Growing vegetables is just like growing flowers - it has made a home beautiful

"I don't want my garden to look like a vegetable plot; I would rather it look like a flower garden.  --  Alys Fowler

Under the warm sunshine, bright lettuce, hanging peas, vivid red strawberries, a few small flowers nestled among them, kale that accidentally grows into a foliage plant, and the cabbage white butterflies that occasionally visit...

Such a scene seems very distant, yet it truly appears in Alys Fowler's vegetable garden. It should be a

vegetable garden where ingredients can be picked at hand, yet it does not lose the beauty of a flower garden

。

Alys combines ornamental horticulture with organic growing, and was filmed by the BBC for the gardening documentary "Edible Garden." Her garden changes with the seasons and is also abundant with melons, fruits, and vegetables, after which she develops recipes at home, documenting the process from a single seed to harvesting ingredients and heading into the kitchen.

Planting vegetables among the flowers

Alys is a gardening writer who grew up in the countryside and now lives in the city with her husband and two children. The backyard of the house is a Victorian-style terrace, about one hundred and something sq m.

She has always practiced a self-sufficient lifestyle, but compared with a vegetable plot, she would rather her yard look like a flower garden. So she plants a mix of

vegetables, fruits, spices, herbs, and flowers

in her own yard, so that the courtyard presents both beautiful scenery and deliciousness throughout the four seasons.

She hopes the vegetables planted here will be

productive and good-looking

In different seasons, Alys shifts her attention to different vegetables - lettuce, peas, green-skinned squash or tomatoes, and even edible flowers.

Growing vegetables as beautifully as flowers - in late spring, Alys starts with planting beans. Green peas, pink broad beans, purple cowpeas... Beans are not only highly adaptable, but also

have beautiful flowers and produce nutritious pods

so they are simply perfect for a "delicious garden."

Beans love to climb, so she plants them among flowers and shrubs, letting them spiral upward along the flower stems. Beans are also a crop very suitable for beginners to grow,

even balcony gardeners can grow them successfully

。

Besides bean flowers, some

leafy greens are equally beautiful

no less than ornamental horticultural varieties, such as kale with bright leaves. Red-leaf Swiss chard and beetroot also look outstanding, with red stems or leaves. When chives bloom with purple flowers, they are equally fresh and charming.

Among these vegetables, there are also many flowering plants, especially edible flowers. Such as violets and marigolds, which are easy to grow and can be eaten directly; sunflowers and verbena, which grow tall and bloom brightly, not only supplement dietary fiber but also enhance the layered beauty of the vegetable garden.

Alys also plants ferns together with tuberous plants; they are a "golden combination," setting each other off beautifully.

There are no rows of vegetable beds, no neat uniform lines; there is only

the natural beauty of vegetables and flowers coexisting harmoniously

。

What she grows is a garden,

and also a complete ecosystem

Alys's inspiration for planting vegetables together with flowers comes from permaculture, that is,

observing the operating patterns of nature

and then imitating its patterns to design her own garden.

Behind the simple principle is a way of cultivating and living that cooperates with the forces of nature.

She plants

vegetables, flowers, and plants with similar habits together

without using inorganic fertilizers or any pesticides. The ingredients in the garden can supply her family for the whole year, making all kinds of delicacies such as desserts, bread, salads, and jam, and even the decorative flowers for the neighbors are taken care of.

Not only does she grow vegetables and fruits, Alys also keeps two hens on the terrace. They eat weeds and insects, lay eggs, and provide manure, promoting

the balance of the small ecosystem

。

When she has free time, Alys goes to the park to collect free materials for building an edible garden, such as picking up some branches to weave trellises for climbing plants, and she also goes to the local farmers' market to buy ingredients she has not grown herself...

Autumn has arrived, and the flowers and leaves are all beautiful. She will invite a few friends over, pick flowers and leaves, wrap them in white cloth, use a hammer to pound out the pigments, dry them in the sun, and press them with an iron to preserve the pigments. What comes out is a ready-made

beautiful hammered-dyed fabric artwork

。

The busyness in the vegetable garden is far from being just about satisfying appetite. From Alys's energetic every move, and from the joyful atmosphere when she is with friends, everyone can see that this life close to the soil,

the most beautiful harvest is bringing great abundance to the soul

。

Alys's growing experience and garden recipes

▍ Beans

 

‖ Planting:

 

Sow the seeds in trays first to grow into seedlings, then transplant them into the soil; this is a good way to cultivate seedlings.

Beans need a great deal of water during the flowering and fruiting period. When broad beans are almost finished flowering, the tips can be pinched off so they focus on growing beans.

‖ How to prepare the ingredients:

1. Bean salad balls: cook broad beans, add chickpeas, garlic, cumin, fresh herbs mint and cilantro, blend into a paste, shape into balls, and pan-fry until cooked.

2. "Bean-tini" drink: cut fresh bean sprouts and blend into juice, add gin, syrup, and a small amount of lemon juice.

▍Leafy greens, root vegetables

 

‖ Planting:

Lettuce:

Plant it in a wine crate first, and when it grows into seedlings, move it into the soil. Cut off the upper part above the roots for eating, and the rest will continue to grow.

Kale:

Cut off the tender leaves in the middle to promote growth.

Lettuce:

After lettuce grows larger, you can directly take a part from the plant for cuttings; it roots very easily, and you do not need to sow seeds again.

Potatoes:

Potatoes can also be grown in grow bags or deep flower pots. The potatoes in Alys's flower pots had a pretty good harvest.

‖ How to prepare the ingredients: yogurt beet soup

Ingredients:

A big handful of beets, 30g radishes, 30g cucumber, an appropriate amount of scallions, an appropriate amount of sorrel leaves, 1 carton of yogurt, 2 eggs

1. Boil the beets with leaves and stems until soft, which will form a thick soup.

2. Add the cut radishes, cucumber, chopped scallions, and an appropriate amount of sorrel leaves to the soup and stir evenly. After it cools, pour in a carton of yogurt and stir until completely blended.

3. Then cut the boiled eggs open, add them to the soup as decoration, and it is ready.

One room, a bit of soil, self-sufficiency, enjoying simple food and peaceful time. So-called "organic living" is nothing more than maximizing happiness under limited conditions.

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