Kitchen Gardens: Growing Your Own Food
Why Should You Grow Your Own Food
1) Health: Organic food doesn't have the preservatives or pesticides like you would find in foods from the grocery store. Instead, they contain more minerals and nutrients than synthetic food which improves your health.
2) Cost Savings: When investing in a garden you only have the costs of the seeds, water, and maybe some soil supplements. Compare this to spending hundreds of dollars at the grocery store and see a substantial cut in expenses.
3) Sustainability: Gardening promotes sustainability and protects the Earth for future generations. By growing your own food in your garden you help prevent soil erosion, promote plant-life, prevent soil and water pollution by avoiding pesticide and herbicide use, and provide a food source for future generations (as long as they maintain your garden).
4) Exercise: As any gardener would tell you, maintaining a garden is one of the best exercises around. Not only do you get outside and perform rigorous tasks like digging holes or moving soil, but you also get to reap the rewards of having fresh home-grown food. Gardening is also a great way to relax and distress, something everyone can benefit from.
5) Taste: Think about it, how long has the food on the grocery shelves been there and where did it come from? If you are scared of the answer, then home-grown foods is your solution! Also, organic food is the preference for chefs because it makes their recipes taste better and you can take advantage of fresh food's great taste too with your own kitchen garden.
6) Pride: Taking care of a garden is hard and challenging work so when your plants produce healthy and tasty foods, it will do wonders for your pride. Don't be afraid to show the fruits of your labor (no pun intended), show it off to your friends and family!
7) Reduce Waste: After all the time and effort you put into growing foods in your garden, you are less likely to throw them away than you would with store-bought foods. In fact, you have been anticipating the moment when your food is ripe and ready to eat, so you are more likely to devour it quickly while its fresh than let it go to waste.
Startup Tips
1) Location: Just because you call it a €kitchen garden€ doesn't necessarily mean it should be right outside your kitchen. When starting a garden to grow your own food, it is vital to choose a location that receives lots of sun and has good soil drainage.
2) Raised Beds: Depending on your location or design preferences, you may want to consider planting your garden in a raised bed. This can bypass poor soil drainage issues while also having an appealing look. However, acquiring the materials and building the raised bed is costly and will take more time than it would if you were to plant directly in the ground.
3) Choosing Crops: Now that you have decided to take the plunge, it is important to determine what food you want to grow and why. A good rule to follow is growing what you like to eat, which will provide you with the most satisfaction. Also, start small your first year and then continue to add one or two new items as you continue on with your gardening efforts.
€Salad Gardens: Easy to maintain plants that don't require a lot of space are lettuces and greens. Great for your first garden because they can grow quickly and produce multiple harvests in a year.
€Herbs: Growing fresh herbs is great for cooking and will spice up your recipes, delivering taste like you've never experienced before. Examples of common herbs to grow are basil, mint, rosemary, garlic, oregano, sage, lavender, parsley, and thyme. Although the more you choose to grow the larger your garden will become, having them at your disposal when cooking will transform your bland recipes into gourmet creations.
€Tomatoes: When most people think of kitchen gardens, they think of growing tomatoes. Unlike other kitchen garden plants, tomatoes are vining plants that grow upright and staked. Growing times vary depending on the type of tomato and will be labeled €short season€ or €long season€ but the smaller ones like grape and cherry tomatoes, mature and ripen faster.
4)Planning: Before you can jump in and start gardening, you need to have a sketched out plan of where you are going to plant each crop and what each one requires. Every plant's perfect growing conditions are different and may require extra space, water, or soil nutrients so you want to plan accordingly to accommodate the needs for optimal growth. You will also need to decide if you want to start from scratch with seeds or buy transplants to increase the success rate of your garden.
5) Planting: Now that you are all ready to go with seeds or seedlings in hand, the time has come for you to plant. If you are planting directly into the ground, you will want to remove the sod in order to expose the soil. Once you get everything planted, then you will want to put mulch in your garden in order to deter weeds, retain moisture, and add organic matter to the soil as it decays. Also, it is essential to ensure your plants are getting the appropriate amount of watering for them to flourish.
6) Protection: As excited as you are about your kitchen garden, you can bet that other critters are too. In order to protect your plants from insects and other larger animals, you may want to invest in organic pest deterrent products and/or surround your garden with a fence.
1) Health: Organic food doesn't have the preservatives or pesticides like you would find in foods from the grocery store. Instead, they contain more minerals and nutrients than synthetic food which improves your health.
2) Cost Savings: When investing in a garden you only have the costs of the seeds, water, and maybe some soil supplements. Compare this to spending hundreds of dollars at the grocery store and see a substantial cut in expenses.
3) Sustainability: Gardening promotes sustainability and protects the Earth for future generations. By growing your own food in your garden you help prevent soil erosion, promote plant-life, prevent soil and water pollution by avoiding pesticide and herbicide use, and provide a food source for future generations (as long as they maintain your garden).
4) Exercise: As any gardener would tell you, maintaining a garden is one of the best exercises around. Not only do you get outside and perform rigorous tasks like digging holes or moving soil, but you also get to reap the rewards of having fresh home-grown food. Gardening is also a great way to relax and distress, something everyone can benefit from.
5) Taste: Think about it, how long has the food on the grocery shelves been there and where did it come from? If you are scared of the answer, then home-grown foods is your solution! Also, organic food is the preference for chefs because it makes their recipes taste better and you can take advantage of fresh food's great taste too with your own kitchen garden.
6) Pride: Taking care of a garden is hard and challenging work so when your plants produce healthy and tasty foods, it will do wonders for your pride. Don't be afraid to show the fruits of your labor (no pun intended), show it off to your friends and family!
7) Reduce Waste: After all the time and effort you put into growing foods in your garden, you are less likely to throw them away than you would with store-bought foods. In fact, you have been anticipating the moment when your food is ripe and ready to eat, so you are more likely to devour it quickly while its fresh than let it go to waste.
Startup Tips
1) Location: Just because you call it a €kitchen garden€ doesn't necessarily mean it should be right outside your kitchen. When starting a garden to grow your own food, it is vital to choose a location that receives lots of sun and has good soil drainage.
2) Raised Beds: Depending on your location or design preferences, you may want to consider planting your garden in a raised bed. This can bypass poor soil drainage issues while also having an appealing look. However, acquiring the materials and building the raised bed is costly and will take more time than it would if you were to plant directly in the ground.
3) Choosing Crops: Now that you have decided to take the plunge, it is important to determine what food you want to grow and why. A good rule to follow is growing what you like to eat, which will provide you with the most satisfaction. Also, start small your first year and then continue to add one or two new items as you continue on with your gardening efforts.
€Salad Gardens: Easy to maintain plants that don't require a lot of space are lettuces and greens. Great for your first garden because they can grow quickly and produce multiple harvests in a year.
€Herbs: Growing fresh herbs is great for cooking and will spice up your recipes, delivering taste like you've never experienced before. Examples of common herbs to grow are basil, mint, rosemary, garlic, oregano, sage, lavender, parsley, and thyme. Although the more you choose to grow the larger your garden will become, having them at your disposal when cooking will transform your bland recipes into gourmet creations.
€Tomatoes: When most people think of kitchen gardens, they think of growing tomatoes. Unlike other kitchen garden plants, tomatoes are vining plants that grow upright and staked. Growing times vary depending on the type of tomato and will be labeled €short season€ or €long season€ but the smaller ones like grape and cherry tomatoes, mature and ripen faster.
4)Planning: Before you can jump in and start gardening, you need to have a sketched out plan of where you are going to plant each crop and what each one requires. Every plant's perfect growing conditions are different and may require extra space, water, or soil nutrients so you want to plan accordingly to accommodate the needs for optimal growth. You will also need to decide if you want to start from scratch with seeds or buy transplants to increase the success rate of your garden.
5) Planting: Now that you are all ready to go with seeds or seedlings in hand, the time has come for you to plant. If you are planting directly into the ground, you will want to remove the sod in order to expose the soil. Once you get everything planted, then you will want to put mulch in your garden in order to deter weeds, retain moisture, and add organic matter to the soil as it decays. Also, it is essential to ensure your plants are getting the appropriate amount of watering for them to flourish.
6) Protection: As excited as you are about your kitchen garden, you can bet that other critters are too. In order to protect your plants from insects and other larger animals, you may want to invest in organic pest deterrent products and/or surround your garden with a fence.
