Growing your own food is no longer a thought you can only dream of.
These days, anyone who is willing to take the time and effort can grow their own food in their own space.
Many have picked up gardening as a hobby during COVID-19 pandemic.
Edible gardens are all the rage among homeowners all across the globe and there’s no reason why you can’t try it too!
Edible gardening or landscaping can bring you satisfaction in more ways than one.
Gardens, lawns or backyards can not only bring beauty but can also be for sustenance. You know how your food was grown and you can ensure it tastes better.
Kids can also be part of growing food so they can appreciate (and start eating) vegetables too.
If you are wondering whether you can start your own edible garden, we are here to tell you: yes you can!
Here is a guide that you can use for your edible gardening and planning.
The Edible Garden: Determine What You Need
Starting on a project like this will not be overwhelming if you know your goal.
Do you have an existing landscape and you want to add edible landscape design?
Do you have ample space that you want to turn to a small edible garden and grow a lot of food?
Do you want beautiful edible gardens that will enhance your property’s value?
Planning based on your needs and goals is an aspect that will help you work.
Edible gardening and landscaping can be a long-term commitment.
This will bring harvest you can enjoy for many years to come.
Look At Your Area And Space
There are many places that you can consider for your edible garden design.
Most homeowners choose to have edible backyards and then combine with ornamental plants.
You can also do edible gardening with your front yard but it can be a bit trickier with design.
Aside from maintenance like weeding, fertilizing, and watering, making it attractive also counts.
Since this will be more visible to the public, you can add decorative elements as well.
One consideration to keep in mind is to choose a location with good soil, lots of water, and at least six hours of sun.
A lot of edibles, especially vegetables, need plenty of sunlight to grow and yield produce.
There are also edible plants that grow in shade like lettuce, broccoli, and spinach.
“I Have Limited Space. Can I Still Have An Edible Garden?”
No matter your area and space, growing edibles is possible.
You can choose to plant in different sizes of containers.
Plant breeders have come up with many varieties that can grow in compact spaces. Vertical edible garden design is also perfect for small spaces.
What To Plant: Choose Your Veggies, Fruits, Herbs & Flowers
One way to decide on what to plant can be your family’s preference.
This can help you to cut costs from your grocery shopping since you grow your own food.
You can build your edible garden with different plants that you can harvest at different times of the year.
If you plan to start on one or two plants, you can space out plantings so you can harvest every week.
Be aware of how many times your plants produce.
There are plants that produce many times like tomatoes and peppers.
You can harvest many times during its growing season.
Plants like carrots and corn only produce one time and you would need to plant again.
Vegetables
If you think vegetables can look drab when you add it to your ornamental garden, think again.
Vegetables have beautiful form and that adds variety to your landscaping.
Here are vegetables you can add to your list of edible garden plants.
- Tomato (you can choose Cherokee Purple, Patio Choice Yellow, and Fantastico varieties)
- Peppers (you can choose Tangerine Dream, Mad Hatter, and Cornito Giallo varieties)
- Greens (you can choose Mizuna Red Kingdom, Tuscan baby leaf kale, and Sandy lettuce varieties)
- Beans (you can choose Seychelles, Mascotte, and Scarlet runner varieties)
Herbs
Herbs make a lot of difference in cooking and adding them to your edible garden can also help other plants to grow.
They attract good pollinators that help many plants.
Basil, for example, can be grown beside tomato plants because it’s smell repels pests.
- Chives
- Rosemary
- Parsley
- Basil
Edible Flowers
If you are looking to add more flowers to your garden or just wondering if you can eat flowers, you can plant these.
A lot of them are perfect with salads and can be even dried for tea.
National Association of Landscape Professionals suggests these edible flowers:
- Carnations/Dianthus (edible petals)
- Jerusalem artichoke (tubers)
- Viola/Pansy (leaves, flowers)
- Rugosa roses (hips, petals)
- Calendula (flowers)
- Sunflower (sprouts, seeds)
- Bee Balm (flowers)
Edible Plants To Grow Indoors
If you are looking into indoor edible plants, here are some options you can consider.
Invest in good potting soil and choose a place where they can still get sunlight.
- Basil & Rosemary – They would need full sunlight. You can place them in beautiful pots and line them up in window sills so they can also serve as decor.
- Parsley & Cilantro – These herbs are staples that need partial sunlight.
- Chili – Chilis can come in different colors. It needs partial sunlight so you can also make them table centerpieces.
- Cucumbers – They will need a large space to grow.
- Garlic – Who needs soil? You can place it in water and watch them grow.
Once you have established a beautiful edible garden, you can also add trees and shrubs for design.
There are fruits like plum, peach, apricot, and apple. You can also plant chestnut or pecan trees. If you prefer shrubs, you can go for hazelnut, blueberry or elderberry shrubs.
For your success in edible landscaping, you can contact landscape professionals.
Here at Big Easy Landscaping, we can help you maintain your landscaping needs.
This includes installing a space for all your edible garden dreams.
Enjoy the fruits of your harvest for a long time!
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