If you love to cook and enjoy gardening, it’s only a matter of time before you long to grow your own produce. A so-called kitchen garden can be modest in size, easy to manage, and produce all the fresh vegetables and herbs you desire. It doesn’t need to be extensive or as ambitious as a back-forty vegetable garden.
Because a kitchen garden exists for one reason — to generate good things to eat — planting it near your house is best. That way, you can pop out the door, snip the herbs you need or grab a few sun-warmed cherry tomatoes, and put them to immediate use. Ideally, a kitchen or dining-room window overlooks your patch so you aren’t likely to forget what’s ripe for the taking. If your goal is to serve healthier and fresher food to your family, go for a variety of classic vegetables and herbs.
Even salad skeptics may be won over after they taste a wondrous array of colorful lettuces accompanied by fresh ripe tomatoes. And kids who don’t normally enjoy vegetables can discover the joys of fresh, sweet homegrown peas and carrots The easiest, most successful kitchen gardens are small and simple. You can always expand later. To get started, I recommend
Because a kitchen garden exists for one reason — to generate good things to eat — planting it near your house is best. That way, you can pop out the door, snip the herbs you need or grab a few sun-warmed cherry tomatoes, and put them to immediate use. Ideally, a kitchen or dining-room window overlooks your patch so you aren’t likely to forget what’s ripe for the taking. If your goal is to serve healthier and fresher food to your family, go for a variety of classic vegetables and herbs.
Even salad skeptics may be won over after they taste a wondrous array of colorful lettuces accompanied by fresh ripe tomatoes. And kids who don’t normally enjoy vegetables can discover the joys of fresh, sweet homegrown peas and carrots The easiest, most successful kitchen gardens are small and simple. You can always expand later. To get started, I recommend
- Keeping it sunny: At least six hours of full sun per day is essential for good growth and ripening of almost all vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. Morning light is preferable to afternoon because it dries the dew (reducing the risk of disease) and is less stressful than the blazing heat of midafternoon.
- Setting the boundaries: Stake out a spot using string rigged between wooden sticks, or try a simpler approach: Use your garden hose as a guide. After you establish the garden, you can edge the bed with bricks or stones or commercial plastic edging. Or dig a roughly 4-inch-deep trench all around the edges. The idea is to keep any lawn grass from encroaching on your kitchen garden.
- Building raised beds: If the soil in the appointed spot isn’t very good, erect a raised bed from planks standing on edge. Be sure to use untreated lumber, because some wood preservatives may be harmful to edible plants. (Unless you use the more expensive cedar, these wooden sides will eventually rot and need replacing. By then, you may be ready to expand your kitchen garden, anyway.)
- Installing protective barriers: If you garden in deer, woodchuck, or rabbit territory (just to name some of the worst pests), or if you host backyard soccer games, a protective fence around your kitchen garden may be in order. Use poultry wire or wood and sink it into the ground to discourage digging invaders. If the fence doesn’t look very attractive, plant fast-growing, lightweight plants to cover it, such as morning glories.
- Planting a few containers that are literally at the kitchen door: Try a small tomato plant surrounded by ‘Spicy Globe’ basil, a cut-and-come again mix of lettuces and salad greens, and another container of your favorite herbs.
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