FOOD + DRINK
THE KITCHEN GARDEN HOW DO YOU GROW YOURS ?
FROM FIRST ATTEMPTS AT HERB GARDENS TO FULL BLOWN ALLOTMENTS , THE NATION HAS CERTAINLY EMBRACED THE GROW-YOUR-OWN MOVEMENT . TIME SPENT AT HOME AND A NEW-FOUND APPRECIATION OF THE FOOD CYCLE HAS NOT ONLY LED TO THE FIRST BOUNTY OF HOME GROWN CROPS , BUT ALSO TO A GREATER INCLINATION TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THE FOOD AT OUR COUNTY ’ S DINNER TABLES , RESTAURANTS INCLUDED , COMES FROM ; AS WELL AS THE UNDERSTANDING THAT GROWING FOR FOOD CAN BE BEAUTIFUL AS WELL AS PRACTICAL . FROM THE HISTORY OF KITCHEN GARDENS TO THE KENTISH RESTAURANT PIONEERS OF FOOD STEPS OVER FOOD MILES , LUCY MOHR DUSTS OFF HER TROWEL TO FIND OUT MORE ...
THE 300 YEAR OLD KITCHEN GARDEN AT WALMER CASTLE
© Lucy Mohr
The past year has seen many of us return to the art and simple pleasure of gardening , in particular growing our own produce . If you ’ re anything like me and new to gardening , then you ’ ll still be getting over the shock of a seed actually growing : you dig a little hole , put the seed in ( hopefully the right way up ), read the instructions , add some water and the next thing you know , you ’ ve grown something . I can ’ t believe it actually works !
When lockdown began , everyone I knew had begun attempting to grow something ; even if it was as simple as trying not to murder a basil plant from the supermarket . I did the same but I ’ ve never been great at starting small and instead set about designing some sort of Chelsea Flower Show version of what I now realise is known as a kitchen garden .
A kitchen garden is different from a vegetable garden . Mainly because unlike vegetable gardens , the kitchen garden is a thing of beauty . A mixture of flowers
( both edible and inedible ), it is created to be both visually appealing and to also produce food all year round . A vegetable garden in contrast is a thing of functionality ; planted in the spring and harvested in the fall ( with surplus canned or dried ). The difference between them is a bit like the difference between Federer and Murray . Both are great but there ’ s no point denying that one is a bit more appealing than the other . Like it ’ s french counterpart , le potager , the kitchen garden is a place you retreat to ; a place where you want to spend your time and a place that always blooms .
The History of The Kitchen Garden
In the middle ages , monasteries developed elaborate kitchen gardens . Often isolated from the outside world – a bit like the year we just found ourselves in – the monks had to rely on themselves to grow their own produce . They were also excellent seed savers and , according to English Heritage , would spend up to 5 hours a day looking after their garden . The design of a traditional kitchen garden is inspired by a combination of The Gardens of Egypt , Persia , Mesopotamia , and Babylon . It has four quadrants with a central water source , designed to make watering and tending to plants easier .
In the 18th century , these four raised rectangle bed bisected walkways would be laden with vegetables whose type were dependent on the wealth of the house . Many of the vegetables we know today were in evidence then , albeit heirloom varieties , along with produce that we ’ re not as familiar with , such as burnet , gooseberry , skirret , and purslane . If a property was particularly wealthy , you might find delicacies such as artichoke , cauliflower and celery .
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