Ah compost! The gardener’s “brown gold” that is the magic bullet for all our garden problems: Wanna add nutrients to your soil? Mix it with compost. Got water retention issues? Add compost to your soil. Looking for the perfect seed-starting soil? Compost it is. In this article, I’ll show you what you need for good compost and how to make compost, even if you don’t have a garden!
Learn with this step-by-step guide how you can transform garden and kitchen waste into valuable humus.
Benefits of composting
With a compost, you can dispose of kitchen and garden waste and put it back into the natural cycle of transformation. With the help of microorganisms, all the organic material will be broken down into a new, nutritious gardening soil.
Compost improves the soil by loosening its structure and enhancing its water retention capability.
With compost, you have a natural, organic fertiliser for your plants. It’s not called “the gardener’s brown gold” for nothing. 😉
That wonderful fertiliser and soil improver will save you money.
Better still, compost is environmentally friendly as it is all-natural and well-tolerated by plants and soil.
Composting systems
Before you make your first compost, let’s get an overview of the different models. They all have their advantages and disadvantages.
You must also consider how much space you’ve got in your garden, and how much garden and kitchen waste you will produce.
Open composting systems
The classic open composting system is the compost heap, where you just pile all your garden and kitchen waste. Open compost heaps should be at least 1,2 m (4 feet) broad, 80 cm (2,5 feet) high and – if necessary – several metres long. They are best for large gardens with plenty of organic waste.
Open composters are usually grids or frames made of wood or metal that surround the compost heap. They are relatively cheap, and you can even build them yourself out of wooden slats, palettes or sturdy metal fences.
Open composters are well-aired and easily accessible.
On the downside, the compost in open systems needs more time to mature, up to 12 months and longer.
Closed composting systems
Closed composters are usually made of well-isolating plastic or metal containers that usually come with a flap on ground level where you can take out the mature compost. They should be able to contain at least 200 litres to make sure that the composting process takes place fast and effectively.
They protect against weathering and animals (like rats) and require less space than open systems.
Their most important advantage is that they generate high temperatures, making the compost mature a good deal faster than in open systems. These systems are often called thermo composters.
Disadvantageously, closed composters are more expensive than open ones
An alternative closed composter that needs less space is a drum composter. By regularly turning the drum, you’ll mix the waste and provide it with oxygen.
If you want to buy a thermo composter, make sure that the plastic is weather and UV resistant.
Composters for the balcony
Even on a balcony or patio, you can make compost.
You can, for example, use the above-mentioned drum composters that have a compact size.
Also, worm bins are a good method of composting with little space. They do not smell and are very efficient. You can either buy worm bins or build them yourself. The necessary composting worms can be bought online.
Another great method of composting with limited space is a Bokashi bucket, in which you ferment your organic waste and transform it into nutritious soil.
How to make compost: finding the right location
A compost, no matter which system you choose, is usually not a very pretty sight. Sometimes, it can even smell bad. So, to avoid stress with the neighbours, you shouldn’t place the compost directly at the property boundary.
The perfect location for your compost heap should lie in the half-shadow, maybe under trees or (fruit) shrubs. That way, it’s not only protected from winds and sun but also from views. If you have the possibility to hide it, do so.
It’s also important that you can access your compost with a wheelbarrow. All that black gold has to be transported to your patches 😊
Compost should not lie in the direct sun as it dries out very fast. Yet, I don’t have (half-)shade in my garden, and so the compost is exposed to the blazing sun. To keep it from drying out, therefore, I have to water it during the summer, and sometimes I put a cardboard on top to keep the moisture in.
Composts should always have direct contact with the soil. That way, worms and microorganisms can get into it, and excess water can flow away. Even many closed composting systems are open at the bottom. With a floor grid, you can prevent voles, rats, mice and other pests from entering.
If you want to compost on the balcony, make sure that the total weight doesn’t exceed maximum load.
Basic composting factors to observe
Before you make a compost, there are some basic factors you have to observe:
Size
Closed systems have a preset size but an open system should be at least 1 x 1 metre (3,5 x 3,5 feet) to produce enough heat for the rotting process. Larger compost heaps should not be broader than 2 m (6 feet) to ensure sufficient ventilation.
Material
The one thing we need to make compost is: compostable matter! Usually, we get plenty of organic waste from our garden and the kitchen.
“Brown” material like wood chips, twigs and branches, straw and leaves contains much carbon (C)
“Green” material like grass clippings, kitchen waste, weeds, coffee grounds, or manure contains more nitrogen (N).
For an optimal composting process, the ratio between carbon and nitrogen should be between 15:1 and 25:1. That means that we compost more brown material than green one. Ideally, we collect brown material and every time we throw some green material on the compost, we add an amount of brown material.
Chop up large chunks of wood or vegetables to accelerate composting, but don’t make them too small. Sizable parts of organic matter make sure that air is held within the heap, which prevents it from moulding or putrefying.
Oxygen
Oxygen is a vital factor for the composting process. Make sure your heap is well-ventilated by adding coarse material like twigs, straw and leaves.
Moisture
Your compost should be moist but not wet. If it’s too dry, water it now and then; if there’s heavy rain, cover it to avoid putrefaction.
The best time to start a compost
Basically, you can start a compost at any time of the year, but I recommend the warm seasons. Life in the compost heap, like bacteria, microorganisms, worms and other creatures, develops and thrives better when it’s warm.
In winter, however, there is next to no activity. The beneficial bacteria are slow and they even stop working when it gets too cold. It may help to cover the compost to protect it from cold and wetness.
How to Make Compost in 8 Easy Steps
Step 1
Lay a grid against voles and mice on the ground. Then, build a basic layer of coarse material like twigs, straw or leaves. This layer ensures good ventilation and prevents waterlogging.
Step 2
After that, alternately layer green materials (moist and nitrogen-rich) like grass clippings, vegetable scraps or coffee grounds and brown materials (dry and carbon-rich) like leaves, straw or chopped loppings. Each layer should be about 10 – 15 cm (4 – 6 inches) high. The smaller the materials, the faster they decompose.
Step 3
Activate your compost by one of the following methods:
Add mature compost as a starter. It contains the microorganisms required for composting.
Mix a compost starter from 10 litres of lukewarm water, 1 kg of sugar and two packages of dry yeast and pour it over the compost heap. The microorganisms love that!
Have you ever heard of Effective Microorganisms? They are mixtures of different aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms that can, among other uses, accelerate composting.
Step 4
If necessary, water the compost to ensure enough moisture. Compost should always be moist but never wet.
Step 5
Cover the compost heap on hot days with a layer of leaves, straw or cardboard to prevent it from drying out and overheating.
Step 6
Oxygen is an important factor for composting. Mix in enough coarse material to get in air pockets and (optionally) turn the compost over every 4 – 6 weeks to mix the ingredients well and ventilate it.
Step 7
Let the compost mature for about 6 – 12 months. During that time, microorganisms and soil organisms break the material down and transform it into nutrient-rich humus. You know that your compost is ready when it looks dark and crumbly and smells of forest soil.
Step 8
When your compost is ripe, you can use it as a fertiliser and soil improver in your garden. Distribute the compost on your patches to provide your plants with nutrients and loosen up the garden soil. You can also use mature compost as potting soil for balcony boxes and planting pots.
Kitchen waste: fruit and vegetable remains (untreated), coffee grounds
Egg shells (crushed)
Tea and coffee filters (from paper)
Sawdust and wood shavings (untreated); don’t use too much of it as it may attract wireworms
Litter from small animals (plant-based and untreated), manure, feathers
Paper and cardboard (uncoated and in small amounts)
What NOT to put in the compost
Do not put any of the following on your compost:
Cooked or baked food
Meat and fish remains
Dairy products
Weeds with seeds or roots that hardly decompose (e.g. goutweed, couch grass). Plants with contagious diseases like blight or mildew. The disease is not killed but spreads through the new compost into the soil and infects your whole garden. Always throw parts of ill plants into the garbage bin.
Treated wood, plastics or metals
How to use compost
There are different stages of decomposition and in each of them the compost can be used, but for different purposes.
Half-rotted compost: Mulch
The temperature of the compost heap has decreased, and large chunks remain. You can now use them as mulch for your patches.
Nearly mature compost
The temperature has fallen to normal, and there are only a few smaller bits and pieces in there. The compost smells of forest soil. Now you can use it as fertiliser for heavy feeders like cabbage, tomatoes and cucumbers.
Mature compost
The compost has a dark colour, a fine and crumbly structure, and it smells of forest soil. Use this compost as seed-starting soil or make a new vegetable patch with it.
I made a new patch with my compost where I’m going to plant strawberries
You can throw the compost through a sieve and sort the chunks out. They need a bit longer to decompose so put them back in the compost.
Usually, compost is distributed inearly spring, as soon as the soil warms up and needs new nutrients for the plants. Add a layer of about 2 cm (1 inch) of compost to your vegetable patches, flower beds or under your fruit trees and bushes and rake it slightly in.
You can add compost to your soil in autumn as well, but only as long as the soil is still warm. And you need to cover it with mulch afterwards.
If you can’t use the compost right away, store it in closed buckets until you need it. That way, the nutrients won’t be washed out by rain.
Compost maintenance
Once you’ve layered all the material, your compost doesn’t need you to do its work. However, there are a few factors that need controlling to ensure a fast and good decomposition process:
Temperature
In closed composting system the temperature will get higher than in open systems. The hotter the temperature, the faster the composting process will be.
Moisture
If the compost is too dry, the microorganisms can die; if it’s too wet, it may rot. But how to know if the moisture is right? I usually take a large stick and poke some holes into the compost. When it feels like a squeezed sponge, the moisture is right.
Oxygen
Composting needs oxygen to work properly. That’s why it’s so important to not add too many (wet) grass clippings to your compost as that would lead to an anaerobic (that is: without oxygen) mass that moulds and rots.
Compost troubleshooting
Composting does not always go without trouble. Here are the most common problems and their solutions.
#1 The compost stinks
The reason for bad smells from the compost is that it has too little oxygen and thus creates an anaerobic atmosphere.
Solution:
Check if your composting system is water permeable towards the ground and the cover is water-tight.
Open the composter and shovel everything out. Now put it back into the composter, but mix in plenty of dry brown material to keep oxygen in.
#2 The compost moulds
Although we associate mould and mildew with moisture, it’s the contrary: the compost is too dry.
Solution:
Turn the compost over and mix in some mature compost to reactivate it. Then water it with several buckets of water and keep an eye on its moisture the next time.
#3 Animal infestation
Animals like rats, voles or mice can be attracted by a compost heap.
Solution
Make sure that it’s well protected, for example by putting a metal grid on the ground before starting the compost. Also, don’t ever put meat, fish or cooked food on the compost!
#4 Composting takes too long
Although composting takes its time, more than a year is too long. This may be caused by too little moisture or an imbalance in green and brown material.
Solution:
Turn the compost and add what’s necessary, either moist or dry material and mix it regularly. That way, oxygen gets in, and the good microorganisms thrive.
Composting is not difficult. With the right tips and tricks you can soon transform your garden and kitchen waste into great humus for your garden. Just make sure to use the right materials, to layer the compost in the right way and to give it enough oxygen, moisture and warmth. That way, you contribute to a sustainable eco-cylce and do something good for your garden. Your vegetables will soon thrive in the “brown gold” and reward you with a great harvest. So, get out there, look for a good spot and start composting!
Nearly everybody who has indoor plants will sooner or later make the dubious acquaintance of fungus gnats. Not only but especially in winter, those tiny black insects whirl up from the soil when we water our plants and fly around seemingly aimlessly. Unfortunately, fungus gnats are not only an annoying or aesthetic problem but a real threat to our seedlings because they like to nibble on plant roots! If we only had two or three gnats taking a small bite out of the roots, that wouldn’t be a problem. However, as it happens, fungus gnats never work alone but rather in clouds of gazillions. You can imagine the havoc these numbers can wreak among our baby vegetables. In order to find out how to get rid of fungus gnats, we first must look at what they are exactly.
What are fungus gnats?
Fungus gnats can be found all over the world. In Europe, there are around 600 different types. They are related to midges but cannot sting. In nature, especially in woods or moors, but also in gardens, their larvae play an important role as they decompose organic material.
Fungus gnats are often introduced with potting soil that already contains eggs or larvae, but they can also get into the house through open windows.
You have an infestation when swarms of 2 – 4 mm black insects rise from the pots every time you move or water them. Contrary to fruit flies, fungus gnats have long legs and feelers as well as large wings. They preferably lay their eggs in the moist soil of indoor plants, and one female can lay up to 200 eggs, out of which wormlike, about 5 – 7 mm long, white larvae hatch. They live in large groups in the moist soil. After about 13 days, the larvae pupate, and five to six days later, the fungus gnats hatch.
What damages do fungus gnats cause?
While the black fungus gnats are only pesky, their larvae, which live in the soil, eat not only dead plant parts but also the plants’ roots. Large plants can usually cope with that, but seedlings and cuttings can die. The damaged roots can’t take up enough water and nutrients, and bacterial and fungal diseases can penetrate the plant through the open roots.
How to get rid of fungus gnats
Now, the good news is that there are ways to get rid of those little black beasts – and without throwing a chemical bomb into your living room. Read on!
Prevention
Prevention, they say, is better than cure. So the best way to get rid of fungus gnats is to not let them in in the first place.
Soil preparation
Since we mostly bring fungus gnats in ourselves with the soil we use for potting or seed starting, it’s certainly a great idea to give that a closer look. Only buy high-quality potting soil in undamaged sacks. If you use your own potting preparation, for example with compost, sterilise it before use. For that purpose, heat the soil in the oven at 150 °C (300 °F) for 30 minutes and let it cool down.
Watering correctly
As fungus gnats need moist soil to survive, we should only water our plants when the surface is really dry. However, this can be a bit tricky with seedlings as they must not dry out. It’s better to water several times a week with little water instead of once with a lot. Reliable water monitoring is essential when it comes to healthy seedlings and getting rid of fungus gnats.
Traps
There are those yellow sticky traps that you can put into the planting pots. They attract (amongst others) fungus gnats, which will stick to the gluey cards. However, those traps only catch the male gnats, and although males and females are necessary for producing fertilised eggs, sticky traps are not enough to get rid of all the gnats in your home. The traps are an indicator of an infestation and also a good addition to the next steps:
Natural antagonists
Nematodes
There is a kind of secret weapon, like a SWAT team, in the battle against fungus gnats: nematodes (Steinernema feltiae or SF-nematodes). They are minuscule, wormlike animals that live in the soil and kill fungus gnats’ larvae. Sounds disgusting, but it works wonderfully and is a great non-chemical way of getting rid of our plants’ unwanted roommates.
You can buy nematodes online. They come in small packages and look like a powder that you have to dilute with water. I always use a large mason jar for that, and then add the dilution to the watering can, where I fill it up with more water.
Before you spread the nematodes, however, the potting soil must already be moist. Nematodes (like fungus gnats) die in dry soil, so water your plants in advance, then bring out the nematodes and keep the soil moist during the next weeks. It usually takes about 2 – 4 weeks to notice a considerable decline in fungus gnats.
Predatory mites
Like nematodes, predatory mites also find fungus gnats irresistible. You can use the types Hypoaspis miles, Hypoaspis aculeifer, and Macrocheles robustulus. They usually come as a granulate that you spread on top of the soil.
Bacteria
Special bacteria, like Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. Israelensis are also a good weapon against fungus gnats. Like nematodes, they are diluted in water and poured on the potting soil with a watering can.
Neem oil
Neem oil affects the insects’ hormonal system and prevents them from forming chitin, so that they will not reach the stage of mature gnats and, as a consequence, are not able to reproduce. If you are sure that there are no beneficial insects in the vicinity that you want to spare, neem oil is a good way to get rid of fungus gnats. I wouldn’t use it outside, though, for fear of affecting bees and other pollinators.
Soil cover
A well-known home remedy to prevent the gnats from laying their eggs in the soil is to cover it with quartz sand, where the flies will not get through it. However, the layer should be about 1 cm (0.5 inches) thick. Sprinkle a bit of baking soda on top of the sand to set a double barrier.
Tempting as it might be, however, do not cover your potting soil with organic material as that provides nourishment for the gants and larvae.
However tedious, fungus gnats are not one of the seven plagues, and as easily as we can bring them in unconsciously, we can get rid of them. It’s best, of course, to take precautions, but as you have seen above, there are also several non-chemical ways to protect our green friends from those root nibblers.
Aphids are just one of many garden challenges! For more organic pest solutions, seasonal planting guides, and beginner-friendly tutorials, browse my complete gardening library.
When I was a child, we had a vegetable garden of about 40 square meters. Seeing that we were six people and Granny also had a patch for her and Gramps, it was a relatively small garden. Yet, it produced most of our vegetables, and we rarely had to buy any from the supermarket. Today, my mom is still an avid gardener, but she cultivates only two raised beds for her and my dad, which is plenty of work for an octogenarian. Surprisingly enough, like before, those beds (and a few pots) provide them with most of their veggies throughout the growing season. That shows that a small space is no excuse for not starting a vegetable garden! Let me show you how you can also have a huge harvest in your small space vegetable garden.
Small vegetable gardens: Choose your site
If you have already established patches or raised beds to grow vegetables, that’s fine. But if you’re just starting, there are a few things to observe when you plan your garden.
Location
Vegetables need light to grow. It doesn’t matter if you have a small garden with a tiny bed or just some pots on a patio, as long as your veggies get enough sunshine, they’ll be fine.
Inventory
Take inventory of what plants already grow in your garden and use the different growing heights to your advantage. If you have some shrubs and bushes, for example, you could plant herbs which grow smaller, on the south of them and proceed with vegetables. That way, you can cultivate fruits, herbs and vegetables in a comparatively small space.
Patches and Co.
If you have the opportunity, you can create some garden patcheswith this easy method (no need to dig, I promise!). But even if a coherent gardening space isn’t possible, maybe you can create “pockets” within your garden, which means single patches scattered throughout your soon-to-be small vegetable garden.
Raised beds may be a good idea, no matter if you have a garden, patio or just a balcony.
Last but not least, pots and containers fit on the tiniest balcony. You’ll be surprised to see what you can grow in pots!
Dreaming of your small vegetable garden
Every garden, even a small one, needs a plan! I know it can be tedious to create one, but I promise you it’s worth it.
Choosing vegetables
To make a plan, however, you must decide first what vegetables you want to grow. Make a list with all the veggies you like AND which don’t require too much space.
Good, and beginner-friendly, examples are Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage, peas, beans, leeks, carrots, garlic, onions, kohlrabi, radishes, turnips, beetroot, stalk celery, lettuce and lamb’s lettuce.
For a small vegetable garden, it’s also clever to choose vegetables that grow vertically rather than horizontally. Runner beans, for example, that grow upwards on trellises, may be a better option than bush beans, which require much more space.
If you have one or two vegetables that you absolutely want to have, although they normally need too much space, include them in your plan. Growing our own food should be fun, and not a way to limit ourselves. Growing them in pots is usually a great option.
Look for high-yielding vegetables that produce a huge harvest. Good examples are zucchini, carrots, onions and tomatoes.
Make sure you cultivate varieties that are robust and well-adapted to your climate and hardiness zone, and prefer heirloom and resistant varieties.
Choose vegetables that are easy to cultivate, like lettuce, Swiss chard, garlic and beets.
It’s also good to have vegetables that grow fast, like radishes, beets, Swiss chard and spinach and veggies you can harvest for a long time, like lettuce, runner beans, leek, stalk celery and kale.
Small vegetable garden: Make a cultivation plan
Now that you have your list of vegetables, it’s time to make a plan. If you have patches or raised beds, draw them on paper and outline which plants you want to grow where. To make the best of your space, combine high and low-growing plants.
The right combinations
Randomly mixing vegetables can work, but usually, it won’t. It’s good, therefore, to know which plants to grow together and how to combine different veggies.
Now that we have a plan, we prepare our patches. No matter the kind of patches or pots we have to grow our vegetables in, soil preparation is essential for a good harvest. And what would be better than
Compost
Compost is a universal remedy. It improves the soil structure, stores water, provides nourishment for the soil organisms and nutrients for the plants.
A generous layer of compost on the soil is a great method to ensure a huge harvest.
“Homemade” compost is certainly best, but if you don’t have enough “homemade” compost, I recommend buying some from a composting plant. It’s usually of better quality than the stuff in plastic bags you can buy in the supermarket, and it’s cheaper.
Manure
If you have livestock and use their manure for the garden, the soil will become increasingly fertile with time. Chicken manure, for example, is a marvellous fertiliser.
Horse manure has fewer nutrients than other manure, but the nutrient content is very balanced. Yet, no matter what animals you have: your garden will profit from their manure in any case.
Even if you don’t have any livestock, you can ask on farms, horse stables, or other animal owners if you can have some manure for your garden.
The only thing you have to keep in mind is that fresh manure is usually too „hot“ for most plants, and they would burn. For that reason, you must compost it before you can use it in your garden.
Cultivating your small vegetable garden
Made a plan: check
Prepared the soil: check
Now we can plant!
Intensive cultivation
When you use compost to enhance your soil’s fertility, you can plant your vegetables more closely than indicated on the seed packages. Especially leafy vegetables can be planted closer together, and a smaller planting distance means a higher yield.
Another example is head cabbage, which needs a lot of space as it grows relatively expansively, and we should plant it with the right spacing.
Normally.
We can intensify the space yield, however, when we plant leeks between the cabbage rows. The cabbage grows on the ground and leeks on the “first floor” without them getting in each other’s way.
Pots and containers
For most gardeners, tomatoes and cucumbers are a must-have. Unfortunately, they require a comparatively large space to grow healthily and bring a good harvest. Instead of growing them in our patches or raised beds, therefore, we plant them in pots and containers. Just make sure that the pots are large enough and that you put them in a protected, sunny spot.
Attract pollinators in small vegetable gardens.
Fruiting vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers, but peas and beans, as well, need insects to pollinate them. To attract these pollinators, it’s a good idea to plant blooming herbs or (edible) flowers like calendula or nasturtium between our veggies or around the patches. Bees and other pollinating insects will love them, and as a thank you, pollinate your veggies.
Harvest
Many gardeners hesitate when it comes to harvesting, but harvesting is our goal, isn’t it?!
When you cultivate vegetables that can be harvested for a long time, like lettuce, runner beans, leek, stalk celery and kale, make sure to harvest them continually throughout the season. That way, you drive them to grow more leaves or fruits.
As soon as you have harvested any veggies completely, sow or plant immediately afterwards so that the next batch of veggies is on its way.
Having fewer vegetables makes us want to use more parts of them. Did you know, for example, that you can mix the leaves of beetroots, carrots and Florence fennel with your lettuce? Or that the leaves of radishes make a wonderful pesto? You can also cut off garlic greens and put them in your salad or cook with them. They have a mild garlic taste and improve every dish.
Lastly, why not harvest edible wild plants that grow in your garden? One of the most dreaded weeds, goutweed, for example, can be perfectly baked into pancakes or used up for a wild herb pesto.
The leaves of stinging nettle can be mixed with spinach or cooked into a soup.
Vegetable garden, greenhouse, balcony, or patio: Cucumbers thrive in many environments and brighten your summer with crisp, fresh fruit. And they are a vegetable that can be easily seed-started indoors. Let’s have a look at how it works.
Cucumber varieties
Depending on where they grow, there are different varieties of cucumbers. Snack and pickling cucumbers grow well outdoors and even in pots, while snake cucumbers prefer to be cultivated in a greenhouse.
Seed-starting cucumbers for greenhouse cultivation
Many cucumbers for the greenhouse produce only female flowers, which makes them more productive.
Cucumber varieties with only female flowers are called “parthenocarpous”. That means that they don’t need male pollen for fertilisation and don’t produce seeds.
If you choose a parthenocarpous cucumber variety, make sure that you don’t plant other varieties with male flowers in the vicinity. Otherwise, bees could bring in male pollen – and you‘ll get a smaller harvest.
Seed-starting cucumbers for outdoor cultivation
Outdoor cucumber varieties are often smaller and have less smooth skin, but they often taste more aromatic and stay fresher and crispier.
If you want to cultivate your cucumbers in an unprotected place, I recommend the robust outdoor varieties. They are not as prone to mildew as the more sensitive greenhouse cucumbers.
But cucumbers are not only for fresh consumption. There are several varieties, especially for preserving. My favourite variety for pickles and ferments is „Boston Pickling“. Its fruits stay smaller, and they grow well outdoors.
The right time
At the beginning of April, you can seed-start cucumbers indoors. I also recommend sowing cucumbers in several batches between April and mid-June. This succession planting will make sure that you can harvest cucumbers throughout the whole season.
Seeing that sometimes older plants get infected with (real or false) mildew, a further batch provides you with fresh fruits.
Seed-starting Cucumbers: 8 Steps for Healthy Seedlings
. To make sure seed-starting will be a success, let’s go from sowing to transplanting step by step!
#1 How many cucumber plants do I need?
If you want to be self-sufficient with cucumbers, I recommend cultivating one to two plants per household member. For pickling and fermenting, you can even calculate some more. That way, you can preserve cucumbers for the winter months.
#2 Equipment
Fortunately, there’s not much equipment you’ll need:
Wondering if you could really sow in compost? Yep, that’s possible, BUT only in mature compost. If it looks dark and smells like a forest, it’s ready for seed-starting.
#3 How to sow cucumbers
Take your pots, fill them with mature compost or cultivation soil and make a hole of about 2 cm in it. There, you put in two seeds. Unfortunately, there’s always the risk that some seeds won’t germinate. By putting two seeds into the pots, we minimise that risk. If both germinate, rip out the weaker plant (even if it’s hard for you).
Now cover the seeds with soil, press it slightly and water the pots with the watering can or ball shower.
#4 Do NOT thin out cucumbers
Cucumbers don’t like it when their roots get messed with. For that reason, we seed-start them in pots that are large enough for them to grow until they’re transplanted outdoors or into the greenhouse without being uprooted.
#5 Temperature and light
Cucumbers like it hot, about 25 °C (77 °F), for germination. I usually place the pots above the radiator, or I use a heating mat to create a cosily warm atmosphere for my cucumber babies.
When they have germinated and peek out of the soil, they need less temperature but more light. At that stage, I move them to the guest toilet, where it’s a few degrees colder (18 – 20 °C / 64 – 68 °F). Now they need more light to grow, about 12 – 16 hours per day and at best special wavelengths.
It’s difficult to get that amount of light at the beginning of April, which is why I have several plant lamps installed. The right light is essential for sturdy growth. If there’s too little, the plants will get leggy and weak.
When your cucumbers are 2 – 3 weeks old, they need their first dose of fertiliser. It’s best to use a liquid fertiliser that you dilute with water (I usually use half the amount indicated on the package) and water your plants with it.
At that stage, cucumbers need a small dose of nitrogen to get them going and induce healthy growth.
#7 Watering
You shouldn‘t water any seedlings from above but rather into the saucer or holder. That way, the water can be absorbed up into the pot and the seedlings can take what they need. It’s the simplest and best way to water seedlings, and you can even fertilise them that way.
But be careful: don’t over-water your seedlings! A short period with a slightly drier soil helps them to develop strong roots.
#8 Hardening off
Before planting your cucumbers outdoors (here, that’s around the middle of May), you must harden them off to get them used to the harsher conditions. About a week before the „great day“, start putting them outside in a protected, shady place for 2 – 3 hours. Prolong that time over the next few days, and also put them into the sun. After about 7 days, they are hardened off enough to get transplanted outdoors.
Now you can also sow cucumbers directly into the patch.
Have fun seed-starting your cucumbers! If you want to read on, here are some articles you may also like:
If you have ever been to Southern Germany, I hope you have tried our Spätzle! If you have, I just know that you loved them. If not, let me explain what we’re talking about here: Spaetzle are a kind of pasta where the raw dough is pressed into boiling water. You can either eat them as a side dish to beef or veggies with sauce or as a main dish, for example, with cheese (“Kässpätzle”), homemade sauerkraut (“Krautspätzle) or herbs.
Here in Southern Germany, spaetzle (which translates as “little sparrows”) is a common traditional dish. Although there are ready-made spaetzle available in the supermarkets here, it’s so easy and way yummier to make them yourself. With this traditional spaetzle recipe, I’ll show you how you can make these yummy egg noodles at home and add a new dish to your collection of recipes.
Pro tips for great Spaetzle
Before we start, I’m going to share some pro tips that will help you create great Spaetzle! After all, when you go to all the length to try a new recipe, you want it to be a success!
Spaetzle recipe: Dough
The recipe for Spaetzle dough is quite simple, actually, as it only consists of flour, eggs, a pinch of salt and water or milk. Use all-purpose wheat flour or spelt flour. You can even take wholemeal wheat or spelt flour, but it requires more liquid.
The basic spaetzle recipe per person is
100 g flour
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
50 ml milk or water
That’s it. Easy, right? You’ll probably have all the ingredients at home already.
Many recipes use water for the dough, but in my opinion, spaetzle taste a lot better when made with milk. This spaetzle recipe, therefore, uses milk. If you don’t want to or can’t consume milk, feel free to substitute it with water.
Spaetzle dough is best made by hand in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. That way, you can feel how thick the dough is and add some liquid to make it thinner or flour to thicken it. You can, of course, also mix the dough with a hand mixer.
You can tell that the dough is ready when it is thick and falls slowly from the spoon. Now let it rest for about 15 minutes.
Further down in the recipe, you’ll find a detailed description of how to make Spaetzle.
Equipment
It’s easy to mix the Spaetzle dough, but to press it into the water, you have to use either a “Spaetzlehobel” or a kind of ricer with larger holes. If you have neither and just want to try out the recipe, take a sieve with large holes and scrape the dough through with a wooden spoon or a dough scraper. For completeness, let me tell you that you could also flatly spread the dough onto a cutting board and scrape it into the boiling water with the back of a knife. This method, however, requires experience and takes longer. But don’t let me keep you from trying it!
Spaetzle that are pressed through a ricer are long and thin, whereas Spaetzle formed with a “Spaetzlehobel” are short and round (sometimes, those are called “Knoepfle”, which means “buttons”).
I prefer making our Spaetzle with a Spaetzlehobel. Put the device safely onto the pot, fill in a portion of the dough and move the sledge forward and backwards so that the dough will be scraped through the holes into the water.
How to make Spaetzle
Make sure the water is boiling before you press the dough in portions into it, the Spaetzle won’t be cooked through and become a slimy mass.
When the Spaetzle are ready, they’ll swim on the surface. It’s okay to make all the Spätzle before straining. The first batch can stand that.
When all the dough is used up and all the Spaetzle are ready take them off with a skimmer or strain them through a colander and shortly rinse with hot or cold water.
Drying
Although Spaetzle are usually used immediately, you can also prepare them several hours up to one day in advance. Either way, it is necessary to dry off excess water or the Spätzle will become doughy and stick together.
To dry the Spaetzle, put them onto a kitchen towel after straining them and distribute them evenly.
Let them dry for at least 5 minutes.
If you use them later, scrape them off the towel once they’re cool and dry and put them into a plastic container.
How long does raw Spaetzle dough last?
You can, of course, prepare Spaetzle dough and keep it in the fridge for several hours before using it. As it contains raw eggs, however, the raw dough shouldn’t be kept any longer.
It’s better to store the cooked Spaetzle. Dry and cool them as described above, and put them into plastic containers where they will last 2 – 3 days in the fridge.
Angela Braun
Spaetzle - A Traditional Recipe from Southern Germany
Making traditional Spaetzle, a traditional dish from Southern Germany, is easier than you might think and once you've tasted them you'll want to make them time and time again!
Put the flour, eggs and salt into a bowl. Slowly add the water and mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon or a hand mixer. The dough should be thick and fall slowly from the spoon. You may even observe small bubbles under the surface.
Once the dough is ready, let it rest for about 15 minutes. This time is necessary for the dough to hold together and become more stable.
Heat water in a pot. When it comes to a boil either press the Spaetzle in portions through a Spaetzle ricer or a Spätzlehobel. Make sure that the device is about 2 – 3 cm (1 inch) above the water surface which should only be simmering now. Make all the Spätzle until you’ve used up the whole dough.
Cook the Spaetzle in the open pot until they well up several times and swim on the surface. Depending on the size and amount of Spaetzle this takes 2 – 3 minutes.
When the Spaetzle are cooked, take them out of the pot with a skimmer or strain them through a colander and shortly rinse with hot or cold water.
Place a kitchen towel on your kitchen surface and dump the Spaetzle on it. Distribute them evenly on the towel to let them dry and cool off.
Melt butter in a large pot until it sizzles and brown the Spaetzle gently in the hot butter. Serve immediately.
Spaetzle dough variations
Once you’ve developed your taste for Spaetzle (that is: after the first bite 😉), you can try many different variations of the dough.
Mix finely ground hard cheese, like parmesan, for example or season the dough with spices like paprika or chilli powder. You can also add finely chopped herbs like bear’s garlic or parsley to alter the taste. Or take a mix of curd or sour cream and milk to serve as liquid for the dough.
There are almost no limits to the variations a Spaetzle dough provides.
Left-over Spaetzle
What to do with leftover Spaetzle? As you know, you can keep them in the fridge for a few days, and then you can re-heat them in a pan with hot butter and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Basically, Spaetzle can be treated like pasta or rice as a side dish to beef dishes with sauce, like these beef rolls.
Or you layer them with cheese into a pan, fill in some milk and bake it in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes, which makes for a yummy main dish, called “Kässpätzle” (cheese Spaetzle). Served with fried onions and a salad, that’s a wonderful meal.
Spaetzle wrap-up
Congratulations! You’ve just mastered one of Southern Germany’s most beloved dishes. Now comes the fun part: experimenting with variations. Will you try the cheese version (Käsespätzle) first, or add herbs to the dough? Let me know how your first batch turns out—I remember mine being slightly wonky, but absolutely delicious!
