Growing Vegetarian

By Carson Arthur

Photo by Thomas Kriese

Ready to go vegetarian? According to several online sources including Wikipedia, the trend towards vegetarianism is on the rise! A lot of this has to do with the Millennial generation as they start making their own grocery choices. There is a lot of speculation as to the reasons why but according to Forbes, the movement away from meat is linked to a desire to protect the planet and the humane treatment of animals. Whether this is a good or bad thing is up to you, but with a reported 70 percent of the global population choosing a reduced-meat diet, the veggie section of the grocery store is about to grow. Unfortunately, the prices are going to be heading up as well. Fresh vegetable prices are set to go up another 3.5 percent this year. So, whether you have a large backyard, a rooftop terrace or a condo balcony, now is the time to try and grow food for your family, regardless your motivation. And it’s never been so simple.

Nice and sunny!

If you have never grown vegetables before, then I’d suggest starting easy with two large pots and a sunny spot that gets at least five hours of sunlight per day. With planters, you can plant on a deck in the backyard, on a patio, or even in a south facing window. The key here is the sunlight. Unless you are planning on installing a lighting system, you need a little help from Mother Nature. This is also the one step in the process that most people get wrong. Too often homeowners think they have a sunny spot and realize too late, it’s only sunny for the few hours in the day that they are home to notice. Here is my simple test for how much sunlight you really have. Start with a simple solar powered toy from a dollar store; I have a little dancing devil that shimmies when the sun hits him. Place your toy in the spot you want to garden. If it dances, then you have enough light to grow plants there. Next, set a reminder on your phone to check the toy once an hour to see if it is still dancing. This is the easiest way to see how many hours of sunlight you really have in a spot.

Next, we need a couple of planters. Ideally, your flowerpots should be at least 24 inches tall and 12 inches wide. Designate one planter to be home for a tomato plant and some friends and the other for beans. When choosing a tomato, you’ll have to decide what shape of fruit you want. Do you prefer cherry tomatoes? What about salad size? Maybe a big slicer is the one for you. What ever works for your family, make sure to also include a support stake and a wire cage in the planter to help hold up your tomato plant. Alongside your tomato, plant some basil. Basil not only happily grows in the same conditions as tomatoes, it also helps control and deter insects and other pests from attacking your fruit. Other options for your tomato planter include peppers, chives, leeks, and even some fragrant herbs like sage and thyme. All of these companion plants are also perfect for tomatoes grown in the garden.

In your second planter, we are going to grow beans, but instead of pole beans that require a tall trellis, we are going to plant bush beans. As they are appropriately named, these beans grow on a bush, making them perfect for a planter or for a smaller space. There are many varieties of bush beans including green, yellow, and even purple options. I suggest you have some fun and plant a variety that you don’t usually buy at the grocer. With your beans, plant some frilly kale. Beans and kale are true garden buddies, happily growing together in the same space, and they are also colour coordinated! For every colour of bean out there, there is a kale with the exact same tone in its leaves. Beans also grow well with cauliflower and broccoli but both of these don’t really love growing in planters. If kale is not for you, try growing spinach or lettuce with your beans. Both spinach and lettuce are considered neutral plants, happily growing alongside almost any other plant in the garden.

Finally, place your two flowerpots away from each other; opposite side of the deck works well. As much as these plants like their pot-companions, they do not grow well with the plants in the other pot. I like to think of this method as the “Westside Story” version of gardening with the tomatoes as the “Jets” and the beans as the “Sharks”. In my vegetable garden, I plant my tomatoes at one end and the beans at the other, with lettuce and spinach down the middle as the line no one should cross.

Image by annquasarano - Pixabay

This is definitely the year of the homegrown vegetable and however you look at it; gardening is entertaining! You really have nothing to lose given the rising costs of fresh produce. Think about it, a head of iceberg lettuce has been in grocers across the country for over $4 this year already and a head of cauliflower has come in at $8.99. You can purchase and plant both of your containers for less than $50; equal to the cost of five heads of cauliflower. ~

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