Most times when people hear the word “gardening”, a dreadful picture of a tired person with back aches, a hoe and nothing good going on in their life comes to their mind.
It gets worse when a vegetable garden is mentioned, the constant pruning, watering, weeding, and overall nurturing is already a turn-off to them. They don’t need anything that will bring additional stress to their already stressed life.
Yes, a vegetable garden can be that demanding but a kitchen garden is not so. You can still own a garden, tend to it and have time to attend to other activities on your itinerary.
A kitchen garden affords you that much. It is a garden where you grow plants and fruits for food. This means you don’t need to grow random plants just for the fun of it, you grow plants, greens, herbs and fruits strictly for your consumption.
Now, think of all the vegetables, greens and fruits that you love to eat or would want to add to your daily menu moving on, they’re not so much right? Exactly!
This means not much space is required, not many plants to nurture, and therefore, not much work to be done.
I bet you love the idea already. It’s a win-win for you!
So how do you design a productive and beautiful British outdoor kitchen garden for yourself?
There are a lot of factors to consider when creating and designing an outdoor kitchen garden. The most important factors are:
Season
You might not see garden stores advertising vegetables, fruit or plant seeds during the summer or winter because everyone’s attention is on the upcoming break or holidays.
This makes spring the best time to start making preparations for your kitchen garden.
If you go to some garden stores to ask for garden equipment or mulches in the summertime, you might get weird responses or find it hard to get them because, just as blooming is seasonal for some flowers and fruit-bearing plants, sales of garden supplies and seeds are seasonal in some parts of the UK.
To be precise, plan to buy your seeds in February or March and plant them in the same month so that between April and May, you can get some blossoms.
Beauty
Your kitchen garden won’t be complete if it is not aesthetically pleasing to the eye. It should be a place where anyone would want to spend some time with a book and a glass of wine, relaxing and enjoying themselves.
Don’t forget to add composite decking to improve the elegance and functionality of your kitchen garden. It is available in a wide available of colours and styles, from traditional rustic design to a contemporary modern look.
You can even have a cute little hammock where you can sit back, take in the scenery, unwind and carry out your favourite activity.
Size
As we already mentioned, you don’t need a large plot of land for a kitchen garden. As long as you have a space, you can own a kitchen garden.
But, the ideal space for a kitchen garden is between 25 to 250 sq feet. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have that much space. It’s for your consumption, right? So if you have a space that can fit in four garden beds (4 by 4 for each bed) then you’re good to go.
That would give you a total of 16 square feet of land space, petite but productive and useful.
Location
The position of your kitchen garden is very important. It should be located outdoors and in an open area that receives full exposure to sunlight so that your plants don’t die on you.
However, the sun-exposed area should also be close to your kitchen such that you can easily get fresh vegetables to prepare a quick meal that your family can enjoy.
It can be situated just opposite your kitchen window or back door as the case may be. This way, you can also take a quick peek at the plants whenever you stroll to the kitchen for a cup of water.
Soil Type
It’s important to take into consideration the type of soil that makes up your property landscape because this will determine if you will use it to plant or not.
If it is not suitable for vegetables and fruits, you can make raised box planters, fill them with the suitable soil, and fertilisers and begin planting. Thank goodness vegetables like tomatoes, onions, broccoli, spinach, cabbage, and lettuce have shallow roots, therefore, they’ll survive in box planters. You can also have strawberries planted in them.
On the contrary, you cannot have all your plants in a box planter because some plants need a subsoil below so that their roots can dig deeper into it. For this reason, you will need to test your soil to know if it accommodates planting.
For example, if you mostly have clay soil on your property, you’ll need to make raised beds for your kitchen garden, adding a top layer of loamy soil that will enable your plants to draw nutrients and grow.
Purpose
We’ve already established that your kitchen garden exists just to feed you. This will guide you in the type of plants, vegetables and fruits you decide to grow.
Of course, you should go for edible and medicinal plants, this will save you the expense of buying groceries in the local market.
While you tend to your plants, enjoy the fresh air, the sound and the sight of birds and butterflies, take it all in and consider it a means to relieve stress from a day full of work and activities.
A kitchen garden can be a beautiful addition to your property hence, you shouldn’t be afraid to own one. With the dread of owning a kitchen garden taken away, you can design a space where you grow your desired vegetables and fruit while taking into consideration the factors explained above.