6

I'd like to buy a plot of land for trying to live off the grid. However I'm struggling to find what I can plant in certain regions. I'm in Europe and I need to check what I can plant in each region (from 7 to 10). How can I check such information, mainly for fruit and vegetable?

  • 1
    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's asking for an off-site resource. Please see https://gardening.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/634/do-we-really-want-questions-asking-for-off-site-resources for more information about this policy. – Niall C. Nov 06 '17 at 16:41
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardiness_zone has some information about many cities in Europe, but US hardiness zones are of little use in Europe: they are based just with one climate parameter, but it assumes much more continental climate (vs Europe) and strong/longer winter season. So, in my experience, plants in Europe doesn't follow much us. zones. – Giacomo Catenazzi Nov 06 '17 at 17:01
  • Are you wondering about perennials or annuals? If you're just wondering about annuals, you don't need to know the hardiness zone at all. You just need to know your first and last frost dates, elevation, local conditions, soil type, pH, max temperatures, humidity/aridity, rainfall, and stuff like that. Hardiness zone doesn't necessarily coincide with first and last frost date (or growing season length); they mostly just tell you the minimum lows for an area (useful for planting trees and stuff so that they won't die in the winter, or if they *need* a cold period). – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Nov 06 '17 at 20:13
  • 1
    As @NiallC. said, this is asking for an off-site resource which is off-topic. Even if that part could be edited out, it would be too broad. We're not equipped to tell you how to choose a plot of land, and what you could plant based on a wide range of temperature conditions. If you pick a more specific location, narrow down the criteria, and have a plant or type of plant in mind, please feel free to post a new question asking if it would work in that spot! We'd love to help with that! – Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL Nov 06 '17 at 23:49
  • 3
    This question is way too broad and there are lists for each zone anyway. My recommendation would be to find a place that has its own well water, great sun exposure and start learning how to manage and grow food in the soil it comes with. Shoot zone 7 is amazing. Zone 10? I'd rather go with 7 and have a semblance of seasons. Can't imagine what you couldn't grow when you understand the microenvironment, your soils...having well water would be at the top of my list! – stormy Nov 07 '17 at 00:38
  • 2
    I voted to reopen, I think it is a good question. OP asks advice on what fruits or vegetables to grow in Europe, there must be some users here which can share some experiences with growing fruits and vegetables in Europe. Or they may refer to books or other references to get more detail. I think it is not a problem to give a link with more detailed info, I do it for houseplant care instruction also when answering identification questions. – benn Nov 07 '17 at 10:04

1 Answers1

2

I like the idea of living off the grid, but as you can read from the comments your question is too broad to get one straight answer. However, I can direct you to some info, that might be helpful.

Like some people commented already, hardiness zone info is not important for most annual crops. So a vegetable garden can be grown anywhere with fertile soil and irrigation. For fruit trees for example, or other perennials, the EU site for agriculture might be useful. There you can see which crop/fruit is grown in which country. It can be used as indication, not more than that. It tells you for instance that growing oranges is not feasible in Belgium, but is in Portugal.

Growing your own food is of course just a part of living off the grid.

benn
  • 13,023
  • 2
  • 18
  • 39