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How to Create a Kitchen Garden

Watch the Kitchen Garden Tour – Gardening after the Texas Storms and Starting Over from Scratch video

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!

Affiliates note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. My content may contain affiliate links to products and services. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission. It does not affect the price you pay.

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

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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.
  2. Subscribe to Mary’s Traditional Foods Newsletter (Free) - Get a free 36-page eBook for signing up: How to Stock Your Essential Traditional Foods Four-Corners Pantry.
  3. Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy (Optional Paid) - For more detailed videos and exclusive members-only perks, join my YouTube membership community.
  4. Order The Modern Pioneer Cookbook (Optional Paid) - Get a printed book of Mary's nourishing recipes from a Traditional Foods Kitchen. This bestselling cookbook is published by Penguin Random House with their DK imprint.

I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!

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Favorite Gardening Supplies

Favorite Kitchen Supplies

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

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Disclaimer:I am not a medical doctor, a medical professional, a dietician, or a nutritionist. All content found on the MarysNest.com website, including text, images, videos, eBooks or eGuides, social media, or other formats, were created solely for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or proper nutritional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have watched in a video or read on this website. Use caution when following the recipe in this video. The creator and publisher of this video and website will not be held responsible for any adverse effects that may arise from the use of this recipe and method or any other recipe and method on this website or corresponding video channel.

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