Gardening vs. The System - 1:0
Tired of being the slaves of the system, we moved out of the concrete city,
to a house with some land and started to grow our own vegetables.
So we went from being city robots to passionategardeners. We are still hooked to the system because…. well ... you still need some money
to live a decent life nowadays. But we use our spare time to work our way out of it.
After the first year and a lot of work, we realized that we’d rather work for us, than
work for the system and with the money you struggle to make, you then buy lousy-tasting-pumped-up-with-chemicals-veggies.
And my God, it paid out … way more than we ever expected to. Our enthusiasm just had
to be shared…so … this is our gardening story from the very beginning. We will be
posting a lot more videos from our garden, so if you enjoy this first one, please like
it and subscribe to our channel to keep in touch.
This was the land before we even knew what to do with it. One step at a time and with
a ton of research we ended up with this: a total of 100 square meters of vegetable garden,
consisting of 14 outdoor raised beds and a hoop house. All home made.
First, we planned our garden with a garden planner which was very easy to figure out,
just to get an idea of how things could be organized. After this, I found another on
line tool, a vegetable gardening software which we used to realize what we want to grow
and where and also the quantities we needed. For a beginner, this proved to be very useful.
We had no idea where to start. During winter time, we planted from seed indoors.
There were seedlings all over the house. We had no special lighting system, besides the
light that came though the windows, which made some of our seedlings leggy and too sensitive.
But even so, we had a lovely crop in the end. Of course, things were far from being perfect,
we made a lot of mistakes, but we also learned new things everyday. And yes… it was all
so overwhelming, all the information we gathered in such a short time, made us want to quit
several times, but I’m glad we didn't. In time, you learn the particularities of each
plant and you get better at gardening each year.
Luckily, all the information we need to start our own garden is now available online for
free, coming from other passionate gardeners, who are willing to share their experience.
Spring came and with the help of our friends we started building the raised beds, using
the leftover wood from the construction of the house. So, the cost was practically zero.
We made 14 raised beds, then brought in some soil and started planting the spring veggies.
This is our first radish! Because it was spring and we were not prepared, we didn't have time
to choose the right kind of soil, nor to enrich it with organic manure. So we didn't have
all the right conditions for the first year, but this only made us prepare better for next
year. Also, we had to make some kind of drainage system between the beds, so the water doesn't
stay on ground. Watching our first veggies grow and enjoying the fresh taste, made us
move on with all the gardening work we still had to do.
We realized we will need an automated watering system, because watering with a hose with
almost no pressure, took a looooong time. So we built this system ourselves and now
we have a self watering garden. Much easier to handle and enjoy.
The only time we needed professional help, was when we had to place the main water pipes
underground and set up the sprinklers for the whole land. Also, they helped us with
a drainage system, which works as a charm when we have heavy rain in spring or autumn.
The land we have is very dense, more like clay than dirt and it keeps most of the water
at the surface, when it comes in massive quantities. So, without a drainage system, our whole garden
might have been compromised.
After this, it was time for a change of color from brown to green, so we had the same professional
team plant some grass from seed. The grass grew pretty fast and it all started to make
sense now. Nothing compares to the view of your own lawn of fresh grass. Not even a big
bonus at the job or being promoted on a higher position.
Next on our list was building a DIY hoop house. Step by step and beer by beer, it took us
one month to finish it. It’s easier and more pleasant when you have friends coming
over to help you. Plus it’s more fun! And the end result makes you feel pretty awesome.
He said that building the hoop house and the raised beds was the most accomplishing thing
he has done in months. It was time to bring those baby plants out
and let them have fun in full sun. Had to set up a support system for some of the plants
and to label the 30 types of tomatoes we have planted. We needed to figure out the varieties
we like so we know what to plant next year. The thing is we were so fascinated about the
results, that this year we kept some of the old ones we liked and bought some new ones,
thus we have 60 varieties of tomatoes to play with this year.
These are some of the things we grew last year: tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplants,
cabbage, cucumbers, onions, peas, beans, spinach, rocket, radishes. This year we are taking
it to the next level, by improving the productivity, adding more varieties and making our work
easier. We bought organic manure in autumn and mixed it with forest soil in each bed,
so the quality of the soil should be way superior. Also, we sprinkled used coffee grounds, eggshells
and the ash from the wood we burnt in the fireplace during winter time. All these should
enrich the soil even more. We built this seedling home, to keep all the baby plants in the same
place and to assure more light from the led strips.
We used the same gardening software to position our vegetables depending on the correct crop
rotation and planned companion planting more carefully. Also, we are taking advantage of
the seasonality and planting more vegetables on the same land, extracting them after the
crop is done and replacing them with other varieties. We will try new varieties including
ginger, rhubarb, okra, horseradish, tomatillo, physalis, and so on just to experiment and
see where this takes us. I organized all our varieities and the details about each one
of them with the help of Excel, to be able to track everything.
I tried to make a long story short and to give you some idea of what can be done with
your own hands, things that seem impossible in the beginning, but which can lead you to
feelings you didn't know you were capable of. The gratitude is immense.
This is our story… We are looking forward to hearing about yours!
We’re inviting you to become our friend if you share our passion and subscribe to
our channel. Have the best year of gardening ever!