Why plant a kitchen garden?

There are so many reasons to grow food. I love gardening and cooking, so it makes perfect sense to me! I get to enjoy seasonality in the kitchen, cook with unusual ingredients and there’s always a great satisfaction in being able to gather a generous handful of herbs to use at their freshest and most flavourful.

Seasonal, fresh food

I know gardeners and cooks who grow edibles simply to give them access to the best organic, seasonal produce. Re-connecting them with food in a way we’re losing through year-round availability at the supermarket. In a kitchen garden the arrival of fresh, ripe strawberries, tomatoes and apples marks the turning of the seasons and is all the more appreciated because they’re enjoyed for a limited time each year.

Unusual & hard to buy ingredients

There’s also the opportunity to cook with ingredients that are difficult to find in the shops… things like fresh borlotti beans, amaranth and a whole range of wonderful chillies and tomatoes. All easy to grow at home and a great way to increase diversity in your diet.

Flavour

Some foods have so much more flavour if you eat them within a short time of harvest. If you’ve never tasted peas from a freshly picked pod, or corn from a cob that’s just been cut from the plant, you really are missing out. The sugars are at their peak and the flavour is like nothing you will get from shop-bought peas or corn.

Save waste & save money

For the eco-conscious, creating a kitchen garden is a chance to build healthy soil, which locks carbon away, and grow food without pesticides or artificial fertilisers. If you regularly buy herbs or salad leaves from the supermarket, growing your own is a great way to cut down on plastic packaging… as well as enjoying fresher, tastier leaves at a fraction of the cost.

These are my reasons for planting a kitchen garden… did I miss anything?