It took me a few years to discover the difference between gardening and sustainable gardening. This leads me to create a sustainable garden workbook to document the seed-to-pantry journey.
Sow a sustainable garden to not only eat within the season and store fresh, canned, and fermented goods to last throughout the winter months. How different are the two gardens? That is entirely up to you and your desire to own your food source.
The Sustainable Garden Workbook was created to help you structure your garden space while providing essential tips for what food items store best long-term. The key to utilizing a sustainable garden is to grow as much food as possible quickly.
The Sustainable Garden Workbook
To maximize the growing season, one should practice the following:
- succession planting
- crop rotation
- use of a polytunnels or greenhouses
- practice a permaculture garden space
Other beneficial gardening methods, especially for small space gardens:
- growing foods vertically
- have polytunnels or greenhouses in place for late fall gardening
- a potager, or kitchen garden, to grow herbs, perennials, and a spring and fall garden
Be intentional in the type of fruits and vegetables you grow:
- plum or Roma tomatoes will produce more tomato products than slicing tomatoes
- Select tomatoes, onions, and garlic, which will keep longer
- winter squash, cabbage, and apples that store well long-term, however, one must know which variety is best to grow
Once the harvest is in, it is necessary to document the season. The Sustainable Garden Workbook offers you the ability to not only document when you started seeds but also:
- soil amendment plan
- sow dates
- the yield per vegetation
- preserving records
