Kitchen Garden Part 1: What to Grow?

Time to plan the kitchen garden. Actually, today marks a late start. Next month, some seeds get planted for their indoor head start. To get the seeds in time, it is time to order.

A kitchen garden, however modest or grand, brings with it a nice sense of satisfaction and a good deal of good food. Cook and gardener, as one, decide on variety, quantity and to some extent quality. Forces of nature, despite our best efforts, continue to affect quality, good and bad, so we must share credit.

If you have never grown a kitchen garden, begin small. Choose easy plants like tomatoes and squash. Though humble and certain to leave you wishing you had grown more, the small garden provides valuable lessons. A smaller garden is less likely to discourage a beginner. As you learn, you can plan and plant more and more of you food.

If you have gardened before, you probably have an idea of what you can handle. In fact, if you gardened before, you likely have already planned this year’s garden.

Planning helps get to a better garden. Make a list of crops you want to grow. Then prioritize the list. Make a second list with the most desired plants at the top. Then go through the prioritized list and research the plants. How many do you think you need to grow? How much room do they take? How much care? How do you gather and store the harvest? How long does it take to reach maturity? What kind of soil is preferred. As you answer these questions, you may find that some of the high priority plants are not suitable for your situation. They may take too much room, too much work or require soil you do not have available. If this is the case, cross out the item and move on.

When you find that you have selected seeds that will fill your garden or gardening time, quit the research and order the seeds. If there are items left on the list, leave them and keep them in mind for next year when your garden will be larger.

copyright 2006 Chromia Poetics