#4 Improving my VEGETABLE GARDEN – Ways to HARVEST MORE I Edible Backyard Series

#4 Improving my VEGETABLE GARDEN – Ways to HARVEST MORE I Edible Backyard Series

How can we harvest more? In this video I would like to show you what I am doing this summer to improve my cottage garden in the Swedish countryside. It’s just different techniques that I use to make life easier and more relaxed and to create a natural cycle. Find out for yourself which of these 10 methods are suitable for your garden. I also have a delicious summer drink recipe for you. (2024)
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Welcome to the journey!
Sara

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How can we become better at growing food? And how can we improve our garden? Growing your own vegetables is a big deal. You might think that your little pot of herbs on the balcony doesn’t count, but that’s not true. Growing your own food means you take control of how your food is produced, the time it takes, the substances and people involved in producing your food. It’s not the quantity that matters. It’s about being aware of food and how it is produced. In this video I show you 10 little things I do to improve my garden and increase my harvest. It’s just different techniques that I use. Find out for yourself which methods are suitable for your garden. Making use of space is one of the best tips I’ve implemented in the garden. Not only does it help you to harvest more, it saves space and therefore costs, for example when it comes to soil, and it also helps you save time because you don’t have to walk very far to water all your plants. 1. Levels Last year I planted a variety of edible plants under our young trees. This is what it looks like now. It helps to think in levels. After the tree come bushes and shrubs, then herbs and flowering perennials, and at the bottom there is space for ground cover, like these strawberries. This principle is often referred to as tree guilds. If you are interested in this topic, I would be happy to make a video about it. This method of growing at different levels can also be applied to your kitchen garden. 2. Vertical space Plants that can grow upwards should be given vertical space. This applies not only to climbing plants, but also to plants that grow vertically with support, like tomatoes. 3. Space inbetween A distance often has to be kept between the main plants. The space often remains unused, but it can easily be used for light feeder such as lettuce. That’s why lettuce can be found in almost all beds and they cover the ground well. 4. Container gardening With container gardening, you can create space anywhere. But above all, you can utilise walls and stones as well as sun and shade. You can position your containers in such a way that you create a good microclimate, which promotes the growth of your plants. 5. Use space that is not usable Goutweed spreads rapidly and is difficult to get rid of. One method that works is to use plants that also spread rapidly. This is our large mint bed with different varieties. Strawberry-, chocolate-, apple- and Moroccan mint. I use mint to make a large supply of tea for the winter. It displaces goutweed but can spread just like it. We have placed a root barrier at the edge for this. However, there is a risk of it spreading. A renter-friendly solution is to plant the mint in a container and place it in this spot. Let’s dry the mint here outside. It’s quite warm today. Mia prefers to watch from the inside. The menthol contained in the mint has a cooling effect and is perfect for hot summer days. Let’s make a refreshing summer drink with it. First let the tea cool down completely. There are many animals that like to eat what you eat and actions to prevent this. I also have nets over my cabbage plants. But we forget that the space we use doesn’t just belong to us, but also to the animals. 6. Grow diverse & grow more than you need Whether you have deers or aphids that want a piece of your delicious fruit and vegetables. It’s better to give some away than to lose the whole harvest. So don’t just plan an extra portion, but make sure you have a variety of different plants. You will find that many problems will solve themselves through nature, especially if you attract animals that will help your garden. 7. Create habitats You can help animals that support your plants to move into your garden by creating a habitat for them. Hedgehogs are happy to have bushes and hedges to live in. They will happily eat slugs in return. You can provide nesting aids for birds. They will take care of caterpillars and feed aphids to their babies. But you will get the most support from insects. They pollinate your plants and some even eat pests. Without insects there would be virtually no harvest. There are also nesting aids for insects, but flowers that offer nectar are particularly important. If you have the opportunity, let vegetables like this parsnip bloom. All animals will thank you if you set up various water sources, especially in the summer months. When natural water sources dry up on hot days, insect ponds and bird baths are extremely important. 8. Collecting Rainwater I love the sound of rain pattering on a surface. Water raining down is a wonderful thing. It can make different sounds, capture the colours of light and it can nourish your plants. Rainwater is different to tap water. Rain is softer than calcareous tap water and slightly acidic with a pH of around 5.6. These properties help your plants to absorb nutrients from the soil more easily. As a result, they develop into stronger plants and produce more crops. It is therefore worth collecting rainwater. So why not put a bucket out when it rains? Adapt your collection containers to your consumption. There are many options, from buckets to rain barrels or IBC tanks or a pond. Even your houseplants benefit from rainwater. When used up, collect the water from washing the harvest 🙂 Let’s continue with our refreshing drink. We’ll make a strawberry and mint iced tea. It’s very simple. Depending on the sweetness of the strawberries, add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar to about 250g of strawberries. You can crush them with a pestle. But don’t forget to keep a few strawberries for the decoration 🙂 If you don’t like chunks, use a food processor. When everything is finely pureed, divide the puree into two glasses. Then add the ice cubes to the glass. Carefully pour the cold mint tea over the ice cubes in the glass so that the layers do not mix. Finally, garnish and enjoy. 9. Bokashi Composting is a great way to take care of your organic waste and create new soil. But today I would like to tell you about another method of composting that not only helps me to take care of my organic waste, but also increases my plants and therefore my yield. The Bokashi method involves fermenting food scraps and converting it into fertiliser. This requires a bucket with a drain and special granulate that initiates the fermentation process. This is the only one of my tips that requires products. However, you can also find instructions online for making both yourself. We collect organic leftovers in a bowl in the fridge over the course of the week. We then top up the bokashi once a week, or more often if necessary. Effective microorganisms are added between each new layer so that the leftovers ferment, similar to sauerkraut or kimchi, for example. Accordingly, the bokashi smells a little sour. Bokashi liquid should be drained regularly. It is full of important nutrients and is great for watering your plants. The Bokashi juice should be at least 1:10, or 1:20 for sensitive or young plants. Once the bucket has been filled, it must be left to mature for at least 2 weeks before being added to the soil. To convert the bokashi into nutrient-rich plant soil, we dig a depression in the bed and fill it with bokashi. The trough is then covered with soil again. The microorganisms in the soil need approximately 6-8 weeks to convert everything into compost soil. The process works not only in beds, but also in containers. If all your beds are planted, you can also add the bokashi to the centre of your compost. There it will accelerate the conversion. 10. Mulch You’ve probably already heard of mulching. Some call it the gardener’s best friend because it prevents weeds from growing in your beds and it also keeps moisture in the soil, which saves you time when watering and protects your plants from drying out. But mulching is so much more! It is nature’s way of supplying itself with nutrients. Think of the leaves that fall to the ground in autumn, the plants that shed their leaves in winter or even die back completely and rot. All this organic material is decomposed by organisms and converted into fertiliser. An eternal cycle that you can also produce yourself in your garden. Lawn cuttings, nettles or comfrey, leaves or a mixture of these are very suitable for mulching your beds and containers. On warm days, I spread a thin layer of these on the beds where there are plants. If you want to sow something, wait until the seedlings appear before mulching or open a small gap in the mulch where you want to sow. Your lawn is a habitat for many insects, toads and birds. It is important not to mow the entire area at once. Better mow in several stages, days or weeks apart, so that nature can recover and the animals can migrate to other areas of your garden. When you harvest your beds, you are removing nutrients. You give them back by mulching. It also prevents large temperature fluctuations. The soil is loosened without digging because earthworms take the material and pull it into deeper layers of soil, turning it into humus. If you have too much grass clippings, your compost will also be happy to receive this resource, to later end up as valuable compost in your beds. No matter how much you grow, the fact that you do it is great! You may have already made important decisions, such as whether you work against or with nature. I hope you enjoyed these 10 ways to harvest more. I would like to give you one last suggestion: There are many guides, blogs and books about gardening. But trust yourself! If you look around in nature, you’ll see everything you need to know. Observe first, then act. You will find solutions, you will learn and you will get better and better. I can’t wait to show you more of what this year will bring! Thank you for watching.