Share positive veganic growing stories

davidjtaylor

We've been producing food for ourselves on half an acre for 20 years, using a veganic approach, concentrating on things we consume in quantity - peas, garlic, onions, spuds, tomatoes, courgettes, apples, pears, grapes, leaves, salad and herbs.

It's become a haven for wildlife and an oasis amid a desert of monotone green.

Who else is out there doing the same? What's your 'secret'? Ours is compost. Plus a good location, not too exposed.

Hands up for stock-free food production - what works best, what tips do you have, do you know of others?

davidjtaylor

What, no vegan growers in Ireland on this board? Not even a window box? Not even sprouts in your kitchen window?

Tar.Aldarion

There aren't many users on boards any more but on Irish facebook groups there would be thousands of people for a better reply. Everything has moved to social media really.
Also your setup sounds awesome, will one day hope to copy. My father grows a lot of food near his house, which I love. Can you tell us more about the process you go through, how much work you put in etc.

Is veganic just vegan and organic or what does it imply?

davidjtaylor

Thanks TA. Haven't really got into FB to be honest. Maybe I should but time and inclination are lacking...

TheFortField

David, I hope you don’t mind me adding my query to your thread

So….it’s almost six months since I switched to a plant based diet and it’s most definitely one of the positive moves I’ve made in my life. I couldn’t be happier with my decision. The next step for me now is to start growing my own veg!

I did have a very successful vegetable patch over ten years ago thanks to my grandmother who gave me great advice at the time. I used to grow – courgettes, onions, sweetcorn, broccoli, scallions, garlic, herbs, a variety of salad leaves , lettuces and strawberries. However, I ended up abandoning it because I had concerns over waste. I found I had an abundance of crops for a few months and not enough at other times. I frequently had to offload vegetables on my neighbours, family and friends to avoid crops rotting in the ground.

Since going plant based, I have been buying my vegetables from two organic farmers who live near me. I purchase the balance of what I need from a greengrocer who tries to source as much as possible from farmers in the locality or within Ireland.

I’m find there is a massive difference in taste between the supermarket veg and the local organically farmed produce, the locally grown stuff is sooooooooooo much tastier. I suppose it’s a bit like comparing home grown roses to the ones delivered by a florist. The roses from the florist tend to look ‘perfect’ but they have zero scent and the roses in your garden come in all shapes and sizes and tend to have beautiful scents.

Anyway, I want to start gardening again as I found it was a very positive experience before. There was massive satisfaction planting your vegetables and watching them flourish (knowing that you hadn’t sprayed them with any harmful chemicals).

I would appreciate some advice from anyone who has had a go at growing their own vegetables. How did you avoid waste etc?

I am currently looking at two possible options:

• 1. Creating a vegetable patch at home (I’m lucky enough to have good sized garden with rich soil)
• 2. Rent an allotment from a farmer (five minutes drive from my home).

I know nothing about allotments but the one near me is very busy and is used by people of all ages and backgrounds. There seems to a really good social and fun element to the place. I’m thinking there might be some advantages to going the allotment route - like sharing /exchanging any surplus fruit and veg or getting advice on growing different crops etc.

I’d love to hear your advice and suggestions folks – many thanks in advance.

davidjtaylor

TheFortField wrote: »

I’m find there is a massive difference in taste between the supermarket veg and the local organically farmed produce, the locally grown stuff is sooooooooooo much tastier.

Could well be - we have several very good organic suppliers so I haven't shopped in supermarkets for over a decade. I remember well when I did, Dunnes organic section which, while big and prominent, had the most horrendous fruit and veg - quite possibly they only bought the cheapest they could find, which says it all. It really was diabolical stuff and almost seemed designed to put anyone off organics deliberately.

TheFortField wrote: »

I would appreciate some advice from anyone who has had a go at growing their own vegetables. How did you avoid waste etc?

Storage space is important. We have a shed with a few old, non-working chest freezers. These are for root veg storage, especially spuds. Each variety of spud is in a paper or hessian sack within the freezer. Spuds have to be dry and near perfect to store, of course. Use up the dodgy ones first.

We also have a working, extremely energy-efficient chest freezer. In this at the moment are excesses from various crops. We don't blanch stuff before freezing it but of course it's all clean and washed.

Tomatoes: small ones frozen whole. Larger ones, sliced in half and the woody bit taken out. They're laid on trays in the freezer, on their backs, then bagged.

Peas: rinsed thoroughly after de-podding, spun in a salad spinner then spread over plastic trays to freeze, then bagged. Spreading things out to freeze means they all stay separate when stored.

Broad beans: the same.

Apples: washed, cored, sliced and frozen. Both apple slices and tomatoes go a bit mushy when defrosted so the apples are better used in pies or as sauce. You can also use frozen apple pieces as a base for a smoothie - the blender won't heat up your smoothie that way. The tomatoes, in stews and soups. We also juice apples continually as they fall.

Onions: they keep for ages so long as they're properly dry first then kept in the dark. Garlic likewise.

That's about it for us. We only really grow veg that we use lots of. Spuds, carrots, onions, garlic, peas, broad beans, lettuce, cabbage, herbs. Anything else, let a specialist grow it!

TheFortField wrote: »

I am currently looking at two possible options:

• 1. Creating a vegetable patch at home (I’m lucky enough to have good sized garden with rich soil)
• 2. Rent an allotment from a farmer (five minutes drive from my home).

I know nothing about allotments but the one near me is very busy and is used by people of all ages and backgrounds. There seems to a really good social and fun element to the place. I’m thinking there might be some advantages to going the allotment route - like sharing /exchanging any surplus fruit and veg or getting

I know little about allotments but I have heard that they're great for sharing - both tips and knowledge and excesses of produce.

If you can get an allotment, you're lucky, I've also heard they're in great demand. Try it, what have you to lose? You've got your own ground to fall back on.

One point though - you may not be able to grow 'veganically' on an allotment. We have nearly an acre so we can grow green manures and use whatever other non-animal mulches we can get hold of; we also use compost toilets, so that gets worked back into the land too.

I'll add stuff if I find I've missed something. Good luck!

TheFortField

David, You’ve been incredibly helpful (as usual). Thank you very much for the time and effort you put into your post, it’s much appreciated.

davidjtaylor

I just thought of another excess - courgettes. Apart from giving away, there’s not a lot you can do as they don’t store well. One plant can produce more than you want, almost all at once.

The best bet is to love ‘em for what they are and consume them in as many recipes as you can, the web’s got lots of ideas.

During their season, we’d grate them or spiralise them into salads and make soup two three times a week (the soup doesn’t freeze well imo). Here’s my recipe.