10 Benefits of Growing Your Own Vegetables for Your Restaurant

If you own a neighborhood restaurant, you likely want to boost revenue while cutting expenses, entice additional clients, and cultivate local support among the many other benefits of growing your own vegetables for your restaurant. Your guests will not only enjoy greater tastes, but they will also experience great satisfaction because they can see where their food came from.

There is always a difference between buying vegetables from the local grocery and harvesting from your garden. Garden vegetables are fresh and bring a feeling of satisfaction for gardeners.

As explained below, we have compiled ten benefits of growing your own vegetables for your restaurant.

Save money on groceries.

Food that is “farm-to-table” has gained popularity in the culinary world. Gourmets prioritize fresh flavors, organic ingredients, and hyperlocal cuisine. Due to the short shelf life of herbs and vegetables, purchasing this from supermarkets or vendors may result in higher expenses. 

Growing food in a restaurant kitchen garden can result in thousands in savings in product costs, refrigeration costs, and waste after accounting for expenditures associated with the infrastructure, soil, seeds, and upkeep of the garden.

Fresher, Better-Tasting Ingredients

The ingredients keep their potent flavors because they are grown just a few feet from your kitchen. Herbs that are stored on a shelf gradually lose their flavor. You can avoid the storage shelf by having a cooking garden, which leads to better-tasting ingredients.

Nothing feels good when preparing food than using the freshest vegetables. Your guests will always love tasting your salads.

Menu Flexibility

You are allowed to grow anything you want in your garden. Your chefs will be inspired, and you can grow uncommon, exotic, and difficult-to-find fruit. Doing this will save money and make your menu stand out as something special that people will want to eat. 

People will continue to visit if ethnic food specialties and seasonally themed menu items are offered. Did we mention that doing this will enable you to generate even more money while saving a ton?

Larger Stock 

Knowing where your food comes from is easy to achieve by growing your herbs and fruit. While other eateries are concerned about recalls or shortages, you’ll still have a huge stockpile. Additionally, you can produce unusual herbs that will give your food a distinctive flavor!

Environmental Benefits

Most people are aware that plants help clean the air we breathe, but using items from your own garden also reduces the amount of packaging that store-bought produce requires. Packaging reduction reduces waste.

In addition, many fragile herbs, mushrooms, and salad leaves are typically wrapped in boxes to prevent damage during shipment. The packaging, any waste from veggies that rotted in transit, and the carbon emissions from moving the food from the farm to the shop to your kitchen all add up.

The majority of food shipping vehicles require refrigeration, which uses a lot of energy. Additionally, they use a lot of fuel, which significantly raises pollution.

Green Marketing Potential

Aside from bringing in more customers and growing your business, marketing your locally grown, organic, pesticide- and fertilizer-free produce will also greatly impact your neighborhood. Additionally, it will assist you in creating a foundation of devoted clients who will support your initiatives and share your convictions.

Increase Your Overall Profits 

Fresh, regionally farmed produce—especially organic produce—will fetch a premium from our customers. Not only are your production supply costs reduced, but you can also charge a little extra for fresh, hyperlocal cuisine.

Your neighbors can be your customers as everyone loves fresh grocery.

Free Landscaping

Gardens not only provide a practical purpose but also add lovely landscapes to any building. Customers will like the lush greenery and vibrant flowers in your eating area, especially if it is outside.

Sense of Fulfillment

You will always feel happier and uplifted after spending time outside. The sunshine and fresh air rejuvenate the skin. Additionally, taking care of a garden can result in a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. According to studies, gardening can elevate your mood and lower your risk of developing illnesses like depression. Even better, you may use the garden as a team-building activity to make your employees happier and more unified.

Composting

As part of a circular economy for recycling, kitchen gardens can promote composting. Eggshells, coffee grounds, old plant material, and vegetable waste combine to form the ideal natural compost for your garden. Before they decompose in the composting pit, vegetable scraps make great components for in-house soup stocks.

Conclusion

There are many more benefits of growing your own vegetables for your restaurant than the ones mentioned above. With the ease of access to both new and ancient technology, commercial kitchens have hardly any excuse to lack even a tiny vegetable or herb patch. Save on costs, landscape your restaurant and protect the environment by growing your own vegetables.

Looking to grow some pumpkins for your restaurant? Well, that’s a great idea. 

Whether growing pumpkins for decoration, cooking, or Halloween, pumpkin growing is fun and exciting. But before you get all excited, you need to know how to go about it. 

Did you know pumpkins will not withstand any frost? Pumpkins require a lot of nourishment. You probably want to know about pumpkin fertilizer. Join me as I share some important tips for growing pumpkins for your restaurant today.

If you happen to have a garden with vegetables, then adding some pumpkins does make sense. You just need to make sure there is enough space to grow them. Around 1,000 square feet per pumpkin plant is recommended.

Below are some tips to help you grow pumpkins

Choose the right pumpkin variety

This is a good place to start. Pumpkins come in different varieties. You need to choose the right variety for your customers. Larger varieties take long to grow and require bigger space.

Small varieties mature fast and require little space. You just need to choose the right variety that best serves your needs. You also need to choose the best-tasting pumpkins. 

While all pumpkins are edibles, consider varieties that your customers will love. Varieties like sugar pie are very smooth and have a sweet flavor.

Pay great attention to harvest times

Yes, you need to plant at the right time and know when you can harvest. Companies selling different pumpkin seed varieties will always indicate the growth period. This is the period that the plant takes from seeds to harvest.

You just need to do simple math and know when you expect to harvest. May and June are always great times when planting varieties that take 100 days to mature.

Space and sunshine

Space and sunshine are two things you need to provide pumpkins. Depending on the pumpkin variety, you need to space them from 5 to 20 square feet. Pumpkins grow and spread pretty fast. You want to make sure your garden has enough space for the pumpkin to spread.

Additionally, the area should have enough exposure to sunlight. For maximum growth, ensure the pumpkin gets at least 6 hours of sun daily, if not more. This is a crucial tip when choosing the location to plant the seeds.

Plant seedlings properly

A bountiful harvest starts with the proper planting of the seedlings. You want to plant the seedlings when temperatures are low, and there is no frost. This is the only way to set yourself up for a big harvest.

Consider adding some compost or manure around the seedling. When transplanting seedlings, dig the soil a little to loosen it up. This helps the roots get established pretty fast. 

The compost and manure help maintain moisture in the soil. In addition, it helps add nutrients to the soil. Moisture and nutrients are two important things that pumpkins require.

You can also sow seeds indoors in cold temperatures to give them a head start. When seedlings develop poorly, the end result is a small pumpkin. You want to make sure you start right and set yourself up for a big harvest.

Water and feed the pumpkin plants

You need to water your pumpkin vines as much as possible. Pumpkins are 90% water, which goes to show why you need to water them often. They require a lot of water in the summer to ensure harvests are great. 

Water the plant at a 2-foot circle to ensure the roots don’t rot. When you overwater the plants, the roots easily rot, causing the plant to die off. When watering, make sure you keep the water away from the leaves. This helps keep powdery mildew away. Fungus on the leaves can also get to the fruit and end up damaging your pumpkins.

Additionally, as I had earlier mentioned fertilizer and mulch. Pumpkins need a lot of nutrients. They are considered among the ‘heaviest feeders’ in our gardens. Make sure to feed them with high-quality pumpkin fertilizers, so the plants get as many nutrients as possible.

Fertilizers for pumpkins need to change for the best results, when in seedlings or transplants, the plant needs nitrogen-heavy fertilizer so it can grow strong vines. When the plant starts to bloom and the fruit starts to grow, fertilizer like 5-10-10 with phosphorus and potassium-rich fertilizer will be the best choice for these stages.

Harvest pumpkins carefully

When pumpkins are due for harvest, you need to treat them properly. Make sure you wait until the pumpkin stem is fully green and the fruit has a fully developed color. Harvesting pumpkins the right way helps extend their period in storage without going bad.

When harvesting, don’t cut at the base of the stem. Instead, consider cutting the vine on either side of the stem with sharp shears or a clean knife. A clean cut heals faster and prevents moisture and fungi build-up.

To further prevent any rot, clean the pumpkin’s exterior with a 1-2% bleach solution. You then need to rinse the pumpkins with water and let them dry in your garage.

When properly harvested, pumpkins can last for up to 1 year.

Source

https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-and-plants/vegetables/growing-pumpkins

Are you planning on starting a commercial garden for your restaurant? Using fruits and vegetables in the kitchen and on the plates of hungry customers is a wonderful way to utilize the bounty of the season. There are many opportunities for culinary exploration because there is such a wide range of options.Here are ten popular foods you could grow for your restaurant.

Tropical Fruits

In the restaurant business, tropical fruits like pineapple and coconut have gained popularity and are now typical. These fruits can be added to dishes and drinks to give your visitors a special experience. They are also a great idea for desserts or appetizers and go with a lot of courses.

Moreover, they are easy to grow and do not require a lot of tendering and care, so you can attend to your issues as you wait to harvest and serve!

Nuts

Nuts are utilized in a variety of ways, such as baking, as a snack, and as a seasoning. Restaurants all throughout the world are using and serving nuts much more frequently.

You can grow nuts next to the vegetables or fruits depending on the size of the yard and the type of nut you would like to grow. Nuts are best planted mid-late spring and take a few months before they are sufficiently productive.

Herbs

Herbs can be a wonderful addition to your menus for food and drinks. Add new flavors to your food by including herbs in the meals you offer, including parsley, mint, and basil. Herbs can be grown in the same bed or planter to conserve space.

Only combine herbs that require similar conditions while growing them together, according to the golden rule of herb cultivation. For example, Mediterranean cultivars like lavender, rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme, and marjoram need dry soil and lots of sunlight. Plants like cilantro, parsley, basil, and tarragon can flourish in shadier regions and prefer a lot of water.

Leafy Greens, Beans, Tomatoes…

Restaurant favorites for salads and mouth-watering sides include kale, spinach, mesclun greens, and other greens. Don’t pass up the opportunity to eat fresh vegetables from pots and mini gardens! Since most of them can twist or grow vertically up trellises, peas, green beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes are all excellent alternatives for maximizing your area.

Not to mention how getting your own fresh vegetables is a hustle for most eateries and restaurants. Fresh vegetables are always sweeter and healthier compared to refrigerated ones therefore, having green veggies in your garden is a must.

Brussels Sprouts

Even though they haven’t traditionally been a fan favorite, eateries are increasingly serving brussels sprouts. If you want to roast them, try adding bacon, shallots, or pine nuts.

Legumes

For vegetarians looking for a great vegetarian protein source, beans and legumes like chickpeas and lentils make a great alternative to meat. They also have a short maturation period, and you can start harvesting produce for your restaurant in as little as two months. Most of them do not grow tall, making it easy for you to plant them in rows between the taller plants to conserve space.

Avocados

Due to their adaptability in recipes and their reputation as a source of “healthy fats,” avocados have been increasingly popular in recent years.Adding avocados to your menu can impress your customers with options like avocado toast and fresh guacamole.

They are also very simple to plant and manage. Moreover, look for a breed or type that does not grow too big to make sure the plant does not cast a big shade on your garden and stunt the growth of other plants.

Flowers 

You may also consider incorporating edible flowers into your yard to it give some color. While brilliant blue borage petals can be used in salads and have a cucumber flavor, violet and rose petals can be used as sweet garnishes on sweets. A lovely, original way to add color to your kitchen garden and cuisine is with edible flowers.

Pumpkin

From the fleshy fruit, which may be roasted, boiled, and used to thicken soup, to the seeds and leaves, which can be eaten as vegetables, pumpkins give sustenance from every area of their physiology. They can also be dried up and used for decorating and aesthetics, especially during the Halloween season.

One vine of a pumpkin plant can produce up to five fruits. A few vines will be able to provide all the pumpkins you need in your restaurant. However,most types need a lot of water to grow well and to their full size.

Onions and Garlic 

Garlic and onions are the ultimate essential components of, well, pretty much anything, and growing them in your garden may save your restaurant a ton.

In addition to being incredibly simple to cultivate at home, onions can survive up to eight months when stored properly, while garlic bulbs can be frozen for months at a time.