How To Feed A Family From Your Own Backyard

There are lots of reasons to "grow your own." Tops on the list is flavor—fruits and veggies just don't get any fresher than from your own backyard. But right up there with flavor is health: you know exactly what those harvests have been fed, treated with, and exposed to before they arrive in your kitchen.

There are other reasons for home kitchen gardens and personal orchards. Variety is one. Why not grow unique and unusual fruit and vegetable varieties that are difficult to find at local markets? Another reason for homegrown is that it just plain feels good. It's satisfying and it's great exercise. It's rewarding and fulfilling.

There are simple tips and guidelines that will increase your harvests and your enjoyment of them.

Grow What Your Family Loves

Just because everyone is growing beans doesn't mean you have to—especially if they're not one of your favorite veggies. Make a list of what your family truly loves to eat and plan your kitchen garden accordingly.

Grow For Flavor

Consider which veggies and fruits don't hold up well at supermarkets. (Or never taste good to begin with!) Grow those. Tops on most everyone's list are tomatoes and corn. Some vegetables like corn lose their sweet flavor within hours of picking.

Grow Crops With A Long Or Repeat Harvest

Certain crops are one-hit wonders, like broccoli or corn, while others keep giving. Tomatoes, beans, peas, and summer squash will bear all summer long. Carrots, turnips and beets can be harvested over a long time as they mature. Remove the larger ones to allow smaller ones to mature.

Right Plant, Right Place

Most vegetables and herbs need at least six hours of direct sun a day to thrive and be productive.

Provide Healthy Soil

Vegetables need enriched, well-amended soil in order to produce the largest crops. For expert advice for your soil type, talk to one of the experts at English Gardens.

Bee Hives And Houses

Increase your fruit and vegetable yields by providing pollinators. Mason and leaf cutter bees don't sting and are easy to add to the garden. Bee houses are available in spring and are an easy way to give nature a helping hand. Darrell Youngquest, English Gardens tree and shrub buyer reports, "I have two honeybee hives and have noticed a dramatic increase to the yields in our garden."

Grow Vertically

Harvest lots of strawberries in four square feet by making a strawberry tower, a decorative obelisk with several layers for planting. "You won't believe how much better strawberries taste when they come from your garden," exclaims Darrell. It's surprising how many vegetables can be grown on tripods and on trellises, saving a lot of space. Cucumbers and winter squash are some of the surprising ones. Pole beans can be more productive than bush beans in the same amount of space.

Grow Crops In Pots

Edible plants grow great in containers of all kinds. But don't skimp on size. Give edible plants' roots plenty of room.

Grow Espaliers

Espaliering means training fruit trees on a flat plane, usually against a wall. But they can be free standing as well. They're a great way to grow fruit trees in small spaces. Darrell grows several espalier fruit trees along his property line. "They really help define the garden space," he says. "The maintenance is really quite minimal--just some minor pruning every year.

Mix Edibles With Ornamentals

Why confine your edibles to a kitchen garden? If planted in an imaginative way, flowerbeds of all kinds can benefit from the color and texture of vegetables and fruits. A healthy tomato, trained on a tripod looks terrific in a bed or red zinnias or red-hot celosia. Fennel looks sensational in mixed flower and shrub borders. Darrell suggests planting blueberries in shrub and perennial beds. "They are nice-looking plants with great fall color and provide delicious fruit with very little care," he says.

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