Creating a Kitchen Garden, pt 1: The Holy Trinity
This month we are kicking off a new 4 part blog series called “Creating a Kitchen Garden.” Each week we’ll walk you through how to get your garden started this season. This week’s focus is The Holy Trinity: Sun, Space, and Water.
If you are reading this, it is likely that you are at least intrigued by the idea of starting your own kitchen garden. I know I was for years before I finally took the plunge. Although, I had a pretty valid reason for waiting so long - I didn’t particularly like outdoor activities nor did I like getting hot … or sweaty … or dirty … or participating in hard labor. So, while I loved the idea of gardening, I figured it just wasn’t in my DNA. Oh and I killed every plant I touched 100% of the time. Anyone in the same club as me? I have a feeling I am not alone.
So what changed? I did a lot of learning and figured out how to simplify gardening to fit my lifestyle. A lifestyle some might call … lazy. I knew if I was going to be successful at gardening, I needed to find a way to lazy-ify gardening. Thus began my transformation into THE LAZY GARDENER (insert dramatic music).
Part 1: The Holy Trinity: Sun, Space, & Water
Before you start buying plants or clearing out space in your yard, there are 3 questions you need to ask yourself. This works like a process of elimination, hopefully leading you to the best location for your garden.
1. Where is the sun?
Growing veggies requires a lot of sunlight.
If you want to only grow herbs and leafy greens, you can get away with a minimum of 4 hours of sunlight in zone 7. I know this because I have done it. Is it “best practices?” No. But there is a difference between ideal and real. And if you only have 4 hours of sun exposure, that’s the reality of your situation and you can still have a beautiful garden. However, 4 hours is not enough to grow plants that produce a veggie that you pick off of the plant (tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, sweet potatoes, onions, etc). For these plants, 8+ hours is what you are shooting for. Generally speaking, the south side of your space is where you will find this amount of sunlight (assuming it isn’t blocked by trees or something else). Again, there is ideal and there is real. Real for me is the east side of my house that just barely gets 6 hours of sunlight once the weather starts to warm up. And guess what? I have a stunning garden each year. Again, you have to work with what you have.
If you’re like most people, you don’t really know how much sun you have shining in your space at any given time. I picked a sunny Saturday to figure this out. I drew a rough sketch of my space then took a trip outside every hour throughout the day. I marked on the drawing what area was in the sun each hour. This helped me tremendously! Had I put my garden where I thought it would look pretty, nothing would have grown there because it ended up only getting about 3 hours of sun! I saved myself a lot of back breaking work which DOES NOT align with my lazy lifestyle.
2. Where is my best space?
Once you’ve determined your sunny spots, this next step is almost even more important for us lazy gardeners. I knew if I was not tripping over my garden day in and day out, I would not take care of it. “Out of sight, out of mind” is a real thing. Which one of those sunny spots are you naturally in everyday without even thinking about it? Do yourself a favor, if you never go into your backyard, DO NOT put your garden there. I know it sounds unconventional, but I ended up putting my garden in front of our house! It sits right outside of the door we use to go in and out of our house. I pass the garden a dozen times a day. I don’t have to create a new habit or routine – it’s just there in front of where I am already going. Now, we don’t have any HOA’s to contend with so that may not be an option for you. But gardens can go anywhere. Love your back deck? Put a planter box there! Constantly playing with the kids in the driveway? Find a cool metal trough to use there. Your tiny courtyard where you drink your glass of wine every evening? Yep, that can work too (and I am available for invites).
3. Where is the water?
Ok! You’ve figured out a couple of places that have great sun exposure and hopefully one of those locations you also pass by frequently. The third and final qualifier is where is your water source? Let me tell you a little secret. If you have to haul water in buckets to your garden, consider your garden Dead On Arrival. I don’t care how earnestly you want to garden, this is not conducive to being a lazy gardener and you are setting yourself up for failure. But what if you have the PERFECT location but the water source really is a problem? There are some work arounds. The most rudimentary option: get a really, really long hose. You can even string a couple of hoses together. Granted, this is not very attractive and I HATE rolling up hoses with a passion. So if it were me, the hose would have to stay out 24/7 and this would cause some marital strife. Another option would be to use rain barrels. These barrels collect water and then have a spigot that allows you to connect a hose. Of course, a third option (and most costly) would be to have a plumber extend the water line from your house to a new spigot in your garden.
Alrighty! You’ve got a little work to do walking through these 3 questions to figure out the prime location for your new kitchen garden.
Next Week: Raised Beds.