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Strawberries

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Grow your own vegetables.

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Onions

Onions are one of the most widely used vegetables, and are one of oldest vegetable we know.

In addition to the regular yellow onion, there are, among others:

• Red onion
• Shallots
• Scallions

Why eat and grow onions.

The onions are very healthy and they contain many beneficial nutrients, vitamins, minerals.The onions also add flavor to the cooking, without significantly increasing the calorie content.

Cooking and use.

Cultivation of onions

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Potatoes

The potato comes from the Andes in South America Around the year 1700 the potato come to Europe, but it took many years before it began to be cultivated seriously. Today it is one of the most important vegetable, and there is hardly any kitchen garden without potatoes.

Why eat and grow potatoes.

Some believe that the potato is unhealthy due to its carbohydrate content. Nevertheless, the potato is not that bad.

On the contrary, it is an incredibly healthy eating, also for everyday life, because it is full of many good nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

• The potatoes are rich in dietary fiber and are therefore a good source for getting the recommended 25 grams into the daily diet.
• They have a low calorie content, and contain fewer calories than the alternatives we otherwise put on the table, such as rice and pasta.
• Due to the high content of fiber, the potatoes have also proved to be the most saturating in several meal attempts, and thus for the fewest calories.
• In addition, potatoes do not contain fat, and they will therefore most often help to pull the meal down in a more calorie and light direction.
• Potatoes contain a large amount of vitamin C, in fact a fifth of the recommended daily dose, obtained by consuming only one medium-sized potato. Vitamin C, among other things, helps strengthen our immune system and increase the absorption of iron in, among other things, the meat we eat.
• In addition to vitamin C, the potato also stores vitamin B and K, folate, copper, phosphorus, iron, zinc, potassium, magnesium and calcium, all of which play a major and important role in our health.

Cooking and use.

There are thousands of different ways to prepare potatoes. You can eat them baked, fried, steamed and boiled.

You can boil new potatoes after cleaning, older ones you have to scrape or peel before use.

Some recipes

Cultivation of potatoes.

Potatoes and seed change.

The cultivation itself is very easy, and here you get both yield and quality for a little effort. There is a wide difference in taste between purchased and new home grown potatoes , that you just harvested.

In order to prevent disease and pests it is necessary to have a seed change – this applies not least to potatoes, cabbage and peas. Seed change means switching crops on the different beds or pieces of soil, and each family must arrange its seed change to suit the consumption of vegetables. A simple change of seeds over 4 years is:

First year: potatoes
Second year: cabbage / beans / peas
Third year: cucumbers
Fourth year: root vegetables / onions.

If you want to grow large potatoes in the kitchen garden year after year, you can only grow potatoes in a maximum of a quarter of the kitchen garden every year.

Potatoes can be grown on all kinds of soil, especially if you add copious amounts of compost to the soil, which makes the clay soil more crumbly and increases the sandy soil’s ability to hold on to the water.

Potatoes are a corrosive vegetable, so there must be plenty of nitrogen and potassium available. Fertilize the soil well, either with compost or livestock manure, or with various dried bag fertilizers. Quantity: approx. 2 l of fully processed compost per m². Unlike most other vegetables, potatoes can tolerate fresh manure. You can mix it into the top 10 cm of soil in the spring.

Early potatoes are spaced 30 cm apart and 40 cm between rows. Late potatoes are spaced 35 cm and between 50 and 60 cm between rows. If you put three rows of late potatoes on a 120 cm bed, you get many small potatoes, while two rows yield somewhat larger potatoes. The yield is approx. the same.

Until the potatoes cover the soil, you keep weeds down by raising the soil in a violence around the potato plants. This also prevents the potatoes getting light and turning green. Another method, possibly combined with 1-2 hips, is a thick layer of soil cover with semi-composted compost. From the ground cover is applied to the potatoes being picked up, there is no work – seed weed simply cannot germinate.

With ground cover, it will usually not be necessary to water. However, if the soil is not well moist at the time when the potatoes are the size of hazelnuts, then it may be worth giving the potatoes 20-30 mm of water – it can mean many extra kilos of potatoes.

Harvest and storage

 

Potatoes are picked up on a lovely sunny day in late August, put to dry in the sun and packed in boxes / sacks that are kept dark, cool and frost-free. It is important to keep the temperature above 4-5 degrees Celsius, otherwise the starch will turn into sugar and the potatoes will taste sweet.

Important!

The potatoes must not turn green. If potatoes are exposed to light, they turn green and form the toxin solanine. If they have turned green, it is necessary to throw out the whole potato and not simply cut the green away.

Mold attack

Best remedy for mold is to put good sprouted potatoes as soon as the soil is convenient and warm enough. They can then develop to a maximum before any event. Mold attack sets in after mid-July. Be sure there are minimum of 8 cm of soil above the roots can prevent the rain from washing mold traces down to the roots.

If mold attacks come, there is only one thing to do: remove the top so the spores do not reach down and attack the roots. Put one foot on each side of the top and pull the top up – removing the stems as well. The potatoes should stay in the soil until August and ripen off.

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Cabbage

Cabbage is actually the oldest known vegetable and has been on the menu since ancient times.

There are many types of cabbage including:

• White cabbage. Large, light green head with glossy, powerful leaves. The juicy leaves are crunchy crispy and the cabbage taste mild and sweet.
• Red cabbage. Large, dark purple cabbage head with glossy, powerful leaves. The cabbage taste is more strong and bitter than cabbage.
• Dense bushy cabbage in flower shape with luminous, white color. A crispy cabbage with a mild and nutty flavor.
• Chinese cabbage. Elongated light green cabbage head with lettuce-like leaves. The cabbage taste is mild with a pleasant bitterness.
• Savoy cabbage. A round dark green cabbage with rippled leaves. The leaves are glossy and have a nice texture. The cabbage taste is medium to strong.
• Bushy cabbage in flower shape with strong dark green color. The taste is mild and rounded.
• Brussel sprouts. Small pale green cabbage heads from the plant cane. The cabbage taste becomes milder when cooking.
• Oblong, dark green leaves from the plant cane. The rippled, strong leaves have a strong cabbage taste.

Why eat and grow cabbage.

Cabbage is healthy. Cabbage contains many important nutrients, such as prevents cardiovascular disease, strengthens the immune system, reduces the risk of diabetes, provides effective protection against cancer and keeps the gut moving. It is also rich in vitamins, fiber and other minerals. Fiber saturates well and makes it easier to hold the weight

You can prepare in countless ways. However, if you want the most health out of the cabbage, eat it raw or lightly steamed. Vigorous preparation can go beyond the content of healthy cabbage nutrients.

Cooking and use.

You can use cabbage in salads, soups and various cooked dishes. It can be boiled, steamed, sautéed, fried, pureed and marinated.

Some recipes

Cultivation of  cabbage.

Cabbage and seed change.

In order to prevent disease and pests it is necessary to have a seed change – this applies not least to cabbage, potatoes and peas. Seed change means switching crops on the different beds or pieces of soil, and each family must arrange its seed change to suit the consumption of vegetables. A simple change of seeds over 4 years is:

First year: cabbage
Second year: potatoes
Third year: cucumbers
Fourth year: root vegetables / onions.

You can easily grow your own cabbage, and contrary to what many believe, it is not at all difficult to make the cabbage grow in your kitchen garden. Just remember to give the cabbage plants plenty of fertilizer and plant them somewhere in the garden where they get plenty of sunshine.

Moreover, if you buy the cabbage as small plants instead of seeds, it make growing your cabbage easier.

The large cabbage species of cabbage, red cabbage, savoy cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower require space and a good nutritious soil.

The planting distance for red cabbage, white cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower should be 50-60 cm between the plants both in and between the rows. It is advantageous to displace the plant in the rows. This gives the individual plant the largest root volume and the plants cover the soil better, so that weeds are shaded away when the rows close.

Harvest and storage

Most cabbage species are harvested in the fall and winter. Follow these tips:

• The harvest should as far as possible be made under dry conditions. There must not be water on the cabbages when harvest.
• Do not cut the cabbage heads if they are frozen.
• One must make sure to use clean knives.
• You should harvest your cabbage before it gets too much frost, so as not to impair durability.

Storage is best done by harvest directly in large boxes, and stored at a temperature of 0-5⁰ Celsius in a ventilated room.

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Peas

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Beans

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Carrots

The carrot derived from Afghanistan. Earlier the most popular carrots was the purple, white or red. Now the most popular variety is the orange.

Carrot is a swollen peel root. It contains about 8% sugars, which give it a mild and slightly sweet taste. The yellow color is due to the substance carotene,which is converted into vitamin A in the body. There are various varieties, of which some (carrots) are small and almost spherical.

Why eat and grow carrots.

Carrot is one of the most versatile vegetables found. Solid, crispy, super healthy, and then a carrot tastes great in everything from soup to juice, raw food and cake.

Carrot are rich in both potassium, iodine and dietary fiber, which promote digestion, regulate your blood sugar and prevent cardiovascular disease.

If you eat 2-4 carrot daily, it can help against bowel cancer. Carrot contains substances that can reduce tumors by 80%, shows experiments with rats.

Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, enhancing your eyes.

Carrots vary greatly in size and thus also in weight. A small carrot can weigh 45 grams, a medium-sized approx. weighs 65 grams and a large one can weigh up to 145 grams. There are only 25 calories in a medium-sized carrot.

How to keep.

New carrots are available in summer and autumm. Stored they are available all year.

Keep your carrots in cool environments, so either store them in refrigerators in a cool room. In addition, if you place the carrots in a plastic bag with holes in it, you can increase the shelf life of the carrots so that condensation can escape. Carrots can stay 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator. Maximize the carrots crispness by sipping the top off before placing the carrots in the refrigerator. Revitalize carrots that have lost their brittleness by putting them in a bowl of cold water.

Cooking and use.

New scrubs, older ones scraped or peeled. Loss: about 15%.

If the roots are small and new, tyou can eat them directly, or cut into bars (if they are little older).

But they can also be switched, baked, fried, steamed and cooked – and they spice up everything from exotic food to European classics. Due to the juiciness and sweetness of the carrots, they are also wonderful to put in both buns and cakes.

Freezing: Cut into cubes or slices and blanched for approximate 2 minutes. They lose the brittleness after thawing.

Some recipes.

Cultivation of carrots

• Planting distance: 5 cm.
• Row spacing: So wide that you can remove weeds between rows
• Depth: 1-2 cm.
• Sowing time: Spring

Four tips when you grow carrots

1. Thin out your carrots
   It can be difficult to sow carrots at 15cm intervals. Alternatively, sprinkle the small seeds into the row and thaw as they germinate.

2. Remove weeds around your carrots
   Of course, you can only hatch when the small green peaks are big enough.
   However, then it is important to hatch, so that the weeds do not take the nourishment.3. Saw carrots early in the season

3. Saw carrots early in the season
   The carrot fly is malicious. Its larvae gnaw itself into the carrot and make ugly rings around your otherwise lovely carrots. You can avoid it by first doing so early in the season.

4. Move your carrots every year
   Also, make sure you first sow carrots in the same place four years after. Then you avoid the carrot fly larvae in the ground next year.

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Compost

You can easily turn your garden waste and green kitchen waste into finished compost in 1-2 years. You use the compost as soil improvement and to fertilize the plants in the garden.

The contents of compost.

Compost is degraded organic matter. You can make compost from your garden waste, which can consist of finely divided branches, leaves and perennials. You can also use green kitchen waste. The garden waste becomes compost by a microbiological process where microorganisms such as fungi break down the dead organic matter.

Completely degraded compost is a dark brown residue that is relatively rich in potassium and phosphorus, but relatively poor in nitrogen. When the compost encounters the soil, it becomes what we call humus.

The main advantage of retaining as much garden waste as possible on your own land is that you can make a good and nutritious compost that you can put on your garden soil to improve the soil. If you make soil improvement with compost will the soil structure and micro-life improve.

There are other benefits:

• You save money for fertilizer.
• You do not have to bring the garden waste at the recycling site.

How to make.

In nature, dead plant parts are decomposed where they fall to the ground.

Of course, you can leave withered plant parts in the beds and let them broke down there. You can cut small branches, plant stems into smaller pieces, and put them on the soil. The soil cover retains moisture in the soil and it will eventually decompose into compost, which improves the soil.

But, it is better if you collect the garden waste in a compost pile or compost bin.

Here you can also compost your green kitchen waste. It will increase the nutrient content of the finished compost.

At the same time, it allows you to apply the compost exactly to the places in the garden where you want to improve the soil.

There are two ways to compost:

• Cold composting
• Hot composting

Cold compost: 

• Lay a layer of smaller branches and twigs in the bottom of the compost bin / pile.
• Mix garden waste and kitchen waste well and place it on top.
• You can keep adding new green waste until the container is full. Remember to mix the different types of waste.
• Water the pile through well.
• Tires if applicable the pile with a tarpaulin so you keep moist and the nutrients do not wash out when it rains. Remember to water the pile if it is covered.
• The decomposition is faster if you occasionally turn the compost around, mixes the material or moves it into a new pile.
• After 1-2 years, the compost is finished. You can also use the partially ground compost for ground cover.
• All green kitchen and garden waste can be used on the compost pile.

Hot compost:

Hot composting requires large amounts of garden and kitchen waste and a little more effort, but has more advantages than cold composting:

• Disease germs, pests and weeds are killed, as the compost material becomes approx. 60 degrees hot during the breakdown.
• Revenue goes faster. Already after 2-3 months you have semi-processed compost. It is fully traded in ½-1 year.

You must have a large pile of garden waste, at least 1 m³ and preferably more, to be able to heat compost. It is necessary for the temperature inside the pile to rise sufficiently during the decomposition.

The pile should be covered with a tarpaulin, an old rug, a thick layer of straw or the like to keep the heat inside.

If you want to be sure to kill germs and weeds, you reshuffled the pile after a few weeks when the temperature inside the pile begins to drop. That is, with a grip you move around the compost material so that the outermost material comes inside and vice versa.

If you choose heat composting, you cannot use compost worms that thrive best at a temperature of about 25 degrees. Compost storms die if the temperature drops below freezing point or above 28 degrees.

What to use and not to use.

You can use this in the compost pile

• Withered flowers and stems
• Cut flowers
• hedge clippings
• Remains from vegetables and fruits
• Fallen leaves
• Falling Fruit
• Discarded potted plants
• Fertilizers from rabbits, chickens, horses, etc.
• Twigs and branches cut into smaller pieces¹
• Eggshells¹
• Coffee filters with coffee¹
• Tea leaves and filters¹
• Paper towel¹
• Orange Peel¹

¹ Can be composted but takes a relatively long time to decompose.

Do not use in the compost pile.

• Stinging plants, such as roses, thistles, tar, barberry, as they are unpleasant to handle.
• Meat and remnants of prepared food as it smells and can attract rats and foxes.
• Fertilizer from cats and dogs as it may contain parasites that infect humans.
• Shells from sprayed bananas and citrus fruits as the sprays can inhibit degradation.
• Ash from the stove as it contains many toxic heavy metals.
• Pressurized wood, newspapers, and magazines with ink as they can contain toxic substances.
• Weeds – especially weeds in flower and roots from perennial weeds such as squash cabbage.²
• Sick plants, for example, plants with radiation spots, mildew or the like, and plants that are attacked by pests.²

² Applies only to cold composting. Plant diseases such as cabbage herb, potato mold or rust diseases you must be careful with. But it assumes temperatures will reach about 50 degrees inside the compost.

How to use.

Fully processed compost

Completely composted compost is similar to light and porous mud soil. Fully converted compost is used as fertilizer as the plants can immediately absorb the nutrients in it. Therefore, you should also use only fully-grown compost in the garden in the spring. In winter, the plants do not absorb the nutrients and therefore do not use because the nutrients are washed away by the rain.

It is very different how much nourishment is in compost. It depends on what you threw on the compost pile. Ordinary garden compost can usually meet the plants’ needs for phosphorus, potassium and lime, while it may be necessary to give the plants extra nitrogen fertilizers, especially the very nutrient-demanding and fast-growing plants such as vegetables and summer flowers. If you use only compost to fertilize your plants, nitrogen deficiency will develop over time and your plants will slowly gain yellowish leaves and lose some of their growing power. Nitrogen acts as fuel on the plant engine.

You can increase the nitrogen content in your compost by adding animal manure, such as the waste from chickens or some other form of barnyard manure.

As a rule of thumb, add a layer of compost of approx. 4 cm in the beds every 3-5. year or approx. 1 cm every year. If the compost is very nutritious, for example because it contains animal manure or larger amounts of green kitchen waste, you need to use half as much – i.e. only approx. 0.5 cm per year. Mix the compost into the upper soil layer with a grip or similar.

You will benefit most from your compost if you put it out in the early spring when the plants start to grow.

In the kitchen garden and in beds with summer flowers you can mix the top soil layer with 4 cm garden compost before planting or sowing. You should never sow in compost as the seeds can then have a hard time germinating.

Semi-processed compost

Semi-digested compost is coarser, smells a bit acidic and still contains residues of not fully digested plant parts.

Semi-processed compost you can put in the beds on top of the soil. Here, the compost eventually forms completely and the nutrients are released at the same time so that the plants can absorb them. Semi-digested compost also improves soil structure and retains moisture in the soil.

You can put semi-processed compost in the beds in the fall. The nutrients are not washed out during the winter. They are bound in the compost and are released only when the temperature rises in the spring and the decomposition starts again.

Problems

The compost is too dry

The compost must not become too dry, as the decomposition of organic matter then stops. In dry weather, it may therefore be necessary to water the compost. The compost is moist if you can squeeze a few drops of water out of a handful of compost material.

If the compost is covered with a tarpaulin or similar, it may be necessary to water it with 10 liters of water 1-2 times a month during the summer months. Some times, more often if the weather is very hot and dry.

The compost smells ugly

A compost pile will only smell ugly if it does not work properly. Compost should smell of forest floor debris.

If the compost pile smells very ugly, it is because there is not enough oxygen inside the compost material for degradation. Instead, the garden waste is starting to rot. If the pile is very wet, it is easier to decay.

You can avoid this by mixing the garden waste well. Mix the moist garden waste, eg grass clippings, leaves and vegetable residues, well with more dry and coarse garden waste such as branches, twigs, dry plant stems and the like. That way more air enters the compost.

If things go wrong and the pile stinks, you can solve the problem by flipping the whole pile on the ground, mixing it well and throwing it back in the compost bin. You can also mix in more dry and coarse garden waste if the pile is very wet.

Read more:

Compost: Accelerate the process and Compost bins.

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Compost: Accelerate the process and Compost bins.

Acceleration

It usually takes 1-2 years for a pile of garden waste to convert into finished compost. The decomposition is most rapid if the pile is suitably airy and humid and if the garden waste is well mixed. There are several ways to speed up the process:

• Cut the garden waste into smaller pieces so that nothing is longer than 20-30 cm.
• Reposition the compost pile by mixing the compost with a grip. A few times a year is sufficient.
• Mix a bucketful of finished compost in a new compost pile. This way, you add some of the worms and microorganisms that are important for the degradation.
• You can use compost worms. However, they cannot be used in hot composting as they cannot withstand the high temperatures. You can buy compost storms in some garden centers and on the internet.
• When you stir the compost, you can add 1 handful of limestone and 2 handfuls of organic fertilizer.
• If your compost pile is completely dead, you can kick start it with a handful of nitrogen fertilizers that you water into the pile.
• Animal manure also promotes degradation (though not from cats and dogs). Alternately, put 1 layer of garden waste and 1 layer of animal manure in the compost bin. The nitrogen in the manure nourishes the microorganisms that cause the breakdown into compost.

Compost bins

You can compost in an open container, a closed container or in a pile on the ground. In any case, the container must have openings at the bottom so that earthworms can enter the compost and water and compost fluid can run away.

An open container you can build yourself. For hot composting, it is better to buy a container.

Follow this link: The Best Compost Bins, According to Environmental Experts

A compost pile

You can easily compost in a pile on the ground. Then it is easy to refill garden waste on the pile and it is easy to refit it. However, laying tiles on your composting site can be an advantage so that you do not risk pigs and other pests.

It is a good idea to cover the container with a tarpaulin or similar, so that the pile does not dry out so easily and the nutrients do not wash out when it rains.

An open compost bin

An open compost bin fills less than a compost pile and are better fitted into a smaller garden. You can buy various models, but you can also build one yourself.

There must not be too large gaps between the boards in the sides of the container as it must be able to retain moisture. The space between the boards should therefore not exceed 0.5 cm. On the other hand, air should be able to enter the compost, as oxygen is required for the decomposition.

It is an advantage if you can remove one side of the container so that it is easy to re-compost. It is optimal to have a large compost bin that can be divided into two chambers. This makes it easier to re-pile, as well as allowing you to have two compost piles running offset.

You also need an extra container or pile where you can collect the garden waste for later composition.

If you need to compost hot, the container must be at least 1 x 1 x 1 meter.