Edible gardens grow vegetables, herbs, and other edible plants. Although you may imagine a large garden, you can enjoy growing even a single pot on a balcony or window sill.
It is fun just to watch the vegetables grow, and it is exciting to see the sprouts emerge from the soil, the flowers bloom, and the berries form. Once the vegetables have grown, you can enjoy them in salads while they are still freshly picked, or cook with fresh herbs for a different kind of fun.
Let us show you how to start an edible garden that will bring the joy of growing and eating into your daily life.
Start with a simple, easy way to start an edible garden.
You can start without much effort by using things you have at home. You can use empty cans or paper cartons as flowerpots, and almost everything you need, including flowerpots, vegetable seeds, soil and fertilizer, can be found at 100 yen stores.
If you are looking for something stylish and fun to look at, why not take a look at interior design stores or online stores? There is a wide range of designs, including pots and tools with European or natural tastes, that will make you feel more energetic.
◆Recommended vegetables to start now
If this is your first time to grow vegetables, we recommend baby leaf salad mix. It can be grown almost all year round and does not require much work. A few days after sowing the seeds, pretty twin leaves will appear, and within a few weeks, it will be time to harvest. If you leave about 2 cm of the root and pick it, it will grow back, so you can harvest it three or four times over.
<Seven easy-to-grow vegetables for summer and fall
(1) Baby leaf: This is a fun and convenient way to grow several types of vegetables at once, including leaf lettuce, arugula, and mizuna.
(2) Rocket: Very hardy and grows almost all year round. The flowers are also pretty and can be used as edible flowers.
(3) Japanese Basil (Oba): It can be grown indoors on a windowsill without much worry of insects or disease.
(4) Basil: Grow in a sunny place.
(5) Tomatoes: can be harvested until autumn. It is recommended to buy them as seedlings. Grows well in a sunny place.
(6) Bitter gourd: Strong and vigorous, it grows rapidly and can be used as a green curtain. It is recommended to buy it as a seedling.
(7) Okra: This plant grows rapidly in hot weather. It grows tall, so it gets a lot of sun even over a balcony. Its pretty flowers are also lovely.
The vegetables and herbs introduced above can basically be started from seeds or seedlings at this time of year, but there are differences depending on the region, so please check in advance to be sure.
◆Organic garden is not a dream!
Why don't you try organic edible garden, growing vegetables without using pesticides and chemical fertilizers? It is surprisingly easy to grow vegetables without much time and effort compared to normal cultivation. You can also enjoy a small circular life by using compost containers to make compost from vegetable scraps and kitchen waste, and then grow vegetables again.
Organic soil, fertilizer, and compost containers necessary for organic cultivation are available at home improvement stores and web stores. Compost containers are increasingly fashionable and can be found for as little as 3,000 yen.
The key to enjoying an edible garden is to first find vegetables that suit your taste and location. Some people prefer leafy vegetables such as arugula, while others prefer fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes.
There are many choices, such as whether or not your growing area gets enough sunlight, whether to start from seed or buy seedlings, whether you want to put in the work or not, and so on.
Don't worry if you make a mistake, try different vegetables and growing methods, and try to grow a wonderful edible garden that is uniquely yours.