What is a kitchen garden?
I get a lot of funny looks when I say "kitchen garden". I take it for granted sometimes that most people do not know what I mean. Kitchen Gardens (also known as poteger) are not a new idea. In fact, they go back as far as the 16th century. However, kitchen gardens are just a little different than a common veggie patch.
When I think of a kitchen garden a few traits come to mind quickly: size, purpose, and location, or accessibility.
Size:
A kitchen garden is relatively small and compact compared to a traditional row garden. Growing up, my grandma and grandpa tended a large patch of land in the back yard - probably a third of the whole property! There were rows and rows of strawberries, asparagus, tomatoes, cantaloupe, garlic, beans and more. I don't know who she thought was going to eat all that food but it was way more than she and grandpa could possibly consume! That led to a lot of canning and giving food away. That's great if your end objective is canning and sharing but a kitchen garden is different. It is usually just big enough to serve you and your family. And that leads us to purpose.
French Jardin Potager photo by Arnaud 25
Purpose
A kitchen garden serves the needs of the kitchen in the day to day needs. It is not so much about producing a lot for canning but going out nightly to clip lettuce for that night's dinner, or stepping outside real quick to clip some chives for the baked potato bar you are serving for guests that night. It is more about eating fresh and daily. With that in mind, a kitchen garden may have a very diverse offering of crops, not so much rows and rows of one vegetable. For example, you may have one basil plant, one or two tomato plants, a few clumps of chives, a few rows of successively planted leaf lettuces or spinach. Whatever you might need or typically enjoy on a regular basis can be found in a kitchen garden!
Accessible/location
Location is really important. If your purpose is to go outside daily to "shop" in the produce isles of your kitchen garden, it needs to be close and easily accessible to your kitchen. I like to think of the kitchen garden as an extension of your kitchen. Let's imagine you live on a beautiful 5-acre lot on the edge of town and you want a kitchen garden. Let's be real, you wouldn't want to walk to the far corner of your property to hand pick a bowl of fresh greens for a dinner salad. it would be best if you could step out in your house slippers with your bowl and a pair of kitchen scissors and be there and back in less than 5-minutes. In this scenario, your kitchen garden would need to be close in proximity and lined with walking paths so you don't get your house slippers muddy! Let's be real, if the kitchen garden is too far away you won't use it!
Rooted Garden, Houston, TX
Aesthetically Pleasing
Here's another thing, if your kitchen garden is going to be right off the deck, patio or even in the front/side yard - you will want it to look nice too. Don't get me wrong, in-ground row gardens can be very beautiful but it takes a lot of work to maintain that standard. We want something that is easy on the eyes and not a reminder that you have five rows of garlic that need hoed because the weeds are taller than the crop! Raised cedar built boxes are a common choice, but stone, metal and composite materials are options too. Trellises, arbors, and arches are a fan favorite too. It add a vertical interest that your plants can't always provide and how fun is to pick sugar snap peas hanging right over your head! Kitchen gardens are also set apart by edging and boarders which tells your brain, "This space is different and special and should be recognized as such." Ask yourself, would you invite your spouses co-workers over for a forth of July barbecue and feel comfortable with your guests strolling around your kitchen garden with a beer or wine glass in hand, striking up conversation about cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. And oh wait - you just happen to be serving your guests caprese salad with their barbecue and you just harvested it that morning. How fresh can it get!?
So that takes me back to my first trait and that is size. A kitchen garden is small enough that you can manage the pests and weeds so that it does maintain a level of beauty and design.
That's it folks, that is a kitchen garden wrapped up in a single blog post. I hope reading this gets you as excited about kitchen gardens as I did writing about it. If you would like to schedule a consult click here!
