The valuable kitchen garden is something garden lover can deny if I say it in a layman language it is about producing fresh fruits, herbs, and vegetables so that you can serve delicious and healthy meals to your family.
It is not necessary to them right outside your kitchen. It is just like a simple garden. You might be obsessed with the organic farming and find that quite expensive. A valuable kitchen garden in this blog will help you to get out of this.
Step-By-Step Process for Starting a Kitchen Garden
You might be confused about the place that you need to select; then you must select a sunny place. It will help your garden plants to nourish in a better way and which in turn will get you more healthy returns. The place where sunlight reaches to its fullest and the place where the soil drains well is the best location.
The next task you will come across after selecting a location is to define your kitchen garden goals. But make sure you do first one correct, i.e., the selecting location where the sunshine remains the strongest and for the longest time. Whenever you start something, first you set short term goals and then the longer ones. Similarly, try to get some achievements in the period of one year. And after that try to scale it up exponentially year by year.
1. Preparing the Space for the Garden
I am sure now you might be excited about your kitchen garden as we are moving ahead step by step. The next task you will have is begin the process of building your kitchen garden on a piece of selected lawn, start from the ground with the raised bed or directly to the ground you have either option available to you.
If the location in, which soil don’t drain easily and take some time, then selecting the option of building on raised bed will work for you. Though this method may be little expensive and it requires the lot of hard work when compared to planting straight inside the ground. However, trust us on this; you shall get cent percent better results.
2. Choosing the Right Garden Crops
The most important task lies in this step after you start preparing it at small scale choosing crops for your garden. You must decide for what you are working this hard. That is one should decide the type of crops you would like to serve or eat.
It is witnessed on most occasions that gardener doesn’t go for the favorite crop his or her tummy decides. But they like to experiment with one or two easy growing and new crops for the sake of diversity even though they don’t like it much to be served on their plates.
3. Planting a Garden: Where, When and How?
Performing all the activities must be fun for you. And if you are a frequent gardener then this might be a hobby for you. So after all the activities stated above, you should be ready with the layout of your plan.
Include the various available and basic crops and their requirements like water, sun and soil. You can refer to various available online assistance and sources, which includes:
- “What to plant now?”
- “Mother Earth News”
- “Vegetable Garden Planner”
They are very interactive and helpful, and also, they will make your task much more simple and easy than before of how to maintain the valuable kitchen garden. You can also take the free trial lasting of 30 days of these programs and experience the same whether it is comfortable for you to use or not.
4. Garden Seeds V/s. Transplants
When the discussing is going to the kitchen garden, the time will also come when you will decide whether you should plant the crop using seed or you will just transplant it from the other plant. Mostly the gardener decides to plant those using seeds, and there are many reasons for this decision; it includes:
- Lower cost
- Variety for selection
- Level of satisfaction
You will see all these while growing a plant from seed to serving it on your plate. It also increases the chances of success of growing a plant especially for the crops such as peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes, which require a longer season for growing.
5. Mulch, Mulch… And More Mulch
After deciding that you will use seeds or transplant, there will be an introduction of the new guest into your garden. It will help your plant grow the best. Mr. Mulch, just as you use fertilizers in your organic gardening, you can use mulch in your kitchen garden. This can be done using anything such as:
- Grass clippings
- Straws
- Shredded leaves
- Pine needles
- Dead weeds
You can also get the stuff from your neighborhood for, which it is just equal to wastage. Mulch is vital for your plants for three different reasons: deter weeds, retain moisture and add relevant material to the soil so that it can decay. It can be applied on beds and around all the plants.
6. How Much Water is Required for Your Garden, and When?
Whether you grow fruits, vegetables, flowers or herbs, you must make sure that your garden plants have been served with water that is sufficient enough for the plants to drink. This is imperative when your seedlings are still tenderfoot and haven’t developed a deep root under the ground.
You should water your plants once a day or in two days. Once they get developed, the need for water decreases to an inch per week; this may happen more in hot regions. If the rain is not proper, make sure you are using irrigation facilities like sprinklers.
7. Garden Maintenance: Keep an Eye on It
If the sun and rain be good on your plants and you, have planted fast growers like green salads and radishes shall hardly take 20-30 days post the planting process. But still you must keep an eye on them so that they can harvest without any decay. Or, someone else can also keep an eye and take them away without prior notice.
We know you will think who can come into your garden and take the things away. These outsiders may include:
- Fungi
- Bacteria
- Dogs
- Rats
- Raccoons
There are various organic products and barriers available in the market that can save your plants from deterring. And if you have a serious problem with four-legged creatures you can use a good garden fence.
8. Succession Planting: Plant Now and Later
I hope you must have experienced the perfect pleasure in gardening the plants and tasting your hard work that is healthy as well. Don’t stop the things once you start with rather keep planting and experimenting. You can space your plantings in busy weekends and in a period of several weeks in a row.
Every time you plant, you will experience some new row or pull. Try something new. Think something different, remember succession planting leads to succession harvest and may continue for several months. It is the key to the success of kitchen gardening.
Our Suggestions… Your Confidence…
The achievements gained by you will plant a new confidence in your heart, and you can look forward to cultivate beautiful perennials including rhubarb and asparagus into your dream green landscape.
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