ᐅ Are vegetable gardens no longer desired?

I love our vegetable garden! I started using it again about three years ago. There were already two greenhouses and a herb bed that had been left unused, along with most of the equipment.
The vegetable patch is about 100 to 120 square meters (1,080 to 1,290 square feet) in size, plus a long strip along the fence to the neighbor. I planted strawberries, rhubarb, raspberries, blueberries, and a dozen currant, gooseberry, and jostaberry standard bushes in that strip.

There were also apple trees, an old grapevine by the house, and a magnificent old walnut tree. In addition, I planted sour and sweet cherries, flat peaches, various plums, pears, quince, and a baby kiwi near the house.

The herb bed is relatively low-maintenance; most plants come back year after year: oregano, chives, mint, lemon balm, sage, lovage, tarragon, and thyme are quite hardy. I only need to replant parsley and lemongrass regularly.

I grow the vegetables for the beds and greenhouses myself from seed. This year, the greenhouses have several tomato varieties, cucumbers, and eggplants. Outside, I grow radishes, leaf lettuce, daikon radish, carrots, beets, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, beans, snow peas, pickling and field cucumbers, zucchini, kohlrabi, Swiss chard, ground cherries, and savoy cabbage.

That’s quite a lot, and of course, it all needs to be processed as well. But I truly enjoy being able to preserve a variety of treats throughout the summer and autumn, which provide a welcome change in winter. I no longer have to buy jam, and all my pickled vegetables are homemade. I want to expand this even more in the future, which is why I planted all those new trees. 🙂

Working in the garden is relaxing for me. In the morning, I go to the greenhouses, water the plants, open the doors, check on everything, pull some weeds here and there, prick out and repot a few seedlings, tie up some plants... wonderful!

The situation with the neighbors varies. Neighbor 1 has very little land, two fruit trees, and mostly paved areas—they say they would like a garden bed but are put off by the amount of work involved. Neighbor 2 has two raised beds and some fruit trees. Neighbor 3 has a greenhouse and several beds and mostly grows their own vegetables. Neighbor 4 has no garden besides a terrace and carport. Neighbor 5 is the same.

I find it a shame that plots seem to be getting smaller and short lawns are preferred over garden beds. Depending on what you want, gardening doesn’t have to take a huge amount of time; you can choose plants to suit your own tastes and the time you want to invest. I’m a fan of traditional cottage gardens anyway—so various flowers grow in my vegetable beds (which are great for insects), and I have prepared about 100 square meters (1,080 square feet) in front of the house where I sowed wildflowers.

On our approximately 400 m² (4300 sq ft), we have quite a variety; it’s nice to grow some things ourselves. We have a small apple tree, a dwarf pear tree, raspberries, blackberries, currants, blueberries, a fig tree, and strawberries (Mieze Schindler and wild strawberries). In addition, we grow tomatoes, lettuce, and radishes.

However, we are just starting to develop the garden, and over time, we plan to add more plants. In particular, zucchini, kohlrabi, rhubarb, and probably also beetroot. If it works out, we may add a few more fruit trees (cherry, plum, another apple). We also have herbs, most of which grow in watered pots inside the kitchen.

A further comment on the topic: What do children learn, how, and where?

When it comes to an edible garden, my focus is on the direct experience of producing food, in this case fruits and vegetables. This is something that leaves little impact without almost daily practice. That’s why I consider educational farms better than no educational farms at all, but still only token events compared to what I think is necessary. School gardens would be better.

Going further, I thought about visits to slaughterhouses. After all, most people want to eat meat. The statement "My child knows that animals have to die for this, and also accepts that a great white shark eats seals" does not come close to what I believe children should understand. Abstractly knowing that meat doesn’t grow on trees but comes from dead animals is better than knowing nothing at all. But it’s only about one-eighth of the story.

Occasionally witnessing live how a living being is put to death is an experience that everyone who eats meat should have. In my personal opinion, you can only truly connect with this when you have handled it yourself – which I have done in the past. The only reason I still eat meat is because I was able to do that. Killing a fish or a mammal is, by the way, a world of difference.

"I’ve seen that in documentaries," I consider even more of a token gesture than educational farms.

Or to put it plainly: Yes, from a certain age, children should be shown that they would have to kill a rabbit if they want rabbit roast (or the animal of their choice). Live and in person.
The anonymous killing in factories alienates people from the product – no wonder many do not find chicken at $2.99 per kilogram strange but complain when there are no special offers.

Implementing this fully with animal products is, of course, difficult. An edible garden is simply the first, easier step to make people aware of the value of food. Awareness only arises through emotional connection and experience. Not through watching TV.

Wow... So many comments in less than 2 days, I can hardly keep track of the topic anymore. Many are in favor of fruits, vegetables, and herbs from their own garden, and that is wonderful. Simply thumbs up.
@daniels87 see, you are not alone, we’re all involved. Maybe you can just give a basket of your own garden products to your neighbors and motivate them; maybe they will join in as well ;-)

In our current rental apartment, we grow lettuce and strawberries in wine crates on the rooftop terrace, as well as a raspberry bush, radishes in flower boxes, and various herbs. Of course, these will also find their way into our new garden. Our two-year-old is excited and loved picking strawberries last year.

I would love to see even more pictures here 😉

ypg schrieb:
Our apricot tree did not survive the late frost last year

How old was the tree? I can understand that the harvest might fail occasionally, but generally apricot trees are frost-resistant/hardy in winter.

Fruit trees also come as columnar or espalier forms... They fit even into the smallest spaces.