What can be done in 4 months with 20x20m of agricultural land?

in HiveGarden2 years ago (edited)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Esteban likes to help out.

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Which is fine by me!

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Alien face bubbles today!

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Right, getting back to the garden.

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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.

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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.

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It makes me think of a scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with all those different edible colours & shapes!

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Beetroot & cucumbers we have in abundance at the moment. Hence the juices.

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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.

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If we move forward a bit into the area which receives more light, all of those plants will do better.

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Like this kale for example which is loving its position.

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I made a walkway through this bit.

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And all the stuff in front of the walkway seems great.

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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.

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At the front of the pumpkin house I have a mixed bed of parsley, beetroot & sorrel. And another walkway.

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The only other plants I've not mentioned, growing under the shade of the pumpkin leaves are broccoli. Five of them going strong.

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Just in front of the pumpkin house we have a bed for courgettes & sweet potatoes.

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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 :)

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Underneath that carpet can be found the tubers which I am very much looking forward to digging up!

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The lemongrass hasn't minded the lack of shade at all.

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This is the view right from the back, lemongrass in foreground.

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There is a tomato cage behind the pumpkin house.

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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.

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Japanese parsley next to them, having no problem with the full sun.

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Amazing cumin flavour with crazy purple leaves which look great in salads.

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Right at the back I have a ton of classic & Thai basil. The pesto production never ends around here ;)

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Between the pumpkin house & butternut house I have this lovely long row of leeks. That's for our soup when evenings start getting colder.

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Worth noting this is our second Summer crop in this space. Before the leeks we had potatoes in there.

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The butternut house has been a bit slow to cover its roof.

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But the plants underneath don't seem to mind on this side of the land where there is a little more shade.

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With mustard, rocket, beetroot, parsley & two types of lettuce I call this my salad bed.

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Throw in a few other bits and that's my lunch basically. Here's what I ate in my salad yesterday.

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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.

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Children always want to stand in here! Which is fine if they are careful. Underneath the wooden beams are the watering channels.

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Behind the butternut house we have a row of kale & a row of winter cherry.

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Their watering channel seen here, entering the garden next to the wild mint.

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I have three blocks of beans like this one.

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Pretty much ready to harvest in fact.

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Next to them some strawberries went in recently. These won't produce fruit till next year.

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The sweetcorn above them is finished now. Just saving a few cobs from the best ones for seeds.

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This is what we were eating a few weeks ago.

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And this is what my family thought about it ;)

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What else can I show you here?

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Ah yes, sunflowers!

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We have three different varieties dotted around in groups.

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The titans really are enormous.

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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.

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At least seeds won't be a problem next year!

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We have three types of peppers growing in selected places.

These ones are good for salads & tarts.

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These ones good for gaspacho.

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And these ones are hot!

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Esteban has his own space of course, next to the sandpit.

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Complete with a sign he made himself.

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And a bit of everything going on in there.

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Just on the other side of the fence behind Esteban's garden we have winter melons growing very happily facing West.

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These are harvested in early winter and make fantastic marmalade when combined with bergamot lemon.

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Back on the East side, Esteban even has a melon in his space!

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Alongside Esteban's garden we have cucamelons.

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What are they you may ask? They are small & crunchy, a bit like cucumber with a citrus twist. You eat the whole thing!

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Next to them I have morning glory, keenly taking over where the cucumbers are slowing down.

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Beautiful delicate flowers which open in the morning and only last one day. Not sure if they are edible?

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The East facing side of this fence has been mostly used for cucumbers, which didn't really like it here. Too much sun exposure.

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That being said they have produced incredibly well for suffering plants.

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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.

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Perhaps someone can tell me what they are called?

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I have learned so very much from this experience, trying out many things for the first time.

Like edible boarders!

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Three of them next to the the fence made with lettuce, dandelion & sorrel.

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Or mosquito nets to protect pak choi from hungry bugs.

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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.

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We are going to buy some industrial rolls of cling film which will help us create the see-through walls.

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Will have to make a functional cling film door as well!

What do you think? Is it even possible?

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Looking forward to giving it my best shot this autumn.

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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.

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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 🌱

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Sort:  

Nice!!!

 2 years ago  

Thanks!

 2 years ago  

Endless beauty! Congrats on the harvest and your kinds making it looking as a play (well it is) :D
Truly abundant and wonderful garden!
Respect!

side question: have you tried to eat the seeds of this type of morning glory? :D
stongly not recommended for kids and animals!
 2 years ago  

Thanks! The lady who gave me the plant did warn about that but I forgot to ask her if that therefore means the flowers are also inedible.

Okay! I just looked quickly at some articles and it would appear that one can in fact eat every part of it. Only the seeds should be avoided due to side-effects similar to LSD. Apparently there are indigenous tribes who use them ritualistically. No better way than this to get in touch with the local plant spirits!

 2 years ago  

heheh YES! :D

Oh man! As I scrolled down each photo I got more and more excited! What an outstanding garden and the *best* thing growing there are the kids! That represents, to me at least, true wealth. Wonderful goals to work toward and now.....I have to go look again LOL

 2 years ago  

Hey there! Am pleased you enjoyed this one.

I would say children love creating stuff above everything else, so if one can combine growing vegetables with building creative structures, they are onto a winner!

Can't wait to get started with the cling film! It's going to be so lovely and warm in there :)

First of all excellent photographs, but the extraordinary thing is in the diversification of crops that has in that area, I have seen farms with thousands of hectares underutilized.

I congratulate you, excellent job!

 2 years ago  

I have seen farms with thousands of hectares underutilized

You and me both. We live in an agricultural region in which farmers seem to care less and less about what is happening on their land. After years of neglect they eventually sell it for property development. Further aiding the coming food crisis.

Thanks for appreciating my photography!

Fantastic work Sam!

 2 years ago  

If it isn't already obvious, this project was a lot of fun & didn't really feel like work at all ;)

I read somewhere that you can grow enough food in 1m² for 1 person per year. How doable that is, I'm not sure.
Keep up the great garden work. No charts this week?

 2 years ago (edited) 

Errr... not so sure about that. In fact I am sure. For someone looking to maintain a nutritious diet all year long, 1m² is simply not enough. Even with my 20x20m I can't see how this alone would be enough for someone like me who has a voracious appetite! Don't forget, you also have to grow stuff which stores into the winter.

And it is often a question of time. I already make sourdough bread most days but do I really want to grow the wheat & grind the flour? Eventually I will (or the children will!) but while flour stocks are holding up at reasonable prices I choose the easy route. And I should probably re-phrase that because it is far from easy preparing bread in the way I do. Takes around an hour per loaf & a fair bit of motivation to be awake at times when other are sleeping!

Bitcoin bitcoin bitcoin. Yes, I look at charts more than I look at plants these days and if only there were more hours in the day I would post charts regularly. Currently in two short positions and expecting lower. Not seeing any signs of strength for now, so one should expect the trend to continue. Big support at $10k. If that doesn't hold there is a bigger support at $3k.

That being said I will be looking for a long position at the untapped daily level, $18775. Because being hedged is the best way to trade.

Thanks for your insights Sam as always.

 2 years ago  

Nice to see this morning how price dropped hard to that exact level I mentioned. Almost feels like I know what I'm doing sometimes ;)

Hehe that's awesome. Time to scoop some more into my bucket!! Lol

lovely progress! :3

 2 years ago  

It's looking good hey. Feel a little bit proud of it.

deserved! :)

Awe this is so cute! The land, the children playing, also knowing that those children are learning so much about sustainability and environment care is beautiful. Congratulations!! You are really helping the Planet Earth and you’ve created an amazing area were to grow your own vegetables!!

 2 years ago  

The best part is the path alongside the land, upon which the people of our village walk most days. So many of them stopped and wanted to chat with me about what I was doing there and something tells me many of those people will go home and have a think about what they can do with their land next year...

Absolutely!! I agree with you! It’s a sweet way of teaching also to everyone who is close to your land!

Your flowers are bachelor's buttons. They were the majority flower in my wildflower area in 2020. Here they reseed very well, preferring the wood chip paths best in the New Herb garden.

Loved seeing all of your garden.

 2 years ago (edited) 

I knew someone would know :) Thank you for that.

Bachelor's buttons hey. What a funny name. Won't forget that in a hurry!

They are all over our permaculture garden every year, so I just grabbed a few early seeds and distributed them around the new garden. Hopefully this will be enough to see them again next year. Had no idea about the different light producing different colours till I planted them in groups this year. Really love these flowers!

Yes, it was a total mission putting this post together (took around a week) but I am pleased it resonates with people.

There is nothing more important than growing food right now!

Hope everything is going great with your food production 🙏

Wow you have got a nice garden for your plant, they look so good and neat indeed

 2 years ago  

Thanks! All plants & family do indeed seem very happy at the moment.

Beautiful garden, looks super successful and those kids look happy to be around so many lovely plants! Growing your own food looks spectacular!

 2 years ago  

Building something from scratch is very satisfying. For both children & adults!

Pretty hard to believe this is possible from my viewpoint hah. Living in a megacity makes it real hard. I recently moved into a 13th floor place too with no balcony so I basically have 4 miserable looking, dying, withering chili plants.

Can't wait to get back to UK and attempt about 1% of this... wherever I end up living better have a garden -__-

 2 years ago  

Have pondered your situation in the past and wondered if it might be possible to create mini gardens which hang outside your south facing windows? Or any windows really! All you need is that natural light.

Hope you are able to get back to the UK soon. Megacities won't be fun for the people trapped there when the food shortages begin.

It has crossed my mind to hang things, but i'm on 13th floor so i'm pretty sure it's as illegal as it is deadly. We just got through a couple of typhoons after all! Nah for now it's best I just accept my fate probably. Just hope these shortages happen later than sooner XD

 2 years ago  

Good point! Hadn't considered the legality. Or the typhoons!

Even if the shortages kick in this winter you still have time to stock up on the basics. Moments like this are seen as opportunities by some!

Though in truth I think it will be some years yet before things get really tough.

I love your garden @samstonehill !
Really nice work my brother. My compliments.
It looks like i will have my own pretty soon, too.😊
Being close to Mother Earth is the best in this world...
Bless Up!

 2 years ago  

Hey buddy!

Great news your garden is drifting towards you...

Don't hesitate to shoot me questions if you have them.

See if you can get hold of a biodynamic planting calendar for your region. Look for the hippy folk who have gardens and ask them! Understanding the work of Joseph Steiner & his influence on organic food producers is imperative to having a garden which works in harmony.

Thanks Sam! I will look out for the work of Joseph Steiner...
A friend of mine is very good in gardening, permaculture...but good to know that i can ask you, too😀

Oh WOW!!!! Sam you guys are totally rocking it in the garden!! I could not be more impressed. What a lot of positive energy went into this!! It is so much fun and oh so rewarding.

 2 years ago (edited) 

Positive energy is exactly right. If you had asked me what the finished garden was going to look like at the beginning I wouldn't have been able to tell you. Not a clue!

So I constantly marvel at the way in which projects have a way of showing us what to do, if we will permit them. Sunrise attendance is key! All my top ideas come at this time.

All the best to you!

Yes sunrise is absolutely the time of inspired thoughts popping out of the ether. I get those too ;)

 2 years ago  

Hi @samstonehill glad to see posting again here at Hive Garden, how have you been? By the way, I love your cucumber which makes me want to plant some when the summertime comes.

 2 years ago  

How have I been? Extremely good thank you! We bought a piano a few days ago and a very important new chapter has begun. I will write a post about it soon enough. Feels ridiculously amazing.

Good luck with the cucumbers!

 2 years ago  

Extremely good thank you!

That's nice to hear, if only you could travel back here in the Philippines I want to hear some stories about your father directly from you (^_^) have a nice day ahead. Piano? That's amazing! I also wanted to have pain but a nice piano here in expensive. Will be looking forward to that piano blog. Have a nice day ahead.

I was THERE..... I had a super real vivid dream in which I visited, we went on a full tour of garden, house, and surrounding mountains.... You're a hub for the conscious aware Peepz.... Whether you know it or not.

(Check Telegram voice memo for dream recording audio....)
LOVE YA!

 2 years ago  

Sebbbbyyyy! Loved your sleepy morning message describing the dream. So much detail in there! And wow, as always am blown away by our connection. Aside from it being a Mudra night (which I assume you still do?) I have been broadcasting at a different, more powerful frequency for the last three days. We bought an awesome piano and I have been transported back to where I left off when I was 13 years old. Can't stop playing! Gonna write a post about it because the feeling is crazy powerful.

Will continue this message over on Telegram...

Just read your piano post and it ls heartwarming to see everyone have a good. StarWars theme tune will be epic & lovely to see you and Sabrina with such big loving smiles!! :-D

Amazing garden filled with edible plants and fruits. Good job you did in less than a year! A lot of work has gone into this land. You even did some experiments with growing vegetables. I wish I could be your assistant to learn all the tricks of gardening.
The kids are so lucky to be surrounded by this garden since childhood. My parents weren’t interested in gardening at all!

 2 years ago  

Bit like you, I don't remember my parents having much interest in gardening. We did have a little garden with a few things going on, but certainly I was not interested in it. Likely because they never made any effort to make it interesting for me. Not their fault of course. They didn't understand the importance of it. For a child there is nothing more exciting than digging watering channels and building pumpkin houses ;)

That's quite a good harvest for a no-budget-garden.
Didn't you even buy the seeds?

Great job that you manage to produce 50% of your food from that garden!
!BEER

 2 years ago (edited) 

We have been growing food for three years on another piece of land, so we have plenty of seeds which after three generations in this land are becoming accustomed to it. Even if you don't have seeds you can just go to a local organic food producer, buy your food for the week there and remove all seeds before eating! A single cucumber can potentially grow 1000 more cucumber plants. So yes, anything in the fruit category can be re-created in this way. Root & leaf categories not so easy. But still possible in some situations. A decent article here listing possibilities:

https://www.goodto.com/food/vegetables-grow-from-scraps-538440

So cool!
And thanks for the tip! !LUV
We have just started growing some vegetables in a corner of our backyard, so every tip is welcome!

Thank you for sharing this amazing post on HIVE!
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Stay creative & hive on!
 2 years ago  

Thanks for appreciating!

Maravilloso!!!

 2 years ago  

Thank you :)

Wao! This is wonderful. There is no need to waste the piece of land you have, it can actually suprise you with the outcome.
!lolz

 2 years ago  

Exactly right. No need even to plan it. Just start building and see what happens!

This is really so satisfying and amazing!!

 2 years ago  

Am pleased you enjoyed :)

awwws is so cute buddy.

 2 years ago  

Pleased you enjoyed.

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 2 years ago  

Thanks!

Manually curated by ackhoo from the @qurator Team. Keep up the good work!

 2 years ago  

Thank you!


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