Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

THE KITCHEN GARDEN

"Find the shortest, simplest way between the earth, the hands, and the  
mouth."
-Lanza Del Vasto

Nobody enjoys fresher food or a more satisfying vision from the  
kitchen window than those who keep a kitchen garden. Yes, the kitchen  
window, for no window in the house is so well attended, with the  
possible exception of the writer’s window when seeking the muse.

The many great pleasures of gardening include eating tasty and  
nutritious groceries only moments from picking or pulling, fresher by  
hours than from those urban restaurants that receive produce from  
farmers each morning and then charge wow prices to those who eat it at  
lunch.

The kitchen garden is ideally situated directly outside the window  
above the kitchen sink. This allows the gardening cook to easily  
observe opportunity and challenges throughout the day. A critter, dog,  
bird, or child bent on mischief is quickly dissuaded from blemishing  
lettuce or bruising tomatoes. Better yet, menu inspiration comes  
easily with a quick glance that reveals what is sumptuously ready for  
the plate.

Some say the term “kitchen garden” refers to a spot that produces  
only stuff for the, um, kitchen. Nah. The kitchen garden contains  
plants that feed both mouth and eyes. A row or three of sunflowers,  
perhaps with peas, beans or squash climbing upon them, provides a  
backdrop as well as a perch for birds looking for hornworms or squash  
bugs. Coreopsis or your favorite annuals sprinkled here and there make  
the picture perfect.

But the main reason, the raison d’etre, is the groceries. So, what to  
plant? The answer is easy: whatever you eat. Seriously. Plant  
tomatoes, basil, fines herbes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, lettuce,  
spinach, and parsley—those ingredients you wish for your summer  
meals. If you like to eat it—plant it!

What does not belong in the kitchen garden? Those things that require  
a lot of space, like potatoes, corn, garlic, and the tomatoes that  
will make the ketchup replacement, the pasta sauce, the salsa, the  
pizza sauce, all of which will become winter provender in either  
canned or frozen state. A few fun potatoes, purple or yellow, a few  
early tomatoes, five or ten plants of garlic, all these are fine, but  
plant hundreds in the main garden.

The Heartwood kitchen garden began as a tribute to an exceptional  
wife. It is fronted with a low stone wall, eighty-five feet in full,  
curving length, that serves to retain the sloping earth behind. The  
slope angle makes views extra pretty and ensures drainage. Yes, it is  
directly behind the kitchen sink window.

By the way, the French, who call their kitchen gardens “potagers,”  
are way ahead of we Americans. Someone has concluded that nearly a  
fourth of the fruit and vegetables eaten by the French are home-grown.

That’s just not right. I have a French name but I am proud to be at  
least fourth-generation American. Let’s get digging! Make a kitchen  
garden!