This will be my first attempt at growing vegetables in my own backyard. How did I come by this idea you might ask? The inspiration came mainly from friends who have moved to Sweden a few years back. They grow almost all their own food and raise some pigs for slaughtering as well. I know I can't get enough out of my meagre few square metres of backyard, but I can at least get some.

The vegetables of choice are two kinds of potatoes, 'Blaue Sweden' and 'Blaue Congo', beetroot 'Chioggia Guardsmark' and parsnips. I figured I can buy regulare potatoes and beets in the supermarket, so I might as well grow something special at home. The potatoes are black skinned, with the Congo having purple coloured tubers. The Sweden has white tubers.
The beetroot has a white/red alternating ring pattern.

These veggies will be planted in raised beds. The beds I 'made' out of pallet collars. I hammered some sheet plastic on the inside as well as it seemed like a good idea. The advantage of using pallet collars is that I can easily store them during winter. Another reason is that I am going to try to grow my potatoes in towers. Yes, the dreaded potato towers. I'll be curious to see wether this gets me a decent harvest.

Aside from the bedded veggies my girlfriend will be growing strawberries and tomatoes in pots. She will sow the tomato seeds in small pots and keep them inside until they are big enough to go into the yard. The strawberry plants will be bought a bit later in the season and will go outside as well. We also have a blueberry bush and a redcurrant in the yard.

In this blog I will post pictures of our yard in progress with descriptions of what we have done to get it there. The ups, the downs, good and bad times and hopefully a bountiful harvest.