The Vegetable Patch

Chemical treatments are increasingly being banned across the planet thanks to the increased awareness of people. Growing “organic” vegetables has become mainstream, much more today than the fad it once was.

In the age before industrial agriculture, there were over 1000 varieties of vegetables in people’s gardens… an incredible heirloom which has now been forgotten!

This isn’t your typical veggie patch, but keen gardeners will definitely give perennial vegetables a try. From the many species and kinds of vegetables, several can live, two, three years and more while still yielding a crop for months on end.

Never a day’s rest for the gardener! Summer harvests are in, and now in Autumn plots are prepared for the planting and sowing of winter crops.

Beans, peas, lentils, soybeans… the legume family all share flowers shaped like butterfly wings, roots that lock nitrogen into the soil, and seeds that have high levels of protein. To sum it up, it just what any garden needs!

Physalis or Peruvian groundcherry is a plant that offers cute, perfectly edible fruits.

Jerusalem artichoke is an ancient vegetable that is reappearing on our market stalls, with good reason: it is delicious!

Even if you don’t have a large garden in your house or can’t spare a portion of the garden for a vegetable plot, you still have options to grow a few special bell pepper varieties in pots on a balcony, deck or terrace.

Been wanting to start a veggie patch but not sure how get started? Find out how to start your first vegetable patch in 6 key steps!

Turnip has a long history of growing, and without doubt is among the most tasty vegetables.

Ready for your first steps in permaculture? Whether your garden be big or small, laid out already or still in the planning stages,

A rarer form of Physalis, tomatillo is a late summer vegetable that is easy to grow since the plant resists disease well. Tomatillo fruits are usually cooked and help soften the spice in many Central American recipes. Top tomatillo facts

Crop rotation helps generate abundant harvests. It’s also very effective at reducing crop diseases and maximizing nutrient availability for plants.

Underlying the success of every garden is the health of its soil – this is particularly true in permaculture. Fertilize it with fresh nutrients like compost, maintain it, disturb it only when absolutely necessary: your soil will stay healthy and fertile, and its quality will increase

In permaculture, nature does all the work! For a permaculture garden to be sustainable, self-sufficient and properly balanced,

Tree onion is a onion that seems to have everything upside-down: it grows onions at the tip of its stalk!

Growing leek from seed to harvest is fairly straightforward and will satisfy you in many ways.

If the summer is hot, watch over the vegetables in the patch and take up these easy and organic habits to ensure you get a proper harvest.

Chayote is an exotic vine that produces large pear-shaped fruits that are very nutritious.

Mashua is a type of root crop nasturtium that was selected by the ancient Incas for its resilience and nutritional value. Key mashua facts Botanical name – Tropaeolum tuberosum Common names – mashua, tuber nasturtium Family – Tropaeolaceae Type – tuber vegetable Height – 6 to 10 feet (2 to 3 m) Planting distance – […]

Ha! Basella comes as an amazing diversification after the more classic spinach that most of us are familiar with.

Sorrel is a delicious herb plant from which the leaves are eaten. Their acidic taste is quite distinctive.

Green, red or gold oakleaf lettuce is an easy lettuce to grow, that requires very little space, and is open to everyone, even if you only have a balcony. On your marks, get set, SOW!

Rocambole garlic is named after a fictitious character with an extravagantly nutty behavior. Rightly so! This garlic grows its cloves at the tip of its stems!

Perennial leek is a species that grows in the wild but can be cultivated. Leek sprouts anew from its bulbs year after year. Perennial leek, a summary Botanical name – Allium polyanthum Common names – Wild leek, perennial leek, many-flowered garlic Family – Alliaceae Type – Perennial vegetable Height – 1 foot (30cm) Exposure – […]

Be it for herbs, greens or tomato, a square-foot vegetable patch works best when a few simple rules are followed.

Experiment with companion planting which has by now proven its effectiveness in organic vegetable gardening. It’s easy, all pros and no cons: no treating and less work!

Just like humans, vegetables also have friends and foes. Some families stimulate or protect each other. Other families tire each other out and make each other vulnerable. Companion planting is the art of pairing them well!

Permaculture is the art of following biological insights gleaned from considering nature as a teacher. Key is the observation of natural exchanges occurring in ecosystems. It usually involves growing plants together on small, densely-populated surfaces. Fundamentally, it ventures much further than pure biology and encompasses all questions searching to understand the relationship between mankind and […]

Rooted in both ancestral knowledge and innovation, the answer to the question “What is permaculture?” is straightforward. It is the practice of observing nature to learn from what it can teach us, aiming for food self-reliance and abundance.

Who hasn’t yet suffered the sting of wild nettle? Far from being a weed, stinging nettle is an excellent ally for organic gardeners, especially for growing tomato!

Much tastier than any tomato purchased in a store, tomatoes sown from seed are also more flavorful than those purchased in nursery pots.

If you want to stop bloating your vegetables with polluting chemical fertilizers, it is time for you to familiarize yourself with natural fertilizer! No need to keep poisoning water reserves and setting local environments off balance anymore.

You’ll simply adore biting into the organic vegetables you’ve grown yourself – all the more because it won’t have cost you any heavy garden work at all! Preparing an organic square-foot vegetable patch is your key to this dream situation.

Zucchini is an easy plant to grow that will delight your taste buds from summer to fall.

Mushroom lovers, great news! For one, they are a good source of nutrients for our bodies. For the other, you can grow your own in the comfort of your homes – on recycled coffee grounds! Growing mushrooms is easy with a little guidance. Although you cannot use a normal garden soil, you can use spent […]

At the start of every meal or as a finishing touch, a few crisp, fresh greens always bring a touch of delight to your meal menus.

The purple Vitelotte noire, or black vitelotte, isn’t only reputed for its striking violet flesh, but also for the delicious particular taste this potato shares when cooked.

Growing green peas is quite easy and is very enjoyable. It usually starts in the spring and continues during summer.

Broad beans are a type of bean and part of the legume family. They’re easy and quick to

Garlic is a perennial vegetable plant which is a must-have in the vegetable patch. It craves sun.

Dandelion is by far the most famous weed flower in our temperate climates. It can be appreciated all season long from March to November, but, it must be said,

Shallot is both easy to grow and delicious in cooking.

Pumpkin is a typical fall vegetable, which especially became famous when Halloween made it into a symbol.

The epitome of summer fruits, watermelon is easy to grow when it can receive all the summer sun it needs. From sowing to harvest, here are the tips to grow it.

Eggplant is a delicious vegetable / fruit, a must-have in any vegetable patch.

Lettuce is an easy salad plant to grow, which needs little space and is open to all, even if all you have is a terrace or balcony.

Red beet is an excellent vegetable with high mineral and vitamin contents that is easy to grow.

Colocynth is a typical “ornamental vegetable”.

Asparagus is a delicate-tasting vegetable and growing it means paying attention to a few things.

Dandelion is a plant that grows in the wild in most fields, pastures, and gardens of course.