Homegrown potatoes, cabbage, and cucumbers in high demand as kitchen gardens boom

Danish garden associations, kitchen garden suppliers, and course providers report surging interest in growing food at home, according to national broadcaster DR.

In Assentoft near Randers, Anja Bjørn Kragelund is in her second season as a kitchen gardener, with rows of carrots, pointed cabbage, and peas already thriving. For her, the garden is a way to show her children where their food comes from.

“The first goal is the joy of it. Then it’s about being able to pick basic seasonal produce from the garden instead of the supermarket. The kids learn that this is how we get food—just on a larger scale,” she said.

She also values knowing how the vegetables are grown: “I like that there’s no spraying, that nothing is added except organic matter from cow, chicken, and horse manure.”

The trend extends beyond her own plot. Lotte Hovmark Børresen, chair of the Danish Association for Practical Ecology, which runs one of the country’s largest gardening sites, Havenyt.dk, confirms a sharp rise in queries from new kitchen garden enthusiasts.

“We see strong interest in articles and advice about starting a kitchen garden and growing vegetables, fruit, and berries,” she said.

The Danish Horticultural Society reports similar demand, with its three-year-old kitchen garden school selling out every year. Social media has also seen the rise of major gardening influencers with thousands of followers.

Hovmark Børresen attributes the trend to a desire to relearn traditional skills and grow one’s own ingredients. “We want locally grown, properly cultivated food. And many have realized you can’t buy the taste of what you grow yourself.”

Course providers are also seeing high demand. Yen Frydensberg Egebak, an author and self-sufficiency expert, has sold thousands of books on kitchen gardening and notes a growing interest in cultivating crops on any scale. Her lectures and courses sell out quickly, with two additional autumn sessions added to meet demand.

Back in Assentoft, Kragelund acknowledges the learning curve. Last year, she planted some crops too early, and potatoes suffered pest damage after being left in the ground too long. “It’s a lifelong learning process,” she said.