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A kitchen garden has a charm all its own. There really is
nothing to beat the look and taste of fruit and vegetables that
you've grown yourself. If you add a few decorative herbs to the
mix, there's absolutely no reason why your kitchen garden can't
look as good visually as your flower garden.
It's a fact that fruit, vegetables and herbs are very rewarding
to grow. There's an extra special flavor to produce you've grown
yourself.
But be warned, a kitchen garden is going to be very
labor-intensive. If you're not into hard, manual work in your
garden, a kitchen garden may not be for you. The only way you're
going to get bumper crops of the fruit, vegetables and herbs
that you grow is by lavishing tender loving care and attention
on them.
Starting your growing early can produce a bountiful crop weeks
ahead of its normal time, giving you a home-grown harvest at a
time when those fruits and vegetables are particularly expensive
in the shops.
You can make your kitchen garden as visually attractive as
possible by careful planning. If space is at a premium you can
choose some of the more decorative vegetables and herbs and
plant them in your flower beds.
Ideally you need to choose a sunny site in your garden for most
herbs and vegetables to do well. If you are growing fruit trees,
you should ensure that they do not cast a shadow over the
vegetables and herbs.
Remember that although most herbs are leafy and lacking flowers,
they will provide greenery in your garden, even in the winter.
Just exercise a little thought as to where to place them and
think in terms of what your garden will look like in each of the
seasons and factor this into your planning.
Most herbs will do very well when planted in containers, so they
are an excellent option even if you don't have much space in
your garden. Tall herbs can be planted at the back of a
traditional flower garden and low-growing herbs make excellent
flower garden borders.
The normal method of growing vegetables is in regimented rows.
If they are kept properly weeded, this can still look good.
Again, if you don't have much space, you can still grow a large
range of vegetables in containers e.g. peas and potatoes. Some
vegetables are even attractive enough to be planted amongst the
flowers - but remember that you are going to have gaps once the
vegetables are harvested.
You may be surprised to learn that there's a large range of
fruit that you can grow even if you don't have several acres
worth of orchard plot. Small apple trees can grow in pots on the
patio, you can grow strawberries in containers and there are
even certain varieties of cordon-trained apples and pears that
can be grown against a garden fence.
Nearly all fruit trees prefer a sunny site. You will certainly
suffer from poor crops if you allow frost to damage the blossom
on apple and pear trees. Pears are particularly vulnerable
because they tend to flower earlier than apple trees.
If you don't have space in abundance but still want to try your
hand at fruit growing then you should look at planting trained
fruit trees such as espaliers, cordons and fans against a fence
or wall. They can look very decorative and take up very little
room.
With a modicum of planning, thought and imagination there really
is no reason at all why you can't have the joy of growing and
harvesting food for your own kitchen table in your own kitchen
garden, no matter how small the plot.
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