We all strive to grow big and beautiful pieces of vegetables. We want perfect lettuce heads, big cabbages, long carrots, and lots of beans and peas per plant. But, what if we notice that no matter what we do we can’t achieve this? What if every year the results are getting worse, and each year we struggle more to grow vegetables? Do we continue to grow the same vegetables blaming it on us, or do we try to see what has changed over time.?

My garden has been in the same spot for over 35 years, and in these 35 years, a lot has changed. We had rainy years, years with lots of snow, and hot and drought years. In each of the years, there were always some excellent vegetables and others that didn’t grow well. During the rainy period years, we grew huge amounts of beans on netting, as soon as the summers became unbearably hot, we switched from beans to tomatoes. Once the springs became very cold, we switched to varieties with shorter growth periods. We just try to see what has changed and adapt to the change.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been trying many different approaches, but the seasons have become so unpredictable that I actually can’t catch the best method for the season. We start with very cold springs, that keep the garden cold, and jump to summer heat without any real transition. It’s like spring and autumn have actually disappeared.

Also, another increasing problem is the forest around my house which is bigger every year. When we first moved here everything around us were orchards and vineyards, but over the years they were abandoned, and now we live surrounded by forest, and I mean really surrounded. 3 sides of the garden are squeezed in by the forest, and the 4th side is the house side. Of course, this means that the sun hours are decreasing and that the soil temperature is much lower in the spring than it was 35 years ago, and we all know that without that spring warmth boost we won’t be able to grow many of the veggies.

This is why I’ve started changing my garden approach completely. Besides adding another garden to have more different growth conditions, I’ve also started sowing more leafy vegetables. I’ve noticed that I might not be able to grow a perfect-sized vegetable head, but I can grow huge amounts of separate leaves. I started testing this approach a few years back with leafy kale, and it was a success every year. Even in the bad years I always had at least 4 kale harvests.

So this year I’ve concentrated entirely on leafy production. I’ve sown many brassica varieties, even head cabbages, but I’m not expecting them to grow heads. I’m harvesting the leaves. If they end up growing heads in the end this will be great, but I will be perfectly happy with the leaves that I’m getting. I’ve planted brassicas both in the plastic bottles in the yard and in a bed in the main garden. Both of the places are giving me nice amounts of leaves. So far I’ve harvested twice the bottled brassicas and once the garden plants. I’ve got around 4kilos(8.8lbs), which is more than my whole year brassica production lately, and we’re just beginning the harvesting period.

Another successful vegetable this year is lettuce, where I also changed the approach. Besides building a separate lettuce bed, I’ve also bought only the leafy varieties. The only variety that grows heads is the all-year-round variety, which I’ve also sown and grown as leafy lettuce. I’ve sown my lettuce as a carpet, without much room to make heads, and I’ve sown mostly cutting varieties. The result is great. I have lettuce everywhere. Some of the varieties are still trying to bolt, but those are harvested as soon as I spot them elongating, and I’m able to harvest plenty of lettuce for our everyday meals. For the first time in ages, I have lettuce while we’re in a very hot period, and I don’t need to worry about the speedy bolting.

More vegetables are being grown the same way. I’m no longer forcing the carrot root production. Instead, I’m sowing it very narrow and harvesting and drying leaves instead. I’m growing leafy parsley and cilantro. I’m choosing leafy chard varieties. Beets are grown primarily for their leaves and I’m concentrating my zucchini production on flowers. Suger peas are grown instead of the usual varieties, and even radishes are not forced to make big heads, but instead, I use primarily leaves.

The result is really great. I’ve had 4 big harvests since the middle of May, and the garden keeps on giving. This week I’ve harvested so many brassica greens that I actually don’t have any more room in the freezer. Now I’m also changing my approach to storing the veggies.

I’ve always stored vegetables pickled or frozen. I’ve dried only herbs, but the rest were blanched and frozen for further usage. Now I’ve decided to dehydrate and dry as many vegetables as I can. Why use all the freezer space with brassica leaves when I can dehydrate them and store them in glass jars. Hubby built a lot of shelves in the basement and I can fill them all with food.

I still don’t own a dehydrator, since they are hard to find here, so I’m using my oven, but that’s ok since there are so many leaves that I’d need an oven-sized dehydrator to dehydrate all of them anyway. I guess I’ll spend even more time in my kitchen now, but at least I will have enough room to store huge amounts of veggies.

I guess radical changes in the approach are welcome and much needed when the choices we make are right. So, I won’t grow any beautiful cabbage heads this year, but I will still be able to fill up my basement with enough food for winter. Which, for me, is the most important thing in growing vegetables at home.