Posted on: Friday, May 30, 2008
HOME AND GARDEN
Kitchen gardens can be both practical, beautiful
By Dean Fosdick
Associated Press
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Lettuces and salad greens make for eye candy in the kitchen garden of Ellen Ogden, co-founder of "The Cook's Garden" seed catalog.
Ellen Ecker Ogden via AP
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The humble vegetable, if chosen well and given some landscaping help, can elevate the kitchen garden into a living, vibrant work of art.
Ornamental kitchen garden design has more than 450 years of tradition from which to draw, but virtually anything goes. Just be sure some color accompanies that culinary crunch.
Here are some tips to make your creative gardening endeavors more palatable:
Follow the sun. Vegetables need their day in the sun, or at least six to eight hours' worth, if they're to produce the best yields. But showier varieties deserve visibility, too. Place them near the kitchen door for convenience; yet also position them where they can be enjoyed from the windows.
Plan small and then plant smaller. We're talking about using a heavy mix of perennials here, things like chives, strawberries, fruiting shrubs and trees. Find varieties that are at the same time attractive and flavorful.
"Start with a 10-foot by 10-foot section. You always can add to it later. Then grow just the things you enjoy or can't get at the farmers market or grocery like luxury herbs and fancy, tender little greens," says Ellen Ogden, co-founder of "The Cook's Garden" seed catalog.
Skip the bigger plants. They not only take up a lot of room but they rob the soil of nutrients. Salad greens or tomatoes provide more nutritional value for the space, Ogden says.
Succession planting. Get a second crop into the ground immediately after harvesting the first. A compact ornamental kitchen garden can be good for as many as three crops per growing season. Speed things along by using seed sown in peat pots. That way, they'll be ready to drop into the ground after the cool weather plants (beets, cabbage, radishes, mustard and spinach) are done.
Border plants. If you prefer a living barrier to stone walls, then choose a hardy ornamental shrub that will flower, fruit and produce a colorful background when viewed from within or without.
Go easy with the chemicals if you intend to nibble on the blooms. You'll be washing them, of course, but gently if you want to deliver them intact to the table. Better that you grow such things organically to make them even more food-safe.
Some edibles taste fresher and last longer when picked than others. But you can enhance those flavors by harvesting in the cool of the morning. Keep the clipped edibles crisp by covering them with a cool, wetted towel.
If you're starved for room, then plant deep and grow things up as well as out. Use vining plants like beans and squashes.
Stop and eat the roses. Roses are more than eye candy. Their petals and hips make into snacks, tea, honey, and sugar-dusted or chocolate-covered garnishes.
