How to Create a Kitchen Garden

How to Create a Kitchen Garden

Come join me as I take you on a tour of my garden and share how you can create a kitchen garden. I’m starting from scratch after the terrible Texas winter storm, and I am taking you along with me for the journey!

What is a Kitchen Garden?

Some of you may know a kitchen garden by the French term potager. It’s a small garden grown close to your kitchen that includes vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers—everything the home cook needs to create a tasty meal and set a pretty table!

Seed Organizer for the Kitchen Garden

When creating your kitchen garden, first decide on selecting a space that’s close to your kitchen. This area may be right outside your kitchen door or if you are a city dweller, on your kitchen balcony, patio, or even your sunny windowsill.

Next, you’ll want to pick those plants that grow best in your area. If you start with seeds, a great tip that I learned from Kaye over at Late Bloomer is to store your seeds in large plastic photo box cases. This storage container is such a game-changer when it comes to being organized. And quite an improvement over my grocery store bag system. Or should I say…a lack of system! 😉 

The Natural Gardener in Austin

As you are planning your kitchen garden, you may want to start with some small or more mature plants as opposed to just seeds that have yet to germinate. I understand completely!

I am getting a late start this year with my garden because of those winter Texas storms with over 140 hours of below-freezing temperatures, so I need to start with some small plants to catch up with the growing season before it gets too hot. Also, keep in mind that some plants, like the herbs rosemary and sage, just do better when started with a small plant or root cutting.

When it comes to adding small plants to my garden, I certainly can find them at my local grocery store, garden shop, or at some of the big box garden stores, but one of my favorite places to visit is The Natural Gardener in Austin, Texas.

If you are ever in the central Texas area, I highly recommend you stop by at least to browse the wide variety of plants and gardening supplies that they offer. The Natural Gardner is more than a garden shop. It’s a destination!

And be prepared. Their garden store is so popular that you may actually have to wait in a line of cars before you can even park! But it will be worth it if you are looking for a gardener’s paradise and a variety of native Texas plants to choose from.

Medicinal Herbs for Your Kitchen Garden

In the past, I primarily grew herbs and some flowers in my kitchen garden. But during the quarantine time of 2020, I decided that I wanted to expand my kitchen garden to include more vegetables. Eventually, I hope to add fruit trees too.

However, herbs still play a starring role in my kitchen garden and always will. In the videos below, I share those herbs that I consider to be essential medicinal herbs that you can grow in your garden or purchase to keep on hand in their dry form.

Mountain Rose Herbs

If you’re looking for seeds to plant medicinal herbs or dried versions of these herbs, Mountain Rose Herbs is a high-quality organic seed resource. This is not a sponsored post. I am a long-time customer, and I am glad to recommend them since they’ve always provided me with superior seeds, dried herbs, and essential oils.

• Limited Time Offer: Get 15% off all regularly-priced seeds, dried herbs, and more from Mountain Rose Herbs with this link and Code Marysnest15 (expires on April 1, 2021)

Growing Vegetables from Scraps

You don’t always have to start your vegetable plants from seeds. In the following video, I show you how to regrow 10 vegetables from kitchen scraps so you can create a recurring harvest.

Learning to Ferment, Pickle, and Can What You Grow

Your kitchen garden will provide you with an abundance of produce that you may not be able to eat in one sitting. So be sure to learn how to preserve it. In the videos below, I show you how to make delicious ferments and quick-pickled vegetables, plus how to water bath can tomatoes, sweet pickles, and more!

Note that pickling vegetables doesn’t just mean pickling cucumbers to make pickles. Pickling vegetables means that you’re using the pickling process to “pickle” any vegetable you’d like. I’ll show you how to pickle any vegetable with sugar and how to pickle any vegetable without sugar.

How to Dry Herbs and Make Spice Blends

As you harvest the herbs from your kitchen garden, you can dry them easily with a process that does not require any special equipment. Plus, you can use dried or fresh herbs to make delicious herb salts and seasoning blends. I show you how to do all this in the following videos.

Kitchen Academy Videos

Are you looking for more traditional foods videos? I invite you to join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy. Members of this optional paid YouTube community get access to exclusive videos, live streams, and other members-only perks.

In the following members-only video, we chat about herb gardening, milk kefir, and more.

Stay in Touch with Mary’s Nest

1. Subscribe to My YouTube Channel for Traditional Foods Videos (Free) - When you subscribe, be sure to click on the notification bell that will let you know each time I upload a new video.
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I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!

Shop for items used in this blog post or video

Favorite Gardening Supplies

• Seed Saver Case
• Raised Beds
• Watering Can
• Trowel
• More favorite gardening supplies
• Shopping list of Essential Medicinal Herbs

Favorite Kitchen Supplies

• Favorite Aprons
• Whisk
• Silica Gel Packets (Helps keep moisture from building up in your mix)
• Cast Iron Dutch Oven
• 8-Quart Slow-Cooker
• Fat Separator (Clever kitchen device to help you decant bone broth)
• Flour Sack Towels
• Masontops Fermentation Kit (promo code below)
• Mockmill Grain Grinder and Whole Grains (promo code below)

Use promo code MARYSNST for a one-time 15% off Masontops and Breadsmart products on Amazon.com.

Learn more about Mockmill electric grain mills for making fresh flour and their Flake Lover's Flaker that flakes whole grain in minutes.

Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide

• Visit Mary’s Nest Amazon Shop
• Visit my Shopping Guide page
  Get up to 15% off for stocking your Traditional Foods Pantry and equipping your Modern Pioneer Kitchen, including discounts from US Wellness Meats, Farmhouse Teas, Lehman's, Masontops, Cultures for Health, Survival Garden Seeds, Redmond Real Salt, Plan to Eat, and More!

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