KITCHEN GARDEN

  I´m a beginning gardener and don´t have a particularly green thumb to begin with. But I have the will to try and learn new things, so I try to grow something in my garden.
   My grandpa used to have a kitchen garden, way before it was "fashionable", and he always said he wanted to be somewhat self sufficient with food in case of another war time. He was a young lad during WW2, and remembered and dreaded those times. Well, my gardening isn´t due to a fear of another war, but rather in the means of reducing commercial consumption.

Welcome to my small, humble, and very amateur garden.

This year I grow strawberries, rhubarb, cucumber, spinach, lettuces, garlic, carrots, potatoes, kale, and raspberries.

Potatoes are blooming. I threw them in the ground a bit late, so harvesting will be later than usual.

This is a specialty I´m very happy to have accidentially found a few years back; the common ice plant. It has become my absolutely favorite lettuce. Unlike other lettuces I´ve had, this one is fleshy, soft, and juicy. I slice it into thin strips and eat with pesto sauce, or put it on bread with only butter. Very nice.

This is what the leaves of the common ice plant look like underneath. They are full of little water crystals inside the plant´s leaves. Therefore it is so moist and delicious to eat. And I´m happy to say that these babies grow practically on their own, with no special care needed!

A guest in my garden. I don´t use any pesticides or commercial fertilizers. In the spring I only throw in some of our own compost and that´s it.

Flowers are not important to me, but I have a few edible ones growing, like this marigold. They make a nice garnish for dishes.

  My simple philosophy for gardening is that what grows, grows, and what doesn´t, dies. I don´t want to fight nature and make things only complicated. The plants that succeed naturally in my "care" are the ones I will focus on. And the ones that don´t I leave for others to grow. Gardening should be fun, and the most fun for me is when it doesn´t rule my life, but still gives me culinary experiences!