It was my dream when we decided to move to the countryside a year ago, what I had been eagerly waiting for: having a garden!
I read books, blogs, watched tutorials from every angle to make sure I did things right, but I quickly got fed up. Learning theory isn’t really my style… There are too many different schools of thought, and it’s easy to feel lost. On top of that, I received a lot of advice when talking about it on Instagram, often unsolicited and contradictory: you must do this, don’t ever do that, you absolutely need this, water like this…
So I decided it couldn’t be that complicated, and that vegetables grow in the ground with water and sunlight, that’s it!
Phase 1: The seedlings
Beyond having fun with the garden, my goal is for it to eventually be cost-effective. Organic fruits and vegetables are quite expensive, and we consume kilos of them every week. So I think it’s an achievable goal. But for that, you have to start your own seedlings. It would be way too expensive to buy them every year.
I bought the seeds from the Écoumène Gardens website, based on your recommendations! They are organic and reproducible, meaning the seeds from my vegetables will produce more seedlings for the following years. Since I had planned a vacation in August, I decided to delay my seedlings and do them at the end of March. But that was still very late, and some of them were too weak when it was time to plant them outside.
Next year, I plan to start them at the end of January and invest in heat lamps. That way, they’ll be around 23°C, in a corner of my basement (instead of 20°C in the middle of my living room, which takes up space and is too cold for them).
Phase 2: Transplanting to the garden
They say that tomatoes, peppers, eggplants (basically everything except cucurbits) should not be planted outside until no night drops below 8°C. Where I live, that takes us to mid-June, which is quite late. So this summer, I waited until mid-June to plant my seedlings in the garden. But next year, by starting my seedlings earlier under lamps, they’ll be stronger and able to be planted outside earlier, even with cool nights. I’m hoping to plant them outside from mid-May to the end of May.
I created the garden in front of the house by simply marking off an area with some reclaimed wooden boards and turning over the existing soil. I added just a few liters of vegetable compost to enrich it a bit. But compost is expensive, so I only applied a thin layer.
During the entire period from June to September, I just watered and weeded occasionally (thankfully, I had family to water during my vacation). I didn’t fertilize the plants, but I learned a technique I want to try: soaking banana peels in water for several days, then using that water to irrigate. It’s quick, easy, and reduces waste, so I love it! I might adopt this great idea.
Phase 3: The harvest
Starting at the end of July, I had a significant harvest of zucchini before my vacation! I froze some and shared the rest. I didn’t grow cucumbers, but I think the harvest would have been around the same time. Cucumbers don’t freeze well, so that was a concern with my vacation. However, a good preservation method would be to make pickles (recipe on page 26 of my recipe book “The Harvests”).
My zucchini plants later fell victim to a disease due to the rain: powdery mildew, and they stopped producing.
And starting in September, the tomatoes arrived! I have many tomato plants (around 25), including cherry tomatoes. So the harvest looks huge, but that’s perfect! If I have too many, I’ll make preserves. I’ll talk about my method on page 24 of my recipe book “The Harvests".
As of writing this, the delicata squashes are coming in. However, my peppers, eggplants, and chilis still seem too small. They were planted too weak and will probably not produce. I hope to solve this problem next year by starting my seedlings under lamps!