A kitchen garden begins

You are looking at the “Before” picture of what I hope will be a dramatic and inspiring “After”.  Our family moved into this house last April and we did some pretty major projects outside like removing trees and moving fences, but this is the eyesore we are

focusing on this year.   The previous owner poured a concrete pad in the back yard that seems to have been intended as a basketball court.  This area gets some prime sun and it seems a waste to shoot hoops here.  After all, isn’t that what a driveway is for?  So we have been using it as a dumping ground for the grass killing detritus of our small-scale logging operation.

However, we still have a concrete pad in full view of our eating area that I have been agonizing over.  Last year we put some raised beds there, but only so we could grow tomatoes and peppers,  not to create an oasis as I hope to do.

When I opened up the April 2009 issue of Organic Gardening magazine I found my inspiration.  The idea is a “potager” which is French for kitchen garden.  However, this is no 10X20 rectangle with veggies all in a row.  This is someplace you want to sit and breathe deeply.   I know you would love to see a picture of this paradise, but unfortunately you either have to buy the issue or wait until May is on the newstands and check organicgardening.com because there isn’t a picture on the site.  However if you are interested in making food production pretty, it could be five bucks well spent.

If you have been gardening for any amount of time you know that raised beds are the buzz now.  They are great for lots of reasons: you can start earlier because the soil is warmer than that in the ground, you can really control the quality of soil which helps to eliminate some types of disease and control weeds, and if you size them well they are much easier to work.  As you can see from the pictures, we have given them a shot. Not a pretty sight.  Yes, they did all of the above, but MAN they are ugly!!!

The goal of a potager is to create a garden that is both edible and beautiful.  This is partially accomplished by structure.  The garden is very tidy and ordered.  It is saved from being uptight by curving shapes that soften it.  There are trellises with vines like peas and beans  growing up them for a vertical element and (edible) nastursiums spilling over the sides.  Herbs are sprinkled throughout, which are beautiful in their own right and will flower if you can resist snipping them off for pesto.   Flowers are  incorporated solely because they are beautiful, though did you know you can eat pansies or that marigolds are a great insect deterrent?

The wow factor of the potager in the magazine is the brick pathway throughout.  It really finishes it.   I don’t think concrete will have the same effect, so I am working on that.  Plants are getting moved around, varieties are changed, seeds are being tucked into pots of dirt as I try to decide  how to make it a place of beauty and veggies, and that will be revised over and over until planting day.   The reality is, here in Western Massachusetts we still have the possibility of snow even past the first day of Spring.  My hope lies in the fact that today I was able to finally get a trowel into the ground and plant my first seeds of Bright Lights Swiss Chard.  There is still plenty of  time to dream.

Related posts:

1. Beauty and Bounty from a Kitchen Garden The garden