I am feeling so proud of myself lately as I watch the space I call my kitchen garden bloom and flourish.
I have had this amazing garden for a while now and the experience has been amazing – If you have some space, I would urge you to create one.
The bliss that comes with owning a kitchen garden is beautiful – watching the various plants grow is one amazing feeling.
Having the plants on my plate gives me great satisfaction – knowing that my hard work has finally paid off.
Join me below as I tell you more about the experience – the corners, plants, bunny, and much more…
My Kitchen Garden Corners
In the first corner, I have the tomato family. I have Yellow Plums, Roma, Oregon Spring, and Legend.
In the second corner, I have rosemary. I love rosemary and can never have enough of it. I am thinking of adding mint, basil, thyme, and parsley but I am not sure what is holding me back.
Perhaps I am afraid to crowd the space, or perhaps I am afraid they will not flourish. I planted cilantro seeds last year but it did not do well. I am hesitant to plant cilantro again.
In the third corner, I have kale, collard greens, and spinach. Beautiful plants they are!
In the fourth corner, I have corn. With corn in the mix, I don’t know if this still qualifies as a kitchen garden or if it’s just a regular garden. What’s the difference between a kitchen garden and a garden anyway?
Is it the size? Is it the variety of plants? Let’s just call this my kitchen garden because it brings joy to my heart. Along the edges of this piece of garden, I have green onions.
What a mix! I hear you thinking…
The Bunny and the Onions
Onions because I woke up one morning to see a bunny or hare depending on where you grew up enjoying breakfast in my garden. For the purposes of this piece, let’s refer to this early-morning intruder as the bunny.
Although it was such a cute sight to behold, this bunny was messing up with my plants! This cute, chubby, brown bunny was hopping around and messing with the work of my hands! What was I to do?
At the rate with which the bunny was munching my plants, I would not have a harvest at the end of the season.
“Shoo bunny, shoo”, I said as I walked ever so slowly into my garden. The bunny ran helter-skelter through an opening in the fence. I stood there mesmerized. I could not believe how a hare that huge would fit through a space so small.
A quick Google search indicated that bunnies don’t like the smell of onions. A hare is a bunny, and a bunny is a hare, right? I honestly can’t tell the difference. Either way, this beautiful creature, had to be nicely deterred, somehow. I knew that if I saw one of them, there had to be others lurking in the bushes somewhere.
The next day, I stopped at the plant store and bought twenty onion plants. Yes, I counted them because I wanted to make sure that every space near the fence was covered to deter these cute creatures. I planted the onions all around the fence because there was no way I was going to let the bunny have the upper hand in my garden.
To my dismay, the twenty onion plants did not cover the entire area. The next day, I had to get ten more plants and now the entire area around the fence is covered by onions. It is so fulfilling to watch my plants flourish. From barely there transplants to now I see you from far away plants.
My Kitchen Garden – The Work
Watering the garden in the evening is the highlight of my day. When I am watering the garden it feels cathartic. As the water falls to the soil and as I listen to birds chirping away in the evening light, I feel a strong connection with nature. If I didn’t know that there was something like too much water for plants, I could water this garden into the night.
The other day, a colleague mentioned banana water. Banana water is literally banana peels soaked for 2-3 days in a container of water. The water is then poured into a watering can, and the plants get water at their base. This water is meant to infuse nutrients directly into the soil around the plant rather than watering a larger surface area. I have been soaking banana peels and will be watering my plants soon using banana water. I am eager to see if I will notice any drastic changes and I will make sure to let you know what I observe.
In two weeks’, time, I will start weeding my kitchen garden. Before then, I will continue to water the garden and use the banana water twice a week. So far, all my plants are flourishing and there is no evidence that the bunny or its family has returned. I hope the onions continue to deter the bunny.
What’s your kitchen garden story?
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