ᐅ Are vegetable gardens no longer desired?

That’s all well and good, but please don’t forget that nowadays people don’t just have a 1500 m² (16,145 sq ft) plot of land, and sometimes not even 500 m² (5,382 sq ft).

And regarding this argument:

ypg schrieb:


And it doesn’t always have to be the organic product from the supermarket; it can also be homegrown tomatoes from a pot in the garden or vegetables from your own patch. For children, this is a wonderful experience and an additional piece of knowledge about how fruit grows. Instead, children often get numerous playground equipment in the garden. The man signs up at a fitness center instead of mowing the lawn himself, and so on.

That’s not quite true! There are so many educational farms for children, books, and so on. If a child doesn’t know something, it’s the parents’ responsibility, not because tomatoes are missing from the garden.

And a gym membership and lawn mower? Why not? Nowadays, we also use things like washing machines instead of hand-washing clothes to get a better connection with the laundry. That’s simply progress. I also don’t think people are looked at strangely if they plant potatoes or other things in the garden; this is somewhat exaggerated here. Live and let live.

niri09 schrieb:
That’s not really true! There are so many educational farms for children, books, and so on. If a child doesn’t know something, it’s the parents’ fault, not because of a lack of tomatoes in the garden.

That’s partly true. Knowledge and experience with crops require a) the plants themselves and b) routine—observation and hands-on contact over time. Books alone don’t provide that, and educational farms only partially do.

Sure, a child who visits an educational farm once a month probably knows what a zucchini is. But is that valuable knowledge? The kind of knowledge that gives things real value is understanding that these crops only grow through work, water, and fertilizer, and that they need constant care to thrive. That behind products, especially organic ones, there is human labor—often physical but also a lot of theoretical experience.

Educational farms can teach that vegetables don’t grow in supermarkets. That’s better than nothing.

By the way: why not visit a conventional livestock farm and then a slaughterhouse? Educational farms are always so nice and child-friendly, but they’re often far removed from reality. After such a visit, you gain a broader perspective on your own garden and the different methods of food production.

I really appreciate books, but there are things you have to experience with your senses rather than just read about.

Yes, people always have to drive somewhere to pretend they are doing something or to offer something to their child [emoji6]

@niri09
Live and let live. Yes, of course, naturally.

But still, a thread like this is really nice, to discuss, see how others do things and manage it, and simply broaden your own horizons a bit.

I’m not saying I’m an eco-friendly person, living sustainably, or want to be a role model in any way.
But nature and learning don’t start at the neighboring village “teaching farm,” which you then probably reach by car, so the child experiences a different world anyway. They start right outside your own front door.
And I also really like @HilfeHilfe ’s comment because it shows: most of us have the biggest excuses ready when it comes to leaving our comfort zone [emoji6]

Edit: and regarding learning: it’s good for us adults as well to engage with growing plants and vegetables (see the headline).

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, and I’m not talking about visiting a farm just once a month—especially in summer, people go at least once or twice a week. Still, of course, it’s nice to see something growing in your own garden. But many gardens simply don’t have the space or conditions to grow tomatoes, potatoes, apple trees, beans, and so on.

I don’t think these are excuses; some people simply have no desire for it, and that can’t be called an excuse. The main thing is to feel comfortable in the garden. After a 9-hour workday, it’s perfectly fine to just relax on the couch instead of quickly picking up snails :-)

We are still in the shell construction phase, so we’ll see how it goes for me—maybe by then I’ll be one of those leisure gardeners.

chand1986 schrieb:


By the way: Why not visit a conventional livestock farm and then a slaughterhouse? The educational farms are always so nice. So child-friendly. So… far removed from reality. After such a visit, you suddenly gain a broader perspective on your own garden and the different ways food is produced.

Very good suggestion; you could plan that for next weekend with a toddler... or better yet, on a public holiday on a Thursday 🙂

Arifas, the grapevine at my parents’ place is growing well. It is located in a sunny and very windy spot. There is no wind protection.

In the garden, there will probably be some radishes, arugula (rocket), lettuce, cucumbers, and a few tomatoes—no traditional berry fruits.

The apple tree is blooming vigorously and hopefully will produce well, as it does every year. I also want to have cherry, plum, and pear trees.

Does anyone have experience with how peach, apricot, and similar fruits grow here?

haydee schrieb:
At my parents’ place, the grapevine grows well. It’s located in a sunny and very windy spot. There is no wind protection.

In the garden, there will probably be some radishes, a bit of arugula, lettuce, cucumbers, and a few tomatoes—not the typical berries.

The apple tree flowers profusely and hopefully produces well every year. I would also like to have cherry, plum, and pear trees.

Does anyone have experience with growing peaches, apricots, and similar fruits in our area?

My grandparents had apricot trees. They did really well in northern Germany. I think they also had peaches, but I don’t quite remember.