start.

Cosmos was sown next to the bed.

Put them in a bucket with a bit of compost 

Mix it all together well.

Sprinkle it all over the prepared area as evenly as you can, then gently rake back and forth with your fingers.

Water well and wait to see what happens.

Winter in the Veggie Garden

Carrots ready for harvesting

Here in the Western Cape we have wild wet winters and while the temperatures don't drop below 10 most days, the weather can still make veggie gardening a little less attractive to even the hardened gardener.

 We are very fortunate not to have frost here and can grow a large variety of vegetables in even the deepest of winter months. Timing the garden work to midday can help with the chills, wearing gloves can stop fingers from freezing when planting and watching the weather forecast for rainy days so that the soil is not to muddy for planting all ease the inconvenience of winter.

Winter here is a time for all the brassica's which tend to flower quickly in the summer months, lettuces which tend to bolt, the cabbages which enjoy the cooler weather and peas which can handle the rain. Swiss Chard is also a winner at this time of year and will go on producing up until December.

Carrots and potatoes also do well in winter, as do beetroots and onions and turnips providing I get them in the ground before the read cold hits in May.

Butter Lettuce

Herbs can also continue to grow in full sun and we use so many of them in our meals, sometimes as often as 3x a day depending on the meal plan. Rosemary is a perennial herb as are the other Italian herbs like marjoram, thyme and oregano. I have a few basil plants still hanging in here bravely but I don't suspect they will handle the rain for much longer. Coriander (cilantro) is another herb I try to grow all year round, but it does prefer the Autumn weather where it is very in between hot and cold.

Broad Beans

Another favourite winter vegetable is the old fashioned broad bean. We have been growing these since 2008 and while they are not my children's favourite vegetable we do enjoy hot buttered dishes of them with stews many nights in winter.

Because of the fleshy soft stems broad beans cannot be individually staked. Every year I wait to long to build a scaffold around the plants and then it's a massive job. Having Sam to help on Fridays is a real winner and this week he constructed the first level for me. As the plants grow they will fill the quads made by the cross bars and then we will add another horizontal layer of sticks.

Globe Artichoke

I have 4 globe artichoke plants now and this should be fine for a treat now and then as it is just the woman folk in this home who eat them - the men folk call it "dishonest food"!

For the most part winter is a much easier time in the veggie garden as the weeds are not as prolific neither are the pests - unless you count our 4 cats digging up our seeds as pests :) 

Buster - a Lion King moment

How is your winter garden coming along?

Setting up your garden plan

If you are anything like me you want to get right in there and just plant some seeds! But I have learnt I do actually have to plan even if it’s just the basics of knowing what goes where.

I am not by nature a detailed person and I find it very hard to stick to the plan that I make…but over the last 4 years, while I have kept it flexible, I have known where to sow what seeds, when to get them started and how to care for them until harvesting.

Here are some basic principles to keep in mind when making your garden plan:

1. How much space do I have to devote to vegetables?

When I first grew veggies I had a small area of about 5 X 3m some 17 years ago. It was not successful as it was partly shady due to a towering oak tree. It became snail food for the most part! In a later house I had a larger area but the soil was very poor and there was a guava tree that sapped most of the nutrition from the ground.

When moving to Johannesburg in 1999 we created raised beds on a concrete patio which was in full sun and we had our first taste of real homegrown vegetables.

Whether you have loads of space to set up raised beds, only space for one bed or simply just room for a container veggie garden, grow something! I always get a little thrill knowing that the herbs that are flavouring my stews are from the garden, that the lettuce leaves in the salad are grown by our soil or even that the bowl of broad beans are ours.

I think many of us what to have a plate full of food all homegrown, but sometimes it is just not possible with the space that we have at the moment.

2. How much sun does this area get?

This is really the defining issue with a garden plan. Vegetables need full sun for a good few hours each day. They can handle all day full sun providing they have rich moist soil to grow in.

Salad leaves can tend to want a little shade so you can take this into account for areas that only get a couple of hours.

3. What do we like to eat?

This is another consideration because the temptation is to grow a whole lot of things and then realize that your family doesn’t actually like turnips in everything :(

Make a list of the veggies and herbs you find yourself buying most of the time and using in your recipes. Then look at where you can grow them.  

We don’t like runner beans that much but I have a handful of recipes that use them and I will plan less space for these and more space for tomatoes which we eat at almost every meal.

4. Give yourself a little instant gratification!

Plan some fast growing veggies too so that you don’t get despondent waiting 90 days for your first corn! Radishes, watercress, coriander, spinach and lettuce tend to come in quicker than the veggies that have to develop big heads like broccoli and cabbage or ears like corn.

Once those basics are down you can also consider what style of garden you want. There are so many types of veggie gardeners now, each with their benefits, but you have to like the look and have the money to set it up.

A friend of mine had a gorgeous permaculture garden with her chook domes over round beds and her volumes of produce were amazing. However they lived on a small hilltop farm, had a full time gardener and loads of space for the round beds.

Another friend has a large tunnel on her farm and they grow and eat all their own produce.

The inspirational Woodwind Circle community garden, run by other friends, used the deep dig method for their garden. Then there are those who love the idea of square foot gardening and all the benefits that it has with companion planting and growing large varieties of veggies.

I based our original garden on a simpleraised bed system. We tried to include many permaculture ideas into the planning. My inspiration came from the Pasadena Urban Homestead where their plot was full of raised beds, intensively composted and planted. We have a long way to go to achieve anywhere near their volumes as our space is smaller and we are not full time gardeners.

However, the point simply is to do the best that you can in the space that you have, the funds you have available and the time you can give to this endeavor.

So once you know where you are going to plant, what you are going to plant and which system you are going to use you can do one of two things:

1.     Grab a piece of paper, roughly plot out the area and write what you will grow where….OR….

2.     You can use an online planning system like this garden planner (which I use) that makes it nice and simple, but there is a little learning curve to get over.

You can go an read a bit more on my oldwebsite (now sold) where I put much more information about different ways to grow vegetables.

If you have a couple of hours, I suggest that you watch some of the videos on Grow Veg channel at Youtube. While the point is to sell you their garden planner, the videos are loaded with great planning, planting and growing tips and whenever I am low on inspiration I always make a point of watching their practical tips.

In a couple of days I will put up a post about the most important things to take note of when you choose seeds and how to get them started.

Happy Planning!!!

An unashamedly straight line gardener!

I had a nowadays-rare-early-morning-gardening session! After a lovely walk in the forest I decided to do some quick garden jobs while the family was still slumbering. It was so delightful to be in the garden so early in the cool autumn morning with Lucky and the rays of sun slanting through the trees.

Rescued Cavolo Nero

 I had to rescue some Cavolo Nero seedlings which were sown as seeds but too close together. So I gently dug the clumps up and planted them in straight lines.

They filled a whole raised bed so I think we are going to be eating lots of this in a few months time.

I also had to split the spinach seedlings which filled another raised bed, in straight lines.

Straight lines

My carrots that I planted a few weeks ago are up and needed a good weeding.

Red Creole Onions also needed weeding, but I ran out of steam. It will have to wait until inspiration strikes!

Then Lucky and I took these photos for you...the autumn garden is a slow growing garden and it does not have the spectacular heights of summer corn, but it has a charm of its own.

Last Aubergine planting starting to yield

Carrot seedlings

Green pepper growing

Nasturtiums in the pond

Lucky checking out the cat grass

Peas a-climbing

Bright lights spinach

The last tomato of the season

I have changed my planting system this season in that I have dedicated one bed per vegetable. Int eh past I have tried companion planting, no planning, mixed beds and other styles but as I want simplicity more than anything now, I just allocated a bed per vegetable.

At the moment we also have lettuce, broad beans, turnips and garlic growing so it should be a good winter. In newspaper pots we have cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage still germinating.

Houston...we have a problem!

Holidays are here...

Early morning beach walks

Lots of time to enjoy Kitty cuddles

 So while I don't have much new to write about I thought I would share this "mushy brain moment" with you....

About 5 weeks ago I asked my son to clear a veggie bed of weeds, add compost and sow sweetcorn seeds every 10cm.

About 4.5 weeks ago I asked my daughter to sow corn seeds in the same bed (forgetting that my son had already done this!) every 10 cm.

When I saw the amount of corn coming up in this bed I realised my mistake and foggy brain moment but have not had the heart to pull up the weaker plants yet.

Guess I will have to get around to this soon before they stronger plants are compromised.