If at first you do not succeed: Plant a Kitchen Garden!



December 2010:  Our square foot garden transformed into an herb garden. 

 In my square foot garden  post I gave you a glimpse of our new vegetable garden.  We started the garden in 2006 and over the years we have harvested a good amount of radishes, onions especially, and tomatoes.  Yet the yields have been disappointing and the only thing we suspect is that our garden is misplaced.  There really is not enough consistent sunlight during the day in this area of our yard.  Pat is planning another garden in the middle of our front yard.  This part of the yard has full sun all day long. 

Another reason for the slow demise is I did not realize Pat was not adding manuer every year!  He added some every once-in-a-while, but my mother always added manuer to her garden every single year.  Pat's mom also reminded us of getting river-bottom dirt for our garden.  This is something mother did, too.  Because this garden may not be in the best location, Pat decided to turn it into an herb garden.


Mexican Mint Marigold



Pictured on the right is a new addition to the herb garden, Mexican Mint Marigold.  Clicking on the caption will take you to a master gardener's explanation of all the benefits of this lovely herb.  In addition to this herb we have Chocolate Basil, Fennel, Tarragon, Thyme, and Swiss Chard to name a few. 

Like so many articles in the popular magazines have touted, planting a kitchen garden is fun and low on the "labor" scale.  Herbs really do take care of themselves!  Basil and Parsley are about the only two herbs that need to be replanted in the spring that we have found.  In our front flower bed, we have a huge rosemary bush that has been in the garden for about 7 years!  Our Garlic Chives around one of our oak trees have been there since we moved in about 13 years ago.  For this non-gardener, part-time cook this is the answer to my prayers!

Square Foot Gardening

One thing that connects Pat to my mother is his love of growing fresh vegetables. In the 80's he noticed a program on PBS which featured a gardening technique that compacts crops into square foot sections. The technique, by Mel Bartholomew, is explained in his book Square Foot Gardening.

Living on an acre + of land, we do have plenty of room to have a traditional garden, but we also have maybe 40' of limestone below a 1/2" layer of dirt. For that reason, most of the beds that have been established by Pat are raised gardens. Another reason for the small area is if you use the Square Foot gardening method, you really do not need a lot of space! Pat dug this 16' x 8' plot in December 2006. I actually helped a little.

The main advantages to Square Foot gardening are:

• ease of weeding and cultivation
• uses less water
• high yield in a small space
• it looks good!

This is our third year for the garden and Pat mainly plants radishes, onions and tomatoes. This year he has decided to move the tomatoes into pots in order to free up space for broccoli and cabbage. Because the garden is next to the house, it does not catch as much sunlight as it should for high yields. However, for the last two summers the garden has yielded enough onions to last from summer through winter. Pat also plants cilantro, lettuces in the fall, and peppers. I'll update you on this year's garden around the end of June.

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upper right: Pat stands by the newly created garden
left: Our garden for the 2009 growing season (3/18/09)