Growing a kitchen garden is a great way to get outdoors and reconnect with nature. It’s also a rewarding hobby that will provide you with delicious food.
Ideally, your kitchen garden is located right outside your door so you can grab a handful of herbs before preparing a meal or help a sugar snap pea tendril climb up a trellis. It’s designed to be lightly tended on a regular basis.
Fresh Produce
A kitchen garden gives you a steady supply of fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits. It can be as small as a window box or as large as a yard, depending on your space and climate.
The garden can take on many forms, from a traditional vegetable garden to a trellis-supported strawberry patch or a raised bed of salad greens. In some modern gardens, edible plants and flowers mingle (such as in the chateau garden at Villandry).
The produce you grow is a gift to yourself. Homegrown and locally grown vegetables and fruits may have more nutrients than those transported over long distances. Commercial crops are often picked before they are fully ripe and subjected to harsh handling during transport, which accelerates the loss of vitamins and minerals.
Fresh Herbs
Gardening is often thought to be a daunting task, with people envisioning themselves as either farmers clad in overalls with a hoe permanently in hand or plant killers. However, there is a middle ground for those wanting to grow their own food and herbs.
Herbs are easy to grow and have a huge impact on your cooking, as they add both flavor and nutrition to recipes. Herbs like basil, cilantro, parsley, oregano, thyme, mint and rosemary are all good candidates for kitchen gardens.
Before planting your herb garden, perform a soil test. This will determine the type of soil your garden needs and identify any key nutrients that may be missing. Then you’ll be ready to start planning! You can plant from seed or purchase transplants from Shiv Shankar Landscape.
Aesthetics
A kitchen garden provides a place to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers that are attractive. It is important that the design of the garden reflects the style of the home, and that there is harmony between the materials used in the raised beds, trellis, walkways and other elements in the yard.
Many homeowners are inspired by the look of French potager gardens, which blend colorful flowers with salad greens and other edibles, often with a sense of symmetry. Oklahoma garden designer Linda Vater creates elegant edible gardens that are inspired by this tradition. Her garden has beautiful annuals and perennial vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers. She also has fruit trees, including figs that can be espaliered in narrow spaces. These plants complement the other trees and shrubs in her landscape.
Health Benefits
Having a kitchen garden makes it easy to eat healthier. Fresh herbs and vegetables are right at your doorstep, encouraging you to incorporate them into meals more regularly. The produce also tastes better and is more nutritious than grocery store varieties that have been shipped long distances.
It is important to know how and when to harvest your kitchen garden produce. This will help to reduce waste and keep the plants healthy throughout the season. Taking the time to do this will also teach you how each crop behaves in different climates, soil types and conditions. This is knowledge you can use to expand your gardening skills even further. This will make your gardening a continual source of discovery and pleasure. You will never look at supermarket produce the same way again.
Money Savings
Growing your own food is a fun and rewarding hobby, but it can also save you money. The initial investment in seeds, plants and supplies can yield pounds of produce for a fraction of what it costs to buy at the grocery store.
The key to maximizing the money saving potential of your kitchen garden is selecting fast-growing crops that offer high yields per square foot. You’ll also want to consider choosing vegetables that can be preserved, such as potatoes and onions. And don’t forget that herbs—such as basil, rosemary, thyme and chives—are far less expensive than purchasing them at the grocery store!
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