Garden Archives - Page 2 of 2 - House by the Woods

Blueberry – my first plant of the week. If things go according to plan, I’ll be researching and introducing one plant a week that I’ll (how surprisingly) call Plant of the week. This will either be a vegetable, fruit, herb or even decorative or wild-grown plant.

blueberry shrub harvest grow blueberries in gaden — Midseason blueberry harvest – one shrub / one bowl. 🙂

WILD BLUEBERRY’S FAT COUSIN

Today, in sync with the season i’m starting the Plant of the week series with the plant that I wasn’t too fond of until recently. This is cultivated (highbush) blueberry – the “fat cousin” of wild (lowbush) blueberry, which we also call the forest blueberry because (not like the cultivated variety) they can be found in the forests all accross Slovenia. Cultivated bluberries are also called American blueberries around here. Maybe it’s due to their name or foreign ancestors but I found cultivated blueberries strange and uninteresting for a long time. Maybe it was due to their way of planting or the need of acidic soil and therefore require a special place in the garden or even it’s own container. Although I’m a big fan of wild (forest) blueberries and I pick and eat them constantly when they’re in season, i hardly ever ate cultivated blueberries. We hada sall blueberry bush at my parents’ house but it never beared fruits or maybe we were always too late to protect it from greedy birds who ate all the berries before we even noticed them?

how to gros plant blueberries blueberry in garden — Ripening fruits on the shrub. I pick the berries as soon as they’re ripe to make sure wasps or birds don’t get to them first. 🙂

HOW TO GROW BLUEBERRIES?

Anyway, as I was saying, blueberries weren’t on my radar until last year when I planted two plants in pots and placed them at the edge of my garden. The pots are made from old wine barrels that we salvaged from the house where Aljaz’s grandmother was born. We sawed the barrel in half, added new layer of stain to both halves and padded them with pond foil and drilled holes at the bottom.

When the pots were done, i filled them with peat and acidic soil and planted the two blueberry plants. While you can get peat in almost every garden center, you can collect acidic soil for free from the forest! Some say that the best acidic soil can be found under pine trees, other that the best in the one from under an oak tree. I mixed both types and so far, my blueberries are not complaining. During dry and hot summer I water the blueberries once a week and I rely on my instinct for watering during the rest of the year. Cultivated blueberries are cold hardy in zone 7 where my garden is located, so I don’t transfer them inside during the winter or move the pots at all.

Both of my blueberries are the early bearing variety. Although you don’t need more than one variety in the garden for successful pollination (they don’t share the pollination problem with Kamchatka honeysuckle cousins) we can prolong the harvesting season by planting varieties that bear fruits at different parts of the season (early-, middle-, late-season ripening).

blueberry in pot grown how to grow plant — My blueberry shrub grown in a pot and accompanied by European cranberry plant which also requires acidic soil.

Use and storage of blueberries

We eat most of homegrown blueberries fresh either in the morning, mixed in Greek yoghurt or in the evening as a snack during a new Game of Thrones episode so there isn’t much left for storage. Blueberries can be stored the same as all the berries: cooked in jams, dries or frozen and later used in smoothies, pies or other delicious dishes.

Short blueberry ID:
Special growing needs: require acidic soil
Adult plant height: up to 2m (usually more around 1.5m)
Storing the blueberries: freezing, drying, jams
Why would you want to consume blueberries? Despite the fact that a lot of people still prefer wild, forest blueberries over their cultivated cousins, are homegrown blueberries a great source of antioxidants and numerous vitamins and minerals. They have low caloric value and they help regulating blood sugar and have positive impact on our brain and heart functions.
Not to mention how nice looking are the blueberry shrubs in the garden when they are filled with delicious blue berries!
Conclusion: Very worth of growing (and eating)!

blueberry blueberries garden grow plant pot — Protection from uninvited guests. Better safe than sorry. Blueberries are adored by wasps and birds.

….. or what I’ve learned in my first two years of gardening.

When did it all begin?

For the beginning of my gardening endeavors I would have to go back to when I was somewhere between 8 and 12 years old and I was helping my mum in the garden. I don’t remember to have ever sowed or planted any seedlings in our garden but I do remember weeding between the tiny carrot and lettuce plants. During weekends when my mum would be preparing lunch, me and my sister would spend the mornings in the garden, battling the weeds. I remember being fascinated with the transformation of the tiny seedlings to strong carrot or lettuce plants by the end of the summer. My chore during early autumn days would be peeling the carrots so that my mum could freeze them and use them in winter beef soups.

Except for these occasionally assigned tasks, I didn’t show any interest in the gardening during my childhood and especially puberty years. The story repeated itself during high school and for the most part of my undergraduate life. Mum would take care of the garden while me and my sister would help with the harvesting and storing the produce.

In my first year of master’s degree studies I moved to a house that had a huge garden in the front (!!) yard. I remember looking across the empty garden in the spring and asking myself how can a single person take care of such a large garden. The front yard is clearly visible from both the living and dining room of the house so “Out of sight out of mind” approach wouldn’t work in this case.
My mother and grandmother were in charge of the garden during my first summer at the house. They have started so it was only fair that they finished the season as well. I was going to school and didn’t put too much attention to the garden.
The thought of taking over the garden has first crossed my mind in the autumn of 2015, when I settled in the house and I started monitoring my expenses. I noticed that I was spending (way) too much money on fairly low quality and low-energy-providing food. I started to develop an interest for growing my own food. I spent the winter of 2015/2016 researching gardening and self-sufficiency. I was fascinated by all the plants that I could grow on my garden and that were impossible to buy in the store. Next to plants I also researched processes for storing the produce during the winter months. Later on I also stumbled upon making homemade cosmetic, plastic-free lifestyle and other subjects that go hand in hand with self-sufficiency.

how to start a garden become self sufficient — My garden, May 2015.

how to start a garden growing food at home — My garden, July 2015.

Year 2016

In spring 2016 it was go time. I had a lot of help from my mum, who provided me with all the seedlings that I needed. She has chosen the same varieties of veggies as she did for herself , the same ones that have been part of our delicious meal for years. I started planning my own garden. I tried to take in to account crop rotation which can be quite challenging.

My first year gardening could be summoned in these points:

1. Weed battle
The number one problem in my garden was weed. It’s quantity remained about the same during the year but it’s varieties have changed depending on the part of the season.
2. Abundance of beans and lack of tomatoes
Beans and other legumes were growing wonderfully in my location. I guess they like the sun/shade ratio that is due to the fact that the hill behind the house would cast an afternoon shade. Quite the opposite has happened with my tomatoes. Despite the aggressive growth and a lot of showing fruits, the plants were infected with rust and have deteriorated. I haven’t produced a single tomato. that year.
3. Bad organization and watering schedule
This was the year when I was watering the garden without any plan. Often it happened that I forgot which part of the garden has been watered and which one should be watered next. Watering turned out to be a huge burden and a big source of issues.
4. First perennial planting
My first perennial planting was an L-shaped raspberry bed at the edge of the garden. Aljaz and I both love raspberries and in case of abundant harvest you can always freeze and use them in smoothies and deserts so all the things in favor of making a raspberry bed. In the autumn of 2016 we made the construction and planted our raspberry plants.

planting the garden how to start a garden become self sufficient how to save money on food — Planting in the garden, May 2017.

Year 2017

I entered the 2017 gardening year determined and equipped with new knowledge. During the winter I read about permaculture and biodynamic. My gardening notebook is full of marks about effects and power of the moon (the moon calendar is the foundation of biodynamics) and the plants. I also read about herbs that can be picked in the wild or grown in the home garden.
Full of fresh knowledge I started the new gardening season. During the planning phase I picked all that plants that will grow in my garden this year. Each plant had a place in the garden. I also started planning the floral beds which would be places at the edge of the garden.

My second gardening year could be (up until now) summed in the following points:

1. Trying out new varieties of vegetables and herbs
This year I chose my own vegetable varieties that I decided to plant. Of course I sill listened to wise advise of my mother but I started to gather the courage to experiment. So this year my garden is also hosting more exotic vegetables and herbs like peruivan groundcherry, strawberry spinach, pepino, chickpeas and citron verbena.
2. Expanding perennial beds
Next to my last year’s respberry bed I also added an asparagus bed and began to plat an edible hedge made from different varieties of berry shrubs.
3. Petra : weed – 1:0
This year most of my garden is covered with mulch. I use leaves and old hay and both work great. Not only as a vital weapon in my weed war but also for it’s ability to contain water in soil which is vital in the dry summer we’re having here this year.
4. If you can’t get rid of it, eat it!
During my intense battles with weed i couldn’t help but to think about the possible use of weed in my everyday cooking. Maybe some varieties of weed are edible or even extremely tasty and would be prefect for cooking? During one of my visits to the local library I found the book Wild food (Divja hrana) by Dario Cortese and behold – I found some of my enemies in there. From then on they are a part of my salads or side dishes. I tell you, they’re amazing! 🙂

my garden how to start gardening producing food growing vegetables herbs fruits — Welcome to the jungle – my garden in July 2017.