Freshness, seasonality, and short supply chains: We have previously reported on the advantages of your own gardens at your doorstep—and at our partner hotels. 

ADLER Lodge RITTEN in South Tyrol, Italy, has this year embarked on a particularly large project in its garden area—measuring as much as 4,000 square meters. The next crop will include spring wheat, grass, potatoes, various vegetables, berries, and herbs directly from the lodge’s own cultivation, which will then be used in the kitchen and on your plate. 

The farm garden is designed to serve as an oasis of relaxation for you, with a pond, paths, benches and secluded nooks.

Responsible for implementing the project are Christian Fink and his girlfriend Johanna, operators of the Viehweiderhof farm adjoining the lodge. We talked to them to find out exactly what they have planned for ADLER—including a few great tips and background info for you:

How does the perfect garden look to you, and what plants grow in it?

The perfect garden to us is the one in which a bit of everything grows. Not only should it provide fresh vegetables, it should also be an eye-catcher.

ADLER Lodge RITTEN’s garden will be planted as a mixed culture. So, what do you have to consider when setting up the beds?

As its name suggests, mixed culture is a cultivation method in which several species are cultivated in proximity to each other or in the same bed. The aim is to make the best possible use of the positive influences that the different varieties exert on each other. Perhaps the biggest advantage lies in the fact that certain varieties repel pests, usually of animal origin, which would damage the “neighboring variety”. By way of example, onion, and carrot complement each other very well in a bed, as the onion crops repel the carrot fly, which frequently causes harm in carrot crops. Tomato and basil are also popular to plant in a same bed, as the tomato plant can absorb its nutrients better due to the root exudates of the basil.

Of course, there are drawbacks to mixed cultivation. Not every species is compatible with any bed neighbor, so when planning, you need to pay special attention to properly combine the varieties. Spinach and chard are an example of this. When planted together in one bed, their growth and quality will suffer.

An additional aspect that you should absolutely pay attention to is what is known simply as crop rotation. This means, in short, nothing more than that in one location you should pay attention to a certain timing of the plants. When tomatoes are planted in one bed, you should try to plant a different plant in the same bed the next year. This way, the soil’s nutrients are not depleted and can recover better from a rotation of crops.

In addition to fruits and vegetables, you also want some flowers in the beds—partly to attract bees. So, what flowers are suitable to be planted among the beds, and how do you have to take care of them?

Flowers like zinnias, asters, dahlias, sunflowers, snapdragons, gladioli, and mallows will take their place in the garden and give it the typical character of a cottage garden.

Are there any suitable edible flowers that can be placed between the beds?

There definitely are, and we’re also going to set up a little corner where they’ll thrive. From summer to late summer, flowers that can be harvested include nasturtiums, marigolds, cornflowers in various colors, daisies, marigolds, and day lilies. 

What tips do you have for post harvest?

Ground covers are used in fall after the vegetable crop is harvested as green manure. They have the primary job protecting soil from cold temperatures and washout during the winter and making the soil ready for spring. Grass-fertilizers such as lupine and other buttercup crops transform atmospheric nitrogen into nitrate, thus allowing nutrients to be absorbed from the soil. They also break up the soil and supply the soil with organic mater once they have died, promoting humus formation.

Has the garden been created with the chefs? Were there any requests from the cooks as to which plants they would like?

The chefs clarified it for us that regional and seasonal products are very close to their hearts, and they would like to be a little more flexible in preparing their dishes. In the interests of both sides, we attempted to choose “old varieties” where possible. Besides having more intense flavors, they also have beautiful colors that we might not recognize from the supermarket shelves. Moreover, there was a desire to cultivate a certain diversity and like to try something more unusual—Mountain Basil, for example.

What is the Timeline until the pond and the dwellers are created?

We have the beds now divided, the grain sown, and a meadow of flowers next to the pond sown. Some vegetables we are raising indoors at this time, since it is warmer there. Once the temperatures at night permit, we will be transplanting the small plants to the field. Lately, we have started building a bridge as a connector, in the near future we will receive from the carpenter four raised beds, which we will then plant.

We hope that you enjoyed this somewhat intensive excursion into the garden of ADLER Lodge RITTEN and were able to learn about sustainable cultivation. Do you still have more questions? Then tell us!

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