A few years ago I read my first how-will-I-save-the-world-book. It’s called Green Living for Dummies (how appropriate), I wrote this post about it recently. I learned a lot from that first book, because well, I was actually a big dummy on the subject. I read the book in a big all-inclusive resort in Turkey, where I went by plane, very green *coughs*. Doesn’t mean that these holidays weren’t awesome, I have the greatest memories of them. At the same, I slowly started doing green things I learned from the book. I read that a vegetable garden was a good start and so since then I had a new hobby: starting a vegetable garden!
Jealous
I’ve always liked the idea of growing your own food and being self-sufficient. When my cousin had a vegetable garden assigned by school for a schoolproject I was quite jealous (life is hard when you’re 11 *coughs again*). In my own garden there was no room to grow anything. We mostly have stones and fake grass. But! I didn’t give up so easily.
Dad’s Idea
My dad came up with the idea of starting a vegetable garden, his idea was to place big plant trays on our balcony (which is my terrain haha) and one in the garden. Eventually, he gifted me them for my birthday so that I could start gardening! Yes, my dad’s a hero. The trays are high, about one meter, so we don’t have to bend all the time either (good for my dad too when I move out). This also has an extra win: I rarely have snakes on my veggies.
I started Gardening
And so last summer I started gardening and I’m having so much fun doing it. I love growing food and it really became a new hobby. I started out with no experience or knowledge, but I’m learning all along. The first harvest was therefore not that much. This year was better already! I am planning more, this way I can grow more food because the different kinds of plants follow up on each-other. This way the ground won’t get so exhausted as in conventional farming either (where you constantly grown the same food and so specific nutrients in the soil get exhausted). I’m also learning which crops can go together well and which don’t. The trays aren’t the same as growing in the full ground, but it’s a great starting point!
This Year’s Harvest
Hereby I present to you my first harvest of this year: peas! You can see them in the picture above. And gosh, they taste good. I’m used to peas from a can and so this is beyond comparison! I really like growing peas, they’re an easy crop (my first gardening tip!). And this year I’m also trying something new when it comes to waste: sprouting the seeds in toilet rolls. It’s a great way to recycle. You can fold the rolls so that they make a cup and when you place them into the soil, they’ll compost.
Sustainability
Besides that growing your own food is fun, it can also be very sustainable. But! This is a very complicated subject because we must also look at efficiency. Also, food forests are the most ideal way to grow food. They’re efficient and support biodiversity. A conventional vegetable garden doesn’t always support biodiversity and isn’t as efficient over the long run. So a forest is the ultimate goal for me. For now I’m just happy I can grow my own food local. Local food is a good sustainable option. Also, it’s good for your health! In most books I read about longevity, this is an important factor of growing old healthy and fit! Like in this book about the Blue Zones in our world, the places where people grow the oldest.
For now it’s about fun and learning, not about perfection. And I have a lot of ambition for other things too! Like drying my own seeds, to be self-sufficient. And having a greenhouse, so that I can be self-sufficient all year round. And growing plants for my interior! To make my house more green. All those plans! I’m excited!
Have you thought of starting a vegetable garden?
Yours sincerely,
Romee
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