High Density Gardening

What is High Density Gardening? Well I have always been interested in gardening but it is not until recently that I have decided to grow vegetables with a vengeance. That’s me with the vengeance not the veg although I do like fiery chillies and have grown these for many years in a greenhouse. In fact my recent high density veg gardening stems from the fact that I decided my greenhouse wasn't big enough and apart from the standard tomatoes, cucumbers and chilies, I grew very little else in it although it has been used for years to germinate seeds and grow new plants on in the spring. The other, and I suppose the most important reason, is that I am becoming more and more concerned about the food miles which has gone into what I buy. Whilst shopping recently I could have bought fresh peas and French beans which had traveled over 4,000 miles. Meat was available from even further away, as was fresh fruit. Fresh?, when it has had to be picked and transported thousands of miles and at what cost, not only in currency but in environmental damage.

For Christmas dinner last year we had roast baby parsnips, roast baby carrots, roast baby leeks, roast turnips, roast beetroot, fresh spinach, fresh lettuce and  fresh Japanese radish as well as other more traditional Christmas foods.

How many miles had my fresh vegetables traveled, well none really. The exact distance was 25 feet from garden to the oven and that included a detour to the sink to wash them. As for freshness, about 15 minutes from picking to cooking, well starting to cook them. It is not possible to get better than this unless, like me, you grow your own vegetables and they were all grown with the high density gardening system.

This website will give you the knowledge to start your own vegetable garden and more importantly how to build your High Density Gardening raised beds. Your garden does not have to be big to produce a reasonable quantity and quality of vegetables for you to enjoy eating as we will be using the High Density Gardening system. Surprisingly enough it does not have to involve a lot of time either and although I cannot promise a big saving in costs over what you can buy at the supermarket I can promise freshness and the knowledge that you have grown your own vegetables. You should also find it a lot of fun and sometimes there will be disappointment when things go wrong as they still do but hopefully not too often.

The high density gardening method also relies heavily on having a source of home made compost and although it is possible to manage without this, it is a great addition to any soil and is part of helping to develop the life in the soil.