Garden visit: Tanja's down-to-earth and edible garden

Tanja is very happy to have a greenhouse. It extends the gardening season and the snack peppers are one of the many plants that thrive here.

– Having a down-to-earth garden is not so much about style for me, but more about a lifestyle. This is a sanctuary where I can go with the flow, be in touch with the earth, and feel the magical feeling of following something from seed to finished vegetable. And then it's really fun to make something good to eat from what we harvest. Nothing beats the feeling of being able to give away something we've grown and blanched as a Christmas gift, preferably with our own label on the jar.

A greenhouse in the garden offers the opportunity to create many different zones and environments on the outside around the walls. At the entrance, Tanja has created two different seating areas that invite garden coziness and enjoyment.

For many years, the family had a regular garden that only consisted of lawn, a currant bush and a trampoline. Then corona came, and then Tanja had more time and started to get bored. She felt it was time to do something with the outdoor space. 

– I'm the type of person who goes all in when I first see something. So then Amund and I went out and bought 30 used pallet frames and started growing lots of different types of vegetables.

Corn, celery root, pak choi and pumpkins are growing in the pallet frames. Tanja has planted cosmos between the vegetables, which will eventually contribute with lovely flowering.

– The experience I gained this first season is that you don't need to sow all the seeds in the seed bag. The plants tend to grow much larger than you think, especially if they are going to be indoors for a few months before moving outside. Instead, save the rest of the seeds for next year. They keep just fine. This is supposed to be a fun project, so the varieties that I noticed required extra care, I cut out the following year, she says. 

Tanja's garden never looks the same as last season. She likes to grow new varieties and enjoys experimenting. 

– I get bored easily, so it's perfect that the garden is constantly changing. That means I never get bored.

The tall perennial 'Moerheim Beauty' is popular with the bumblebees and beautiful against the chestnut fence that frames the garden.

Elderberry blossoms produce a surprisingly large amount of delicious juice – a new favorite with the whole family.

In addition to Tanja wanting the garden to be nice to look at, she wants what grows there to also have a function. Everything from something the family can use in cooking, something to dry to use through the winter or, for example, to make juice or porridge from. It is also important that the bees have something to feed themselves on along the way.

An edible garden doesn't just have to consist of vegetables. Berry bushes are self-sufficient, require little or no follow-up and deliver year after year. Currants, American blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants are great both to eat out of hand and for making juice. Fruit trees with apples, pears and plums are classics that belong if the space allows.

In the water bath, birds and other winged creatures can take a sip of water and a cooling bath on hot days. The stones give them something to land on.

– It is exciting to follow the garden through the season from spring to autumn. I think both adults and children benefit from living so close to nature, she says. 

Tanja thinks there are far too many rules for what you can and cannot do in a garden. She chooses to think that most things work out well. 

– Different types of fertilization and methods can give equally good results. Should the tomato plant you have sown become long and lanky, that is also fine. You just have to plant it a little deeper. Most plants have an incredible vitality. They fight to survive and usually give you something you can harvest in the end. Shabby carrots and tiny pumpkins also have their charm.

Plants and family members, big and small, thrive in the greenhouse. Tomatoes, snack peppers, basil, physalis and cucumbers grow here, among other things.

The family is committed to taking care of the environment and swears by organic gardening and a natural cycle. 

“A lawn contributes little to pollinators, so sacrificing a little of the lawn to grow edible plants that benefit both insects and us humans feels good,” says Tanja.

Since the garden is not very large, the family has chosen to collect food scraps in a bokashi bucket in the kitchen rather than having a compost bin in the outdoor area. The bokashi is used to fill up the pallet frames together with soil, sticks and twigs. Grass clippings are sprinkled on top to prevent weeds and help retain moisture in the soil. In the long run, this becomes nutrition. 

Tanja fertilizes already planted pallet frames with horse manure that she collects for free in the neighborhood or pelleted chicken manure. 

– When the leaves on the vegetables are a little yellow in color, I sometimes ask the youngest member of the family to pee in the jug, so they can get some golden water. It is super nutrition!

"Find a straw, and stick your head in it." Moonberries are remontant and produce delicious sweet berries all summer long. Yum!

The greenhouse is the garden's newest addition and has given the family a new zone with many new possibilities. 

– It has given us even more gardening joy because vegetables and berries ripen faster here. It has also become an extra room where we can be when it rains and is windy. It is nice to be able to be close to nature even if the weather is not at its best. Next year I bet the family will be happy when the plants I have sown inside can move outside much earlier than they have done so far, where it has been jungle conditions in both the kitchen and the living room, laughs Tanja.

Smart shelf brackets make it easy to hang shelves in the windows of the greenhouse. Snack peppers, basil and mint love sun, light and warmth.

Next year, the goal is to use the greenhouse to plant more exotic plants that need a little extra help from the heat to thrive. The dream is to be able to harvest sweet watermelon, juicy peaches and your own lemons. For anyone considering buying a greenhouse, Tanja's tip is to buy it as big as possible. 

– Once you get a taste of growing in the heat, it offers endless possibilities!

Seating areas are scattered throughout the outdoor space. Even an urban shrimp farmer needs a breather in between all his projects.

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