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Volume vs Diversity

Saturday, November 24, 2012 19:53
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Latest post from MARKSVEGPLOT – a blog about food and gardening in England”

As many of you will know, my garden is small. The majority of it is devoted to six raised beds, each 1 x 2.4 metres, along with my new Woodblocx raised bed, which is a little bigger. I also have a border about 8 metres long and 1 metre wide, which is used for growing fruit.

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With a limited amount of space available, I therefore have to think very carefully about what to grow. I generally don’t have a big quantity of any crop, because I like to have lots of different things. Just recently I have begun to reconsider this stance. This is the dilemma: is it best for me to have a tiny quantity of many different crops (Diversity), or would it be better to have a plentiful supply of a smaller number of crops (Volume)?

Points in favour of Diversity

  • More variety of harvests for the kitchen
  • Can concentrate on small volume but high value plants – such as herbs
  • Smaller amounts are easier to fit into odd corners when space becomes available
  • Less impact if one crop is attacked by pests (which may not attack the other plants)
  • Weather conditions often suit one type of plant and not another

 Points in favour of Volume:

  • Viable amounts of each crop – enough to make “proper” meals with
  • Possibly less work – fewer sowing, plantings and harvestings
  • Probably easier (more uniform) when providing protection from pests and weather
  • Easier to plan for crop rotation
  • Best approach if you want to freeze produce for later use

As you can see, there are plenty of points in favour of either approach, so this is a tough choice!

In 2012 I had a some crops that did really well and provided me with a big yield over a long period – such as Tomatoes, Runner Beans and Beetroot.

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The Broad Beans also did very well, though they cropped over only a short period.the Cucumbers got off to a slow start, but came good in the end., and the potatoes were as good as ever. But to be fair, I also had a few failures. The Squashes were a total washout, and the Sweet Corn was pathetic. I planted four Red Cabbages, but only one produced a decent heart (and the foxes ate another one!). Radishes were also very poor this year.

On the other hand, I did have small quantities of some really nice things that I had seldom, if ever, grown before. For instance Strawberries: I had only four plants which produced a minuscule harvest, but the fruits were just SO GOOD that I am already planning to have more next year.

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Likewise, I put a few (was it six?) “Golden Ball” Turnips in a plastic container, just because I had a packet of seeds that came free with something, and a spare container. I wish I had sowed some more, because the one we ate the other day was perfect. Hopefully the others will be too.

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My harvest of “Mechelse Tros” climbing beans (aka “Mushy Pea Bean”) provided one solitary meal for us, but it was really nice, and it gave me a chance to try this unusual vegetable. I might even be persuaded to grow it in quantity on some future occasion.

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In truth it would be hard for me to give up the pleasure of having such a variety of nice things to eat. I fear that my decision may well turn out to be a compromise. I think I will drop some of the things that didn’t do well, and concentrate on producing a bit more of a smaller number of crops – but not too small a number. I think I’ll perhaps forget the Peas (which have never done brilliantly), and the Celeriac (which was very hard work for a very small return), and have 3 varieties of Broad Bean instead of two, more climbing beans and no Sweet Corn; fewer varieties of Tomatoes, but still the same numer of pots; leave out the Cabbages (which are cheap to buy), and have more Cavolo Nero (which goes on cropping for ages), etc, etc…

Here’s another thought: some plants crop once; others crop in succession. For instance Runner Beans continue producing new pods over a period of about three months, and Kale lasts all Winter if you pick a few leaves at a time, whereas Sweet Corn and Cabbages are “once only” crops. More of the former and fewer of the latter would be a good plan therefore. So, maybe we’re back to the principles of VSR? [If you are not familiar with the concept of Value for Space Rating, have a look at this: VSR ]

Having said all this, what do you think will happen when some time over the Christmas holiday I sit down with a nice cup of tea to have a good long look at all those seed catalogues???

To read more articles like this, on Gardening and Gastronomy, please visit * http://marksvegplot.blogspot.com/ *



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