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Edible Escape: Design Your Dream Kitchen Garden

Woman holding wheelbarrow in kitchen garden

Have you ever looked at your backyard and thought it required a redesign? We all have at some stage and that is because it is so easy to get out of hand. Some people may wish to completely transform their garden into something new, such as installing a garden room. There are so many things you can change for your garden, depending on the space you have available. It could be anything, such as adding flower beds or getting a garden studio installed there. It could even be a kitchen garden, which is very on-trend.

Now that summer is here, there is no better time to change your garden and redesign it.

Pick The Perfect Location

If some of your garden is sheltered, then must ensure your vegetation is not in the shelter. In some cases, it cannot be avoided because a part of your home covers your garden. If you have space in your garden where it does get sunlight, then place a flowerbed here to grow your fruit and vegetables.

Something else you need to ensure is that you cover your plants and try your best to protect them from the wind. One of the biggest issues when growing crops is wind. Disturbing above the root can hinder the growth of the fruit and vegetables as well. If you have hedges in your garden, then that is perfect for growing your crops. If you are building a windbreak, make sure it is secured and tall enough to protect your plants. All you need to build is a 1-metre high hedge that will shelter plants up to 5 metres.


Preparation

Now that you have your location, it is time to prepare your garden for the big makeover. This means giving your garden a day before you make any changes. This would usually entail pulling weeds and grass out of the ground, especially where your concrete flags are. If you are removing all of the grass in your garden, then consider using turf to keep that greenery.

Once you have removed all the weeds and landscaped the ground, we advise you to place plastic sheets over the top of the soil. This will prevent weeds from germinating and will keep the earth warm, and ready for your plants when the time comes.


Design

Your next step is to divide your garden into 4 different plots and this is where designing your dream kitchen garden becomes fun. It doesn’t matter the size of those plots, whether they are small or large; they just need to be big enough so you can plant enough crops. When making your four plots, you need to ensure you have a crosspath in the middle that separates them all. That is, you can get to every angle of your garden crops.

There are a variety of different plants that you can have but we would advise you to have something different in each plot. One plot should be for your root vegetables, another plot should grow legumes such as peas or beans, and the next plot should be for salad crops. Then, finally, in your last plot, you should grow herbs. Having this variety will be great for your home. After every year, it is advised that you rotate your crops each year. This is to ensure your crops don’t get diseases when you grow them in the same patch. Furthermore, the soil won’t run out of nutrients because you will be rotating your crops. This is due to your crops using different nutrients.


Soil

With your soil, you need to ensure that it is free-draining and has a lot of organic matter in it, such as compost and manure. Then you need to add topsoil, which has a depth of 30 cm. If the quality of your soil isn’t great, then you may need to change the bed design of your garden. Consider raising the flower beds and filling the bed with both compost and topsoil.

Before you commit to your soil, buy a soil testing kit to check your soil type. You can usually buy these from your local garden centre and it reduces the time and effort spent trialling different crops in your garden beds.

Most vegetables will require soil that is filled with nutrients and the soil needs to be airy. This is a common problem for many people who grow their own crops. Their soil won’t drain well, which then affects the growth of their vegetables. If you notice that your soil doesn’t drain well, consider adding grit to help with drainage and adding more compost to the soil.


Plant Your Crops

The final stage of making your dream kitchen garden is to add your crops and this is certainly the most satisfying part of growing your plantation. Depending on the time of year, it all depends on what crops you can grow. Check your seed packets to ensure you are planting them at the right time of year.

You need to be careful what plants you put in your flower beds. For example, if you are growing perennial plants in your vegetable garden, it makes it difficult to rotate them. For those permanent flower beds, consider planting buckwheats around the edge. If you are growing tomatoes, then you need to ensure they have enough warmth and sunshine.

If you are new to growing crops, then it can be very overwhelming, so you need to absorb as much information as possible. Additionally, you should choose plants that are easy to grow, just so you can get into the swing of things first.

Many crops are perfect for beginners to grow, such as tomatoes, courgettes, potatoes, beans, lettuce, beetroot, peas and radish. All of these are relatively easy to grow in your garden but do your research to ensure you are doing everything right.

If you grow crops in early spring, you can grow onions, lettuce, kohlrabi, parsnips, kale and radish. During the summer, you can grow crops similar to those that you grow in the spring. In winter, you can grow garlic, perpetual spinach, broad beans, asparagus, carrot and pak choi. Find out what you can grow during the time of year you wish to plant your crops and then buy them.


Summary

Growing your dream kitchen garden is satisfying when it goes right but if it doesn’t, then it can be very stressful. As long as you check the quality of your soil before planting and ensure it has plenty of air, then your crops should grow well. It is also important to ensure they are protected from the wind. If you have a luxury garden room in your back garden, place it a few metres away to stay protected from the wind but also get plenty of sunlight throughout the year to help the crops grow.