Friday, March 16, 2007

My Ornamental Kitchen Garden

My ornamental kitchen garden was started two years ago in April 2005. It's a part of the garden of which I'm very proud and where I spend most of my time gardening. I grow many vegetables and fruit in it, but also herbs and flowers. I don't like kitchen gardens where there is rows and rows of cabbages, beans or sprouts or something, that's so boring to look at. So I have mainly small beds where I grow many vegetable crops combined with flowers, fruit and herbs. I don't have to feed an whole orphanage so small beds with a few lettuces, cabbages, leeks etc, will do me nicely.

The fruits I grow in the kitchen garden are strawberries, white currants, black currants, gooseberries, elderberries, blackberries, raspberries and plums. Most berries and all currants are standards so they don't take up much space.

I prefer variety in my kitchen garden, so there's lots to see and to enjoy. It's south facing and therefore the warmest part of my garden. I'm able to sit and eat outside in the kitchen garden from March until the end of October, provided the sun is shining of course.

The flowers I grow in the kitchen garden are mainly for cutting. I like having lots of flower bouquets dotted all over my house. Who wouldn't? Sweet peas are the flowers that I grow every year in the kitchen garden because they are the best; they look great, they smell great and the more flowers you cut, the more flowers the plant will produce. Isn't that just absolutely wonderful?

I'll leave you with a few impressions of my kitchen garden. Have a nice weekend!
A harvest of broad beans, next to the rhubarb forcing pot.
White currants ready for the picking. They taste great and you can make a lovely jam out of them.



Strawberry pot with verbena and strawberries.
White Agapanthus and sugar snaps.
A splash of spring colour in the kitchen garden and some spinach ready to be harvested, next to the cold frames.

Autumn display in the kitchen garden with Dahlias and nasturtiums.
My little rainbow of colour.

Herbs and onions.
A view across the kitchen garden, with the rain barrel to catch the rain off the roof of the Victorian greenhouse,

The Victorian greenhouse with a moss wreath that I made last weekend.
A colour explosion!

If you want to know whether it's time to sow, take off your pants and sit down on the earth.
Anon

28 comments:

Carol Michel said...

I love your kichen garden! It looks like such an inviting place to just be!

Linda said...

Your kitchen garden looks so inviting. What gorgeous blooms. I've added a link on my blog so I can come back and visit often.

Anonymous said...

It's a very nice kitchengarden indeed. With lots of tasty produce. Your greengrocer will not see you a lot in summer.
So a very tasty an colourful garden as well. Hmmm.....deliscious!!

Anonymous said...

Delightful. You obviously put so much of yourself into your garden, and you photograph it very well too.

Anita said...

Yolanda, je kuiken tuin is heel leuk!!!!

Oh, you have a rubarb forcing pot!!! I am looking for such a pot since more than one year!!!! Where did you buy it???

Ik wens je ook veel plaisir in je tuin!

Groetjes uit Duitsland!
Anita

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Hi all,

My kitchen garden is indeed a very inviting place. It's not for nothing that I spend so much time there. :-)

Carol and Pam, thanks for your lovely comments. I'm looking forward to see many pictures of your gardens in the coming months.

Crafty gardener, welcome to my blog, I'm glad you like the flowers. Won't be long now before you can enjoy some colour in your garden!

Bert, I'll be eating a lot of fruit and veg from my own garden so you're right in thinking that I won't buy much in the shops. :-)

Anita, I bought the rubarb pot at
http://www.vreeken.nl/
Click on vang-, vogel- en bleekpotten and scroll down. The last one is the one you are looking for. Mine is 2 years old now and I'm very happy with it because I'd been looking for it a long time too.

Ook voor jou veel plezier in de tuin! Lieve groetjes vanuit Nederland.

Layanee said...

Yo, Such lovely images to remind those of us in other climates that there is hope! Love the blog...it is snowing here in New England today! At least it is covering up the mud!

Annie in Austin said...

From something so ornamental it seems you get quite a harvest, Yolanda Elizabet. I've never heard of white berries before but the leaves look a little like currants.
Thank you for the tour!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Annie, you're right of course, those are white currants not berries. It's not easy blogging in a language not your own. ;-) In Dutch they are called white berries (witte aalbessen). Sorry for the confusion!

kate said...

Besides admiring your amazing garden footwear collection, I am in awe of your garden. Your flower pics are gorgeous and your Vctorian greenhouse with the pretty moss wreath is lovely.

Thank you for sharing ... I can only dream!!

Kate

Garden Cats + Crafts said...

I see in your blog so much gladly and I detect every day so nice thinks in your beautiful garden. Like your crop basket.
A wonderful weekend for your. Birgit

Anita said...

Thanks a lot Yolanda for that link! And it's not expensive at all! Just one questions. Is ist made of clay or plastic? Clay, I hope!

Unknown said...

Yolanda, it's so beautiful! No wonder you like to spend time there.

I also have a question, if you don't mind sharing: How do you keep your raspberry plants in check? I want to plant some, but am worried about them spreading too much.

OldRoses said...

So beautiful! Almost makes me want to add veggies to my flowerbeds.

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Hi all,

Kate, thanks for visiting my blog. This garden used to be a dream for me too but sometimes dreams come true. I hope it will for you too, some day.

Birgit, I feel the same about your lovely blog and garden!

Anita, I have good news, the rubarb pot is made of clay!

Blackswamp girl, the answer is pruning. Every year I remove a few of the old branches and let a few new ones grow. That way, it will never get too big.

Old roses, vegetables can be very pretty too. Especially if you let them go to seed. Thanks for stopping by.

Gotta Garden said...

That's so sweet...I have a little pillow that says "Plant Your Dreams and Miracles Will Grow"...

How inspiring that you reap such a good harvest! I'm pretty much down to some favorite herbs and just tomatoes and peppers...I'd have to do away with some daylilies (oh no!)...although some nice flat land would help also!

I'm sure when you start posting mouth watering pictures of your goodies, I'll think shoulda, woulda, coulda...and have second, third, and so on thoughts!

It's really beautiful, but then I would expect yours would be!

Green thumb said...

Your ornamental Kitchen Garden has soothed all my senses;
My eyes love the all round beauty, Ears can hear your 'garden friends', I can smell the aroma of sweet peas, my mouth is still watering for those white currants and I can feel the touch of soft flowers. In one word its simply WOW!!!

Anita said...

It's made of clay, great!!! So it's exactly what I have been looking for! Thanks for the info!

stadtgarten said...

Thanks a lot for showing us your kitchen garden. It is so beautiful!
It seems to me that it is exactly the kind of kitchen oder herb garden I dream to have, mixed with flowers and fruit.
Your kitchen garden reminds me a little bit of the herb garden in Sissinghurst, especially the picture with herbs and onions.
Ik wens je een mooi weekeinde,
groetjes, Monika

A wildlife gardener said...

Just beautiful! Dreamy and romantic and with soul.

Libbys Blog said...

If your garden goes missing you know where to find it!!!!!!!!! Thats what I wish mine looked like, maybe you could pop over and sort me out!!!!!!!

Kylee Baumle said...

Yolanda, you are so inspiring. I've gleaned some ideas for my garden this year from your photos. Your kitchen garden is a DREAM! I try to plant some veggies and herbs in amongst my flowers, too, and I am going to do that even moreso this summer. I love the look.

These photos make me want to visit even more! Just fabulous!!

Rebsie Fairholm said...

Yolanda, your photographs are beautiful! This is exactly my kind of garden ... delightful and inspiring ... and I bet the wildlife love it too. I look forward to seeing more of it over the coming season.

Rebsie

KC MO Garden Guy said...

WOW!!!! Your kitchen garden looks wonderful. I can tell you take a lot of pride in your gardening. I agree with your comment about sowing and planting things in rows. That was my parents generation that did that. I try and think outside the box. This year I am going to incorporate the vegitable in between the flowers. That is if there is room. Might have to dig up more of the lawn!!! Love the pictures keep them coming.

Gowri said...

Dear Yolanda,

Your kitchen garden's simply marvellous. The white currants looked very inviting.

I completely agree with you when you say there should variety in a garden and not stretches of the same vegetable all over - your garden certainly illustrates quite well, what a feast variety can be!

Andrea's Garden said...

Hello,
I found your blog through Anita's Garden and had to "sneak a peek" and I am glad I did. My garden is a long way from yours. Your kitchen garden is adorable!
Best regards
Andrea

Boxwood Cottage said...

It must be wonderful to have the space for such a fantastic kitchen garden! Lucky you!

Old Escondido Gardener said...

I ran across your blog looking for a strawberry pot to purchase. Got "lost" for an hour or so on your blog just marveling and being envious of your beatiful pictures and comments. I'd be ever so grateful if you would share where I can buy a strawberry plant like the on you have...