Harvesting for longer and making the most of every square
Harvesting home-grown vegetables is the best. Super fresh, real food: that's why you started your vegetable garden in the first place, right?
Because you can set up a Makkelijke Moestuin quickly, you can be harvesting within two months. From nothing to an edible pick-as-you-go garden.
Harvesting is brilliant. Instead of taking whole plants at once, you pick what you need for each meal.
Fancy a salad? Take a bowl into the garden and pick a few lettuce leaves, leaving the heads to keep growing. Harvest a spring onion, cut some fresh herbs, or pick a few ripe tomatoes and a cucumber.
Carrots? There are 16 in a square, and you probably don't need them all at once. Pull the largest and leave the smaller ones to grow.
That is how you walk through the garden with your bowl and gather what you need.
Harvesting is brilliant. Instead of taking whole plants at once, you pick what you need for each meal.
Fancy a salad? Take a bowl into the garden and pick a few lettuce leaves, leaving the heads to keep growing. Harvest a spring onion, cut some fresh herbs, or pick a few ripe tomatoes and a cucumber.
Carrots? There are 16 in a square, and you probably don't need them all at once. Pull the largest and leave the smaller ones to grow.
That is how you walk through the garden with your bowl and gather what you need.
A pick-as-you-go garden
The Makkelijke Moestuin is less about one enormous harvest and more like a pick-as-you-go garden that you use for almost the entire year.
Because it is close to your home, it is easy to pop outside and pick whatever you need.
Because it is close to your home, it is easy to pop outside and pick whatever you need.
This is how it works for me: if I am having a rather boring cheese sandwich for lunch and think, 'A proper salad sandwich would be nice too!', I simply walk into the garden and pick whatever I fancy.
Fresh mint tea in the afternoon? Just step outside and pick a few mint leaves. Add a sprig of lemon balm for a change, and you are done.
For me, that is the Makkelijke Moestuin, and that is why it is so enjoyable.
Fresh mint tea in the afternoon? Just step outside and pick a few mint leaves. Add a sprig of lemon balm for a change, and you are done.
For me, that is the Makkelijke Moestuin, and that is why it is so enjoyable.
Keep your raised bed full
Harvesting will occasionally leave a square empty.
As soon as that happens, clear the square. Add some MM plant food, mix it thoroughly through the MM-mix, and sow or plant the square again straight away.
Some squares are planted three or four times in a year. That is why we harvest so much from one small raised bed.
As soon as that happens, clear the square. Add some MM plant food, mix it thoroughly through the MM-mix, and sow or plant the square again straight away.
Some squares are planted three or four times in a year. That is why we harvest so much from one small raised bed.
This also spreads the harvest nicely because you keep sowing throughout the season.
Some vegetables do better in spring, while others prefer summer or autumn. That is why it is useful to keep a good selection of seeds at hand.
Some vegetables do better in spring, while others prefer summer or autumn. That is why it is useful to keep a good selection of seeds at hand.
You already know quite a lot about the Makkelijke Moestuin
You know how we sow, that we keep the raised bed planted throughout the year, and why we harvest so much from a single raised bed.
In other words, you now know why the Makkelijke Moestuin works and how to use it.
I really hope you are now thinking: 'I want to grow vegetables too. I want this.'
Now it is time for a little wise advice, ahem. As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome. Unfortunately, some of those roads are full of potholes.
So, onwards to:
In other words, you now know why the Makkelijke Moestuin works and how to use it.
I really hope you are now thinking: 'I want to grow vegetables too. I want this.'
Now it is time for a little wise advice, ahem. As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome. Unfortunately, some of those roads are full of potholes.
So, onwards to:
