Which vegetables are particularly energy-efficient when grown?

If you grow tomatoes, cucumbers & Co. yourself, you are already saving resources in many ways. However, some vegetables are even more energy-efficient than most.

Growing your own vegetables can be a great way to save money and ensure that you are eating healthy, nutrient-rich food. But not all vegetables are created equal when it comes to energy-efficiency. Some vegetables require more water, fertilizer, and energy to grow than others. In this article, we will look at which vegetables are particularly energy-efficient when grown so that you can make the most of your gardening efforts. Growing vegetables is a great way to save energy and resources. Certain vegetables are more energy-efficient than others when it comes to growing them. These vegetables can be grown in small spaces, require less water, and use fewer resources than other types of crops.

No transport, no long storage, no packaging – homegrown produce generally compares favorably with supermarket vegetables in terms of energy efficiency and resource conservation. If you want to go one step further, you can consider what vegetables to grow in the garden.

Perennial vegetables

Perennial or hardy vegetables not only make less work, they also help save money because they don’t have to be reseeded every year. Examples include long-lived asparagus (yields a good 10 years!), field leeks, English and New Zealand spinach, perennial kale, parsnip, tuberous parsley, potato onion, tuberous sweet pea, horseradish, Jerusalem artichoke and artichoke. For herbs, suitable perennial crops include pineapple sage, curry bush, Jamaica thyme, lovage, Vietnamese coriander and wild rocket.

Direct sowing – without preculture

Sowing seeds directly outdoors has several advantages: less labor, no heating costs for any greenhouse, and no need for growing soil or plastic pots for preculture. Examples of crops suitable for direct seeding include squash, zucchini, beans, sweet corn, carrots and beets. However, you should wait until after the last frost before sowing.

Prefer rainwater and natural fertilizers

Self-cultivation becomes really resource-saving when rainwater is used for watering. Several rain barrels or a larger tank help to save valuable tap water – and thus also cash.

Tip: Mulching (e.g. with lawn or green cuttings that accumulate in the garden anyway) reduces evaporation and keeps the soil moist. In the vegetable patch, you can simply leave green crop waste on top of the soil.

Another way to save energy and money is to choose fertilizer. Instead of artificial fertilizers, which consume a lot of energy in their production, it is worthwhile to produce fertilizer in your own garden: (worm) compost, compost tea, plant dips and chicken manure, but also “waste material” such as coffee grounds from filter coffee are suitable natural fertilizers for most garden and vegetable plants.