For garden owners, growing fruit and vegetables in their own garden is a true fulfillment, because in addition to the impeccable ecological aspect, the gardener can be sure that their harvest has been treated 100% without chemicals. After sowing and harvesting the various varieties, it is also a special pleasure to prepare the vegetables – because, in fact, home-grown produce tastes much more intense and usually fresher than the stocks in supermarkets. Why might that be? If we expect strawberries or zucchini in the winter months, it may well be that these goods were grown in greenhouses. The artificially generated heat cannot in any way compare to the sun, because only through UV rays do vegetable varieties get their aroma. That is why the tomato that we buy in stores, especially in colder seasons, seems rather watery and boring in taste.
However, since this method of cultivation is more complex and the offer to import foreign goods seems lucrative, we also receive exotic fruit and culinary vegetable varieties in winter. Due to the detour via middlemen and the long transport route, a) the goods usually become disproportionately more expensive and b) the products also lose plenty of vitamins. How can one now find a healthy and acceptable middle ground?
Growing your own vegetables in the garden
For those who own their own garden, growing their own vegetables is ideal. Whether in a normal bed or a raised bed, a variety of different vegetable types can be grown, which, thanks to good care, yield abundant quantities at harvest time. Whether cauliflower, radishes, tomatoes, kale, zucchini, carrots, pumpkin, or bell peppers – the selection of seeds is diverse, and you can also find a proud assortment of pre-grown small plants on the market, such as lovage or cherry tomatoes, which you practically just need to plant from the pot into your garden.
Planting vegetables on the balcony
Even for those who don’t own a garden, there is the possibility of a small garden on the balcony – various herbs, tomatoes, carrots or radishes can also be grown excellently in boxes. If it is still too cold, let the young plants grow indoors and put them on the balcony when it gets really warm. It also looks great when juicy red tomatoes flower on the balcony. Some vegetable plants also have great side effects, for example basil keeps wasps away or mosquitoes don’t like tomatoes.
Tips for growing vegetables
For the gardener it is also important whether he plants annual or perennial vegetable varieties. Anyone who wants to use a vegetable for two or more years will leave the tubers in their garden over winter in order to benefit from them again the following year. Since the soil loses minerals and other nutrient-rich components over time, it is advisable to rotate vegetable varieties at least every two years so that the soil can recover. To avoid having to forgo good quality, one can make use of various fertilizers. It is advisable to enrich the soil with nitrogen before sowing in order to guarantee a successful growth phase.
As a rule, the gardener is rewarded annually with plenty of vegetables for his work and efforts thanks to his intensive care. Usually the harvest is so abundant that finding good advice for processing it becomes urgent before everything spoils. Of course most should be used immediately — nothing is healthier than freshly harvested vegetables. What is not used can also be well frozen or canned in portions. This way the vegetables keep for months and delight us with their flavor in the winter months, and you don’t have to buy boring vegetables from abroad.
Photo by Sabine, meinhaushalt.at
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