Garden Trends 2014
The 'Trends' post is one of my all time favourites to write up. I totally enjoy reviewing the past year's gardening themes and then scoping out which way the trends are bending towards in the year ahead!
So, here, in no particular order, are the garden trends for 2014, as I see them.
1. Growing Vegetables aka Growing Your Own Food
This one, of course, totally floats my boat! I am all about bringing back food growing in the yard, at home, especially rather than useless lawns ; )
People are growing their own groceries more than ever, esp with the threats from genetically modified foods, wondering how they will affect us, our children and our grandbabies in the long run.
Some grow veggies in pots and planters, some in raised beds in the back yard or mixed in with the flowers in the flower beds, and some on a larger scale, using up most all of the yard for food.
Whatever one does, it teaches children where food comes from, how to grow it, and how it really tastes fresh out of the garden. It is healthier, more nutritious, and you know what has gone into it and know exactly what is on your plate. Plus, it is so much fun to nurture ones own food from start to finish.
People have re-discovered real food. Home grown, organically grown, ethically grown food... not only safer but tastes so much better.
Note:
It is is very important that you know that the seeds, seedlings, fruits and veggies that we small peeps can buy, sell and grow are not now and have not ever been genetically modified (GMO's). The only people that have access to GMO seeds are huge companies that pay big bucks and sign papers for the 'right' to grow them. Hybrids are not genetically modified.
That said, it is also very important that you buy seeds from companies that have taken the Safe Seed Pledge and seedlings and starts from reputable companies (like Nitty Gritty Greenhouse) who only use seeds that have taken this pledge. Though the seeds themselves have not been modified, some of the seed companies are actually owned by Monsanto and thus the sale of those seeds help to fund the works. Grr, dirty pool, eh?
With the trend to healthier lifestyles, more people than ever are getting active and eating more fruits, veggies, and super grains.
Juicing and blending is in, raw foods are in, veggies are hip, eating fresh, green, local, is very, very in.
Super foods are fruits, veggies, berries, grains, etc... that have higher than average nutritional value. Foods that lower our risk of disease and improve our health.
Turns out that we are eating more and more of these extra nutritious foods now, especially if we can find them locally grown or grow them ourselves! Organic, home grown super foods! Fresher than fresh and thus even more nutritious!
Power packed super foods that we are growing ourselves ...
Quinoa (a gluten free super grain, packed with protein, amino acids, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, and manganese )
Pumpkin seeds (for Omega 3's and 6's, tons of zinc and iron, plus most importantly, phytosterols for lowering cholesterol and for prostate health)
Blueberries, black currants, and rhubarb (are all sources of higher than average vitamins and anti-oxidants, plus, rhubarb is great for relieving hot flashes! :)
Pretty much the entire allium family, but esp garlic and shallots (contain pre-biotics that promote the good bacterias that we need for good gut health, lower the risk of stomach cancer, help fight against atherosclerosis. Alzheimer's, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and blood clots that cause stroke or heart attack)
Veggies that are deep and rich with colours are known to have greater nutritional value than their pale counterparts... think dark green leafy veggies like kale and spinach, or deep oranges like carrots, sweet potatoes and squash, beets, broccoli, cabbage....
When asked, folks said they would grow even more foods in their own yards if only the plants were smaller and more manageable, super easy to grow, with less fussing and great results.
Dunh, dunh, dah... Bring on these guys...
These cuties all need less fussing, less space, less pruning, are easy to grow and thrive in pots, planters or garden beds.
Blueberries like the Top Hat Blueberry, or the new Brazelberries blueberries called Jelly Bean and Peach Sorbet, are the cutest little dwarf shrubs ever! They can be grown in a pot or in the garden, are self pollinating, easy to grow, and prolific fruiters.
Brazelberries new Raspberry Shortcake is a thornless (yay!) raspberry that stays compact and pretty. Needs no staking or tying up, making it possible for the very first time to grow great raspberries in a pot or in the smallest of garden spaces!
Veggies like the Astia Zucchini provide loads of zukes with shorter, compact branches instead of long vines.
Bush Slicer Cucumber for tons of slicer cukes on short vines, perfect for pots.
The Morden Midget Eggplant is never bitter, always tasty, with pretty little purple fruits that grow on an 18" high bush.
The Stupice tomato is a bush type heirloom that stays nice and compact and fruits great, is especially perfect for short season summer area.
Fruit trees like figs, lemons, mandarins, limes, apples, pears ... all come in dwarf varieties and can easily be tended in pots or grown as a feature tree in the new postage stamp sized yards.
So, here, in no particular order, are the garden trends for 2014, as I see them.
1. Growing Vegetables aka Growing Your Own Food
This one, of course, totally floats my boat! I am all about bringing back food growing in the yard, at home, especially rather than useless lawns ; )
People are growing their own groceries more than ever, esp with the threats from genetically modified foods, wondering how they will affect us, our children and our grandbabies in the long run.
Some grow veggies in pots and planters, some in raised beds in the back yard or mixed in with the flowers in the flower beds, and some on a larger scale, using up most all of the yard for food.
Whatever one does, it teaches children where food comes from, how to grow it, and how it really tastes fresh out of the garden. It is healthier, more nutritious, and you know what has gone into it and know exactly what is on your plate. Plus, it is so much fun to nurture ones own food from start to finish.
People have re-discovered real food. Home grown, organically grown, ethically grown food... not only safer but tastes so much better.
Note:
It is is very important that you know that the seeds, seedlings, fruits and veggies that we small peeps can buy, sell and grow are not now and have not ever been genetically modified (GMO's). The only people that have access to GMO seeds are huge companies that pay big bucks and sign papers for the 'right' to grow them. Hybrids are not genetically modified.
That said, it is also very important that you buy seeds from companies that have taken the Safe Seed Pledge and seedlings and starts from reputable companies (like Nitty Gritty Greenhouse) who only use seeds that have taken this pledge. Though the seeds themselves have not been modified, some of the seed companies are actually owned by Monsanto and thus the sale of those seeds help to fund the works. Grr, dirty pool, eh?
Black Plum heirloom tomatoes from my own greenhouse and potager.
2. Super Foods/EdiblesWith the trend to healthier lifestyles, more people than ever are getting active and eating more fruits, veggies, and super grains.
Juicing and blending is in, raw foods are in, veggies are hip, eating fresh, green, local, is very, very in.
Super foods are fruits, veggies, berries, grains, etc... that have higher than average nutritional value. Foods that lower our risk of disease and improve our health.
Turns out that we are eating more and more of these extra nutritious foods now, especially if we can find them locally grown or grow them ourselves! Organic, home grown super foods! Fresher than fresh and thus even more nutritious!
Power packed super foods that we are growing ourselves ...
Quinoa (a gluten free super grain, packed with protein, amino acids, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, and manganese )
Pumpkin seeds (for Omega 3's and 6's, tons of zinc and iron, plus most importantly, phytosterols for lowering cholesterol and for prostate health)
Blueberries, black currants, and rhubarb (are all sources of higher than average vitamins and anti-oxidants, plus, rhubarb is great for relieving hot flashes! :)
Pretty much the entire allium family, but esp garlic and shallots (contain pre-biotics that promote the good bacterias that we need for good gut health, lower the risk of stomach cancer, help fight against atherosclerosis. Alzheimer's, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and blood clots that cause stroke or heart attack)
Veggies that are deep and rich with colours are known to have greater nutritional value than their pale counterparts... think dark green leafy veggies like kale and spinach, or deep oranges like carrots, sweet potatoes and squash, beets, broccoli, cabbage....
Grow your own quinoa!
Super easy to grow yourself and super nutritious!
... and pretty to boot!
3. Easy To Grow Fruits, Veggies & Berries That Thrive in Small Spaces ... and pretty to boot!
When asked, folks said they would grow even more foods in their own yards if only the plants were smaller and more manageable, super easy to grow, with less fussing and great results.
Dunh, dunh, dah... Bring on these guys...
These cuties all need less fussing, less space, less pruning, are easy to grow and thrive in pots, planters or garden beds.
Blueberries like the Top Hat Blueberry, or the new Brazelberries blueberries called Jelly Bean and Peach Sorbet, are the cutest little dwarf shrubs ever! They can be grown in a pot or in the garden, are self pollinating, easy to grow, and prolific fruiters.
Brazelberries new Raspberry Shortcake is a thornless (yay!) raspberry that stays compact and pretty. Needs no staking or tying up, making it possible for the very first time to grow great raspberries in a pot or in the smallest of garden spaces!
Veggies like the Astia Zucchini provide loads of zukes with shorter, compact branches instead of long vines.
Bush Slicer Cucumber for tons of slicer cukes on short vines, perfect for pots.
The Morden Midget Eggplant is never bitter, always tasty, with pretty little purple fruits that grow on an 18" high bush.
The Stupice tomato is a bush type heirloom that stays nice and compact and fruits great, is especially perfect for short season summer area.
Fruit trees like figs, lemons, mandarins, limes, apples, pears ... all come in dwarf varieties and can easily be tended in pots or grown as a feature tree in the new postage stamp sized yards.
Brazelberries 'Raspberry Shortcake'
4. Planting for the bees
With the decline in the bee population, everyone is taking this one very seriously. Pesticides have been banned in most all provinces/states and folks are planting flowers and herbs that feed the bees while adding colour and interest to the garden.
Bees are drawn to flowers with big, flat heads like dill, cilantro or Queen Anne's Lace.
They also love the blue/purple hues... so herbs like anise hyssop, chives, borage, lavender, and catmint, and pretty blue flowers like liatris, larkspur, and bachelors buttons.
They simply adore single, flat flowers (doubles tend to be either sterile or have very little pollen and/or nectar). Think of the single dahlias like Bishop's Children (not the puffy ones or dinnerplates), sunflowers (again, the big ones that make seeds, not the ornamental), and they love nearly all the zinnias, esp the ones with the big, pollen filled yellow centres like the 'Cut and Come Again'.
Cut and Come Again Zinnias... photo from Harris Seeds.
5. Geometric Gardening
No longer are you apt to find gardens with long, neat, straight rows of a single veggie. The trend now is going to growing more food, more colour, and more variety in beds of every geometric shape imaginable.
Gardens now might be spirals with veggies, flowers and herbs growing up and around like in a snail shell ... or they may be in a circle, key hole, pyramid, pinwheel, or triangle shape for more interest, with plantings in a mix of colours, shapes, sizes and textures.
Geometric garden beds look spectacular! Flowers, fruits, herbs, veggies, and berries, all planted into an interesting bed design .... Add fabulous colour, texture and a healthy mix of goodies to your yardscape.
Gardens now might be spirals with veggies, flowers and herbs growing up and around like in a snail shell ... or they may be in a circle, key hole, pyramid, pinwheel, or triangle shape for more interest, with plantings in a mix of colours, shapes, sizes and textures.
Geometric garden beds look spectacular! Flowers, fruits, herbs, veggies, and berries, all planted into an interesting bed design .... Add fabulous colour, texture and a healthy mix of goodies to your yardscape.
Photo from houzz.com
6. No Till Gardening/Lasagna Bed Gardening
No more tilling, turning, lifting, hoeing...
The trend is turning more and more towards not turning your soil, just like Ruth Stout touted decades ago.
Gardening just does not get any easier than this..
We all know that when we turn our soil, we bring weed seeds to the surface. They then germinate and we have to pull or hoe them out. If we do not ever turn the soil, these weed seeds stay buried, never to germinate.
To keep weeds at bay from around your veggies, mulch with a thick layer of cardboard, newsprint, grass clippings, straw, etc.. to cover the soil and prevent any surface weed seeds from germinating. If any do germinate, pull them and add more of your cover material to prevent any others from germinating. As this mulch breaks down (composts), it improves soil friability and fertility for bigger, better and healthier crops.
To keep weeds at bay from around your veggies, mulch with a thick layer of cardboard, newsprint, grass clippings, straw, etc.. to cover the soil and prevent any surface weed seeds from germinating. If any do germinate, pull them and add more of your cover material to prevent any others from germinating. As this mulch breaks down (composts), it improves soil friability and fertility for bigger, better and healthier crops.
Instead of turning and mixing in your nutrients and amendments, you layer the compost, manure, alfalfa, etc... right on top of the garden beds, allowing wind, rain, snow and the earth worms to do the work for us.
To start new beds, you do not need to dig down, remove sod, etc... just put down a thick layer of newsprint or cardboard, and then alternate layers of compostable greens and browns (leaf mould, compost, manure, grass clippings, alfalfa hay, kitchen scraps, straw, etc...) to a height of 2 feet. This composts and shrinks down quickly.
To start new beds, you do not need to dig down, remove sod, etc... just put down a thick layer of newsprint or cardboard, and then alternate layers of compostable greens and browns (leaf mould, compost, manure, grass clippings, alfalfa hay, kitchen scraps, straw, etc...) to a height of 2 feet. This composts and shrinks down quickly.
No till garden pic from Pinterest... layer with cover to prevent weeds and improve soil!
7. Investing in Outdoor Living
This trend keeps on growing in popularity. People are looking for ways to spend more time outdoors, to make the outdoor space more useful, making more of the home space livable and usable.
Outdoor rooms, outdoor kitchens, outdoor dining rooms and lounging areas, allow us to spend more time in the great out of doors, spending time with family and friends outdoors, rather than in.
I absolutely love the fabulous outdoor fireplaces that allow us to extend our season by adding warmth and ambiance. The addition of a pizza and/or bread oven makes me think of Mediterranean living, so very romantic and appealing.... plus super yummy!
8. Eco-conscious living
Any and all earth-friendly living that lowers our footprint on the planet is living an Eco-conscious life. More and more people are choosing to live a conscious life style.
Whether you are growing your own food, growing communally, or supporting local growers at the farmers markets, you are lowering the community footprint on the planet and living Eco-friendly.
Or using your land to grow flowers and food rather than grass, drip irrigating to save water, or making your own compost.
If you are re-cycling, re-using or re-furbing, free-cycling and/or bartering goods and services.
Planting native plants, bird houses, bat houses, etc. to provide homes and natural habitats for wildlife.
Using cloth bags, re-using grocery bags, packing lunchboxes or bags instead of plastic or Styrofoam, making your own waxed cloth instead of buying cling wrap.
Taking the bus or car-pooling, disconnecting your downspouts to either fill water barrels or re-route the rainwater to your gardens, using timers, solar lighting, piling leaves for leaf mould, using clothes lines for drying your clothes, ...
Each of these small steps (plus so many more not mentioned here) makes a difference and adds up to a more earth friendly lifestyle and smaller footprint on our planet.
9. Men as gardeners
This is an interesting trend to me. It seems that more and more men are becoming the gardeners in the household.
When we moved to the new house, I began chatting with the neighbours, and found that even here in our wee rural community, the trend really is that more menfolk than ever before are growing the food.
The old guy next door grows veggies and flowers, the young guy down the street grows the hallowe'en pumpkins, my back neighbour is into small urban farming ... I also find men of all ages wandering into my greenhouse in spring, picking out seedlings and starts for their gardens.
My dad has always been into gardening, he is the berry guru. He is the one that does the planting, growing, pruning, tending, picking of all the strawberries, currants, grapes, raspberries, gooseberries, etc... My hubby and brother are the helping hands, they weed, plant, dig holes, build beds, pick, in general, do as they are told, lol. However, these are actually not the guys that I am talking about, gardeners though they are!
This trend is all about the younger gents (18 to 34) spending more money and more time doing the gardening than the gals in the family do.
They are growing their own herbs and veggies for barbecuing and cooking and teaching their kidlets how to grow fruits and veggies. They are the ones buying, seeding, planting, tending and growing. I love it! Go man go!
10. Colour of The Year 2014
Plus, as always, the colour of the year from Panetone! The colour for 2014 is Radiant Orchid. Wow!
This trend keeps on growing in popularity. People are looking for ways to spend more time outdoors, to make the outdoor space more useful, making more of the home space livable and usable.
Outdoor rooms, outdoor kitchens, outdoor dining rooms and lounging areas, allow us to spend more time in the great out of doors, spending time with family and friends outdoors, rather than in.
I absolutely love the fabulous outdoor fireplaces that allow us to extend our season by adding warmth and ambiance. The addition of a pizza and/or bread oven makes me think of Mediterranean living, so very romantic and appealing.... plus super yummy!
Photo from silverfoxhomes.com
8. Eco-conscious living
Any and all earth-friendly living that lowers our footprint on the planet is living an Eco-conscious life. More and more people are choosing to live a conscious life style.
Whether you are growing your own food, growing communally, or supporting local growers at the farmers markets, you are lowering the community footprint on the planet and living Eco-friendly.
Or using your land to grow flowers and food rather than grass, drip irrigating to save water, or making your own compost.
If you are re-cycling, re-using or re-furbing, free-cycling and/or bartering goods and services.
Planting native plants, bird houses, bat houses, etc. to provide homes and natural habitats for wildlife.
Using cloth bags, re-using grocery bags, packing lunchboxes or bags instead of plastic or Styrofoam, making your own waxed cloth instead of buying cling wrap.
Taking the bus or car-pooling, disconnecting your downspouts to either fill water barrels or re-route the rainwater to your gardens, using timers, solar lighting, piling leaves for leaf mould, using clothes lines for drying your clothes, ...
Each of these small steps (plus so many more not mentioned here) makes a difference and adds up to a more earth friendly lifestyle and smaller footprint on our planet.
9. Men as gardeners
This is an interesting trend to me. It seems that more and more men are becoming the gardeners in the household.
When we moved to the new house, I began chatting with the neighbours, and found that even here in our wee rural community, the trend really is that more menfolk than ever before are growing the food.
The old guy next door grows veggies and flowers, the young guy down the street grows the hallowe'en pumpkins, my back neighbour is into small urban farming ... I also find men of all ages wandering into my greenhouse in spring, picking out seedlings and starts for their gardens.
My dad has always been into gardening, he is the berry guru. He is the one that does the planting, growing, pruning, tending, picking of all the strawberries, currants, grapes, raspberries, gooseberries, etc... My hubby and brother are the helping hands, they weed, plant, dig holes, build beds, pick, in general, do as they are told, lol. However, these are actually not the guys that I am talking about, gardeners though they are!
This trend is all about the younger gents (18 to 34) spending more money and more time doing the gardening than the gals in the family do.
They are growing their own herbs and veggies for barbecuing and cooking and teaching their kidlets how to grow fruits and veggies. They are the ones buying, seeding, planting, tending and growing. I love it! Go man go!
realmensow.co.uk
Plus, as always, the colour of the year from Panetone! The colour for 2014 is Radiant Orchid. Wow!
Amaranthus photo from Pinterest
Photo from invitesweddings.com
Lovely post, and I agree, I've seen most of these trends, too. I am so thrilled to see growing food, and finding alternative ways to do it, becoming trendy. :)
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