Dear Hive Community,
today I would like to present to you my first steps in gardening and organic food production.
After being interested in food production for several years my first experience with growing food was last year, when I planted a few vegetables in a small part of a friend's garden.
I was advised to grow vegetables that are well suited for beginners. The point probably was that I experience immediate success and thus be motivated to continue.
Therefore, I primarily grew vegetables from the squash family (Cucurbitaceae) and leguminous plants (Fabaceae).
However, since I love to eat many varieties of vegetables, especially tomatoes and chillis, I did not miss the opportunity to try out these “more demanding cultures" as well.
Some purple beetroot plants grew here and there, some salads, some herbs, and some potatoes:
The area where I could grow my vegetables was only a part of a small garden. Still, I suddenly felt the need to immediately try out all possible crops. I was a little impatient because I had the feeling to have done nothing the past 30 years. Now I wanted to collect new experience as quickly as possible. Of course, I soon realized that I needed patience and calm to create a living environment from a piece of lawn as it takes time to understand and get a feeling for the processes of nature. It takes more than good seeds from the internet and water from the tap.
And that is how I acquired my first organic reproducible seeds and got started 😊
Currently I live on the grounds of a family that has a large garden. There is some space for growing vegetables and fruit, but it is only used by the grandfather. There are lots of grapes that provide shade, raspberries and strawberries that give good yields throughout the year and an incredibly large number of tomatoes and chillis. The tomatoe- and chilli seeds have landed in this garden sometime in the past in the form of gifts from acquaintances and since then continued to grow around the garden.
My first impression of this garden was quite positive, as it did not look all "neat" and "well-kept". Here, at least a little freedom is left to nature.
Since the grandfather is no longer fit enough and the younger generation is “too busy”, the only annual crops in this garden are regionally typical salad, tomatoes and chillis, these, however in abundance.
Tomatoes
Regional salad
Blooming salad
Raspberry bushes and strawberry plants
This year I would like to gain more experience and make new observations by helping the grandfather in cultivating all sorts of tasty plants around the garden.
However, I strive for something greater, with which I can carry people along on the way in the direction back to nature. I would like to show them that working with nature is more beneficial than working against it and exploiting it. I am convinced that it not only works but is healthier, more fulfilling and produces food that tastes better. In the long run it might even bring great benefits in different areas of life.
The term permaculture is relatively broad and can mean many things. For me it means first and foremost that I observe nature so that I can learn and then interact with her to get a yield.
My environment should be as self-regulating as possible, and I want to learn from the feedback that nature provides me with. In the first years I expect moderate yields, because first a cycle and a balance must be established. A part of nature’s feedback probably also means to not receive harvests in abundance immediately but getting larger yields year after year listening to nature and learning. Patience is necessary.
The key word in this context is cycle. I want to understand the cycle of life. For this, all the individual parameters must be grasped.
One parameter that seems important to me is the soil, about which I would like to share my thoughts and previous experiences with you in the next few weeks.
In my next article I would like to tell you about an interesting discovery I made this week. It shows impressively how nature regulates itself regarding "pests in agriculture".
If you are interested in reading more about my journey, feel free to follow my blog here on hive. I would also be happy if you share some of your thoughts with me and other fellow readers in a comment. :)