FAQ

Self-sustaining farming is producing most or all of your food on your own land with little to no external inputs or help from other people or organizations.

Organic farming (also known as ecological farming) is a form of farming that is based on organic fertilization, biological plant protection and natural biological cycles, and prohibits the use of synthetic fertilizers and (synthetic) plant protection agents.

• We can produce healthy, bio-quality vegetables/herbs and spices ourselves in a self-sustaining and environmentally friendly way. You don't have to travel for food, it's grown in their own garden, which saves time.
• Healthier food is put on the family table, since we do not use synthetic fertilizers and chemicals.
• We can get food cheaper. Food prices will remain high for a long time. The benefit of your own garden costs or raw materials, and the key factor is the investment of your own labor, and the amount and price of that time.
• Positive experience/quality time/hobby in the open air for family/community members.
• Prioritizing a healthy lifestyle and healthy diet: enjoying active movement and fresh air. Continuous production of healthy vegetables from spring to autumn, which is a source of vitamin-rich and healthy nutrition.
• Community life, especially children learn to adapt to each other and work together. The seed and seedling exchange is an excellent community program for adults and children.
• Development of natural science knowledge: learning about the development of plants from germination to harvest. Getting to know the conditions necessary for the development of plants and their provision.

The Herb Spiral is a productive and practical, vertical garden design. Pyramid spiral shape design was inspired by the nature. You can grow plants horizontally vertically to maximise space. It’s a practical and attractive solution for home gardeners. A herb and spice spiral design is typically 1.5 – 2m wide in diameter at the base and rises to 1.0 – 1.3m. The centre of the spiral is at the highest point. The spiral ramp provides a planting area large enough to fit in all your common culinary herbs and spices. It enables a variety of plants with different needs to grow in a small space and makes it possible to cater to the smallest space habitat requirements of plants of different climatic zones. The soil on the top of the spiral remains drier, while the bottom will be more moist.

• Grow more food in less space vs. flat structure.  The structure has a small footprint, but delivers lots of accessible growing space (vertical farming). 
• More variety in a range of microclimates. You can grow plants that prefer different growing conditions all in the one garden space.
• Healthier herbs. The height of the spiral creates shade and sun zones.
• The rock used in the spiral holds thermal mass - it keeps heat. 
• Efficient water management. The soil on the top of the spiral remains drier, while the bottom will be more moist. 
• Beatiful garden feature. They look beautiful, and are great garden structures. 
• Convenient with easy access for maintenance and harvesting.
• Low cost to build and low maintenance cost.
• Save time, energy. Growing the bulk of your herb requirements at your kitchen door is extremely energy and time efficient. No fuel is consumed if you need herbs and spices. No refrigeration or energy is used in storage when you pick your herbs fresh, as you need them. Best of all, no time is wasted travelling.
• Easy Companion Planting. Many herbs have mutually beneficial relationships with other plants. Flowering herbs also attract beneficial pollinating insects like bees, butterflies and wasps.

• Upper, dry, Mediterranean zone. Thin sandy soil with good drainage, typical plants e.g. thyme, sage, oregano.
• Middle, transitional zone. Its soil is rich in nutrients, and plants that like sunlight and heat can be planted here, e.g. chives, basil, anise.
• Lower, wet zone. It is located at the bottom of the spiral, the soil is rich in humus and nutrients, and can be planted with damp, shade-loving plants, e.g. mint. 

A raised bed can be made simply from boards, pallets or concrete.

A high bed made of wood should be wrapped around the frame on the inside.

• Layer 0: mole mesh.
• 1st layer: thicker branches, twigs that are difficult to decompose
• 2nd layer: grass clippings, straw, fresh garden waste or semi-finished compost
• 3rd layer of mature compost, composted manure
• 4th layer: farmland that does not contain added fertilizers.

• Smaller vegetables (early and late varieties) and fruits. From the point of view of continuous harvesting, it is advisable to choose vegetables that can be grown continuously. First of all, choose plants that have limited growth. For example: determinate tomatoes, chili peppers, strawberries, chard, lettuce, spinach, sorrel, radishes, celery, beets, onions (scallions).
• Spices and herbs. For example: basil, mint, oregano, marjoram, parsley, celery.

It is not advisable to plant tall and bushy plants in the raised bed. E.g. continuously growing (indeterminate) tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, potatoes.

• Healthier Harvests with easy to practice crop rotation. Rotating crops helps maintain soil health and thwarts pests that overwinter in the soil.
• Material conservation: Because the gardening space is concentrated, the management of water, fertilizer, mulch and soil amendments can be more carefully controlled, leading to less waste.
• Better Water Control and irrigation: Raised beds allow the soil to drain well, avoiding the waterlogged challenges of many in-ground gardens. Irrigation is also less wasteful in the confined space of a raised bed. 
• More growing space.
• No soil compaction.
• Warmer soil earlier in the season and for a longer season. In the spring, these beds’ soil tends to warm more quickly than the ground, allowing earlier planting of spring crops. Plus, with the addition of simple low tunnels, harvests can continue well into late fall.
• Less soil erosion.
• Raised beds offer soil control. You can fill your raised beds with the exact kind of soil you need for your plants. These beds allow you to control the content and structure of the soil, ensuring a nutrient-rich environment for your plants.
• You can build separate raised beds for different kinds of plants, each with the optimal soil conditions.
• It’s easier to control surface weeds in a raised bed compared to the open soil, lowering the competition for your plants.
• Access for gardeners with disabilities: Raised beds, at the proper height, can improve access for wheelchairs, or for gardeners who have a hard time bending over. Raised beds are easier to tend without constant bending over, reducing the back problems that can bring.
• Attractive focal point in the garden.
• Manageability: Raised beds offer a manageable way to garden a smaller space intensively.
• Easier soil amendments: A raised bed can enable crop growth in an area that otherwise would not support gardening. For specific crops that thrive in particular soils, raised beds can be amended appropriately.

Materials with a high nitrogen content and high carbon content must be layered alternately (at a maximum height of 1.5 m). Soil can also be placed on top or between the layers. Since oxygen is required for composting (aerobic), the compost heap must be turned from time to time. If there is no adequate air supply, then anaerobic rotting starts, which results in an unpleasant smell and at the end of the process, no humus-rich material is produced. If the material is too dry, wetting is also necessary. Ripe compost is dark in color and has a characteristic earthy smell. Under natural conditions, the process takes place in 9-12 months.

Composting is the biological recycling of organic waste in order to ensure the circulation of nutrients. Microbial communities and earthworms play a primary role in the composting process. The nutrients produced by composting are returned to the soil, which the plants can take up again, thereby ensuring the circulation of nutrients.

The aerobic (in the presence of air) composting shall consist of controlled decomposition of biodegradable materials, which is predominantly aerobic and which allows the development of temperatures suitable for thermophilic bacteria as a result of biologically produced heat. All parts of each batch shall be either regularly and thoroughly moved and turned or subject to forced ventilation in order to ensure the correct sanitation and homogeneity of the material. 

• With composting we continuously obtain the organic materials and nutrients needed for our garden from our own sources. In this way, the use of synthetic fertilizers from external sources can be avoided.
• We can reduce the amount of household waste to be transported by up to 20-40%.
• We return plant residues generated in the garden to our plants.
• Compost improves the structure of the soil and supplies plants with valuable nutrients,
• We can produce a valuable soil-enhancing compost material rich in nutrients and organic matter, with which we can make the soil of our garden more fertile.
• The use of external synthetic nutrients can be significantly reduced, which means significant money savings and contributes to healthier crop production. 
• Soil rich in humus has a better water retention capacity.
• Plants can grow healthier.
• Recycling organic waste into compost provides a range of environmental benefits, including improving soil health, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, recycling nutrients, and mitigating the impact of droughts.

• Living animals e.g. hedgehogs can be drawn in the green waste pile.
• During burning, harmful and toxic materials are released, which pollute the air.
• By burning, we deprive the soil of valuable mineral and organic substances. In contrast, with composting, nutrients and organic matter are returned to the soil of our garden.

Primarily, organic materials of plant origin can be composted, which are free of glass, metal, and plastic.

Materials with a high nitrogen content that decompose quickly:

• garden waste: collected tree leaves, plant clippings, grass clippings
• kitchen waste: various plant residues, such as fruits (with untreated peel), vegetable peels, seeds, coffee and tea grounds.

Materials with a high carbon content that decompose slowly:

• fallen and collected leaves
• straw
• untreated wood chips and sawdust
• egg shell,
• plant stems, chopped thin twigs and branches.
• animal manure.

• Household waste in general, e.g. packaging materials, hazardous waste, textile waste, chemicals, paints. These are partially or completely non-degradable materials.
• Cooked food leftovers, baked goods, processed foods, animal leftovers. They can attract rodents and predators, and there is a risk of infection. 
• Used oil, vegetable fat. These can be collected separately and deliver to collection points. 
• Used handkerchiefs, wipes, napkins, cosmetic discs and cloths, diapers, intimate hygiene products. Due to the risk of infection and possible plastic content.
• Wood treated with chemicals. 
• Biodegradable (or easily degradable) plastic products and packaging. They cannot decompose under the conditions of home composting. They were developed for industrial composting purpose. 
• Paper packaging, newspapers and magazines. They may contain chemicals and paint.
• Peel of citrus fruits. There are treated with chemicals, so composting them is not recommended. 
• Walnut leaf. It decomposes more slowly, it is worth handling separately.

Saving seed from open pollinated tomatoes is a simple process. You can save money because you don't have to buy packaged hybrid seeds next year.  For saving seeds choose open-pollinated tomato varieties, not F1 varieties.

You will need: 

• Tomatoes 
• Knife, spoon
• Paper towel
• Glass jar 
• Sieve 
• paper plate
• Paper envelope 

Step 1: Choose a couple of healthy tomatoes. When the tomatoes are very ripe, pick them off the plant.

Step 2: Halve the tomatoes and scoop the seeds out into a shallow jar of water. Cover with paper towel. The seeds are purified using a simple wet fermentation process. This is necessary in order to remove the gelatinous coating ont he tomato seed, which can prevents germination. 

Step 3: Fermentation is complete when the seeds sink to the bottom of the jar. Pour the seeds into a sieve and wash them thoroughly with water. 

Step 4: Arrange the seeds on paper plate to dry out. Paper towels are not suitable for this purpose. Once the seeds have dried out thoroughly, store them in a paper envelope in a dark, cool place until spring. Make sure they’re clearly labelled.

Many modern vegetable varieties are specially bred as F1 hybrids. These seeds promise better uniformity and other desirable traits such as disease resistance. The new seeds of F1 hybrids can only be produced within a highly controlled environment, from two separate parent varieties that are kept isolated and then crossed – usually by hand. This makes them expensive and unsustainable. Hybrid plants increase farmers’ reliance on seed companies and therefore are subject to changes in prices and discontinuations. These varieties can also lead to a loss of diversity if open-pollinated varieties are not maintained. Additionally, hybrid seeds tend to be more expensive in comparison to open-pollinated varieties due to the maintenance of the two distinct inbred parent lines.

You can save seed from hybrid plants although we do not recommend it. It is important to note, however, that the plants you grow from these saved seeds from F1 hybrids  will carry the genetics from both ‘parents’ and may display different characteristics than you are expecting. Plants that grow from seed saved from hybrid plants generally are less vigorous, more variable, and usually have smaller blossoms and yield less than their parents.

Heirloom vegetables are open-pollinated, non-hybrid cultivar. By contrast heritage varieties are all open pollinated using parents of the same variety, so there is no need to isolate the parent plants from each other. This makes open-pollinated seeds a lot cheaper, and while the plants they produce may be less uniform.

Open-pollinated seeds are more diverse than hybrid varieties because the pollination process is left to nature. This may lead to an increase in survival rate and can be advantageous in the event of a newly emerged plant epidemic or other extreme stressors that hybrids are not bred to withstand. Open-pollinated seeds allow growers to save their own seeds. Their lack of uniformity can be disadvantageous for marketing purposes and growers using large machinery.

Continuously selecting the best plants from an open-pollinated variety may promote a population adapted to local conditions. 

• Light: The germination stage does not require light, but it is one of the most important factors during seedling cultivation. If there is not enough light available, the developing seedlings will shrivel up.
• Temperature: Another important factor is ensuring the appropriate temperature for germination and seedling growth. Different plants have different temperature requirements.
• Moisture. In the beginning, after sowing until germination, it is good if the soil is constantly moist, but later the amount of water should be reduced. In this way, we can also avoid the appearance of various infections (e.g. seedling tilt).

Each plant has different temperature requirements, some plants have the following germination temperature requirements:

• Tomato: germination temperature: 20-28 ⁰C, germination time: 6-14 days

• Paprika: germination temperature: 25-30 ⁰C. germination time 8-14 days

• Chili pepper: germination temperature: 30-32 ⁰C, below 25⁰C the germination rate decreases.

• Parsley: germination temperature: 15-25 ⁰C, Germination time: 21 days

• Eggplant: germination temperature: 25-35 ⁰C, Germination time: 5-10 days

In the case of tomato and pepper seedlings, they can be planted at the beginning of May, after the frosts. The duration of seedling cultivation is approx. takes eight weeks