On April 1st there was snow on this land and I had just started the planning process, figuring out where everything was going to go.
Less than four months later the land was producing around 50% of what I eat.
Breakfast is a juice normally. Main ingredients seen here.
The items in my hand didn't come from our land.
Ah yes, almost forgot about the carrots which on this occasion are also not from our garden. Ours are still a bit small for juices.
Esteban likes to help out.
Which is fine by me!
Alien face bubbles today!
Right, getting back to the garden.
The pumpkin house is still looking great despite the hail last month which killed a lot of the leaves. And a few of the pumpkins look ready to harvest, almost two months ahead of season.
The only addition to the main structure since describing the construction of the pumpkin house here are the cucumbers, growing up the sides to add a little extra shade.
It makes me think of a scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with all those different edible colours & shapes!
Beetroot & cucumbers we have in abundance at the moment. Hence the juices.
This is the most shaded area of the pumpkin house, in which I am experimenting with things to see how they like it here. I have discovered that spinach don't like it at all! While beetroot, carrots, lettuce, celery, kale & dill seem fine, but they are developing slowly.
If we move forward a bit into the area which receives more light, all of those plants will do better.
Like this kale for example which is loving its position.
I made a walkway through this bit.
And all the stuff in front of the walkway seems great.
Everything except the ginger in fact, which appears to want more shade. During the next root plantation period I will remember to move them to the back.
At the front of the pumpkin house I have a mixed bed of parsley, beetroot & sorrel. And another walkway.
The only other plants I've not mentioned, growing under the shade of the pumpkin leaves are broccoli. Five of them going strong.
Just in front of the pumpkin house we have a bed for courgettes & sweet potatoes.
The courgettes struggled without any shade to be honest and didn't produce well. The sweet potatoes seem okay however, currently a carpet of green :)
Underneath that carpet can be found the tubers which I am very much looking forward to digging up!
The lemongrass hasn't minded the lack of shade at all.
This is the view right from the back, lemongrass in foreground.
There is a tomato cage behind the pumpkin house.
The intention was to keep adding horizontal levels to the cage, offering the tomatoes the chance to grow higher and higher, but they seem okay for now, probably grateful for the extra shade.
Japanese parsley next to them, having no problem with the full sun.
Amazing cumin flavour with crazy purple leaves which look great in salads.
Right at the back I have a ton of classic & Thai basil. The pesto production never ends around here ;)
Between the pumpkin house & butternut house I have this lovely long row of leeks. That's for our soup when evenings start getting colder.
Worth noting this is our second Summer crop in this space. Before the leeks we had potatoes in there.
The butternut house has been a bit slow to cover its roof.
But the plants underneath don't seem to mind on this side of the land where there is a little more shade.
With mustard, rocket, beetroot, parsley & two types of lettuce I call this my salad bed.
Throw in a few other bits and that's my lunch basically. Here's what I ate in my salad yesterday.
I realise now however that to detect the most enjoyable delicate flavours of herbs such as dill one needs to be more selective about the combination, using more lettuce & cucumber in place of the stronger flavours. My lettuce still needs another week before I start picking them!
Here is Luna blessing the butternut roof.
Children always want to stand in here! Which is fine if they are careful. Underneath the wooden beams are the watering channels.
Behind the butternut house we have a row of kale & a row of winter cherry.
Their watering channel seen here, entering the garden next to the wild mint.
I have three blocks of beans like this one.
Pretty much ready to harvest in fact.
Next to them some strawberries went in recently. These won't produce fruit till next year.
The sweetcorn above them is finished now. Just saving a few cobs from the best ones for seeds.
This is what we were eating a few weeks ago.
And this is what my family thought about it ;)
What else can I show you here?
Ah yes, sunflowers!
We have three different varieties dotted around in groups.
The titans really are enormous.
Many thanks to my mother for sending all these sunflower seeds over for my birthday in May!
They all seem to face East throughout the day however (which means some of them are facing away from our land), so I will have to keep this in mind when planting next year.
At least seeds won't be a problem next year!
We have three types of peppers growing in selected places.
These ones are good for salads & tarts.
These ones good for gaspacho.
And these ones are hot!
Esteban has his own space of course, next to the sandpit.
Complete with a sign he made himself.
And a bit of everything going on in there.
Just on the other side of the fence behind Esteban's garden we have winter melons growing very happily facing West.
These are harvested in early winter and make fantastic marmalade when combined with bergamot lemon.
Back on the East side, Esteban even has a melon in his space!
Alongside Esteban's garden we have cucamelons.
What are they you may ask? They are small & crunchy, a bit like cucumber with a citrus twist. You eat the whole thing!
Next to them I have morning glory, keenly taking over where the cucumbers are slowing down.
Beautiful delicate flowers which open in the morning and only last one day. Not sure if they are edible?
The East facing side of this fence has been mostly used for cucumbers, which didn't really like it here. Too much sun exposure.
That being said they have produced incredibly well for suffering plants.
A few of the flowers we planted I don't know the names for. Like these ones which go different colours depending on how much light they get.
Perhaps someone can tell me what they are called?
I have learned so very much from this experience, trying out many things for the first time.
Like edible boarders!
Three of them next to the the fence made with lettuce, dandelion & sorrel.
Or mosquito nets to protect pak choi from hungry bugs.
We have squeezed a lot into this little space and it was always going to be a total mission showing you everything. Probably should have made a video!
Oh yes, there is one other thing I wanted to mention.
These frames will be used in the winter as greenhouses.
We are going to buy some industrial rolls of cling film which will help us create the see-through walls.
Will have to make a functional cling film door as well!
What do you think? Is it even possible?
Looking forward to giving it my best shot this autumn.
So the main point I want to make here is that it doesn't matter where you live in the world. All you need is a small space of land combined with some healthy sunrise enthusiasm and you can supplement your current diet by 50% with home grown produce, even in the winter.
What was my budget for this garden? Nothing at all!
The only thing we will spend money on is the cling film.
Edit
The two posts I wrote to describe this zero budget garden have earned over $100, making this a very profitable project in more ways than one! My family & I are deeply grateful for your generosity.
Thank you for being awesome people of HIVE.
Love & Light everyone 🌱
