The oyster mushroom gets its name from its cap which, some say, resembles an oyster. The stem of the oyster mushrooms is perhaps more distinct; it unfurls something like one of those old-time paper lady's fans. The oyster mushroom has...

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Kitchen Garden Almanac for July

July is a busy month in the kitchen garden. This month you are caring for the summer's crops and beginning their harvest, and you are preparing and planting the fall and winter garden.

Beets, turnips, kohlrabi, carrots, and zucchini are ready for harvest this month. Don't be tempted to grow the biggest this or the greatest that. Pick these crops when they are still young and tender; if you do, you'll still be remembering their taste next winter.

Garlic and onions you planted last fall should be ready now. When the leaves of these plants turn yellow, lift them gently and leave them in the sun to dry. Later you can clean them up. Save the best of the small bulbs for planting next spring. The same goes for spring planted shallots which are ready for lifting now.

By the middle and end of July, later summer and winter salad crops, root crops, and spring cabbage can go into the garden. A list of winter crops for planting now follows.

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Cool Region Kitchen Garden Alamanac for May

The weather in cool northern regions can remain unsettled even in May. Remember that both the soil and air temperature are important when planting the kitchen garden. Few seeds will germinate if the soil temperature is below 45ºF (7ºC) and warm-weather crops are not going to thrive until the night temperatures consistently stay above 50ºF (10ºC).

By the end of the month--or two to three weeks after your last frost, your kitchen garden will be able to welcome cucumbers, bush and pole beans, and tomatoes. In the meantime you can get these crops going in a greenhouse or coldframe or in the kitchen window. If you get the seedlings growing now, you’ll enjoy an earlier harvest next summer.

Strawberries can be planted now. June-bearing-type strawberries are vigorous and spread runners rapidly and should be producing in June. Everbearing-type strawberries will fruit in June and again later in the fall. If you are looking for the easiest to grow, try Alpine strawberries.

Cool-weather crops such as peas (see their blooms above) should be ready for harvest later this month or in June before the weather warms. Keep you eye on cauliflower and Brussels sprouts to get them out of the garden at their peak and before they bolt in warm weather.

Here is a kitchen garden guide for cool regions—growing zones 3-6—for the month of May.

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Your Soil: Making the Kitchen Garden

The soil in your garden was created over thousands of years through the disintegration and decomposition of rock and organic matter. Temperature and rainfall, the life and death of plants, animals and bacteria and fungi, and the rocks that were there to begin with: all contributed to the soil you find in your garden today.

The principal components of soil are minerals, organic matter, air, and water. Soil minerals and organic matter make up the solid part of your soil. Air and water occupy the pore spaces between your soil’s solid particles. All of these provide nutrients, moisture, and anchorage for plants. Depending upon where you stand in your garden, these components are present in varying amounts.

The particles in your soil are many sizes and shapes. Coarse particles such as gravel and stones are not conducive to plant growth. Your garden can do without them. The soil particles that support plant growth are divided into three sizes: sand, silt, and clay. Sand particles are the largest of these three; the clay particles are the smallest.

The combination of sand, silt, and clay in your soil is called soil texture. Soil texture affects your soil’s fitness for growing plants, sometimes called tilth.

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Cool Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for April

When the crocus and narcissus bloom, the soil is growing warm enough to begin working in the kitchen garden. And if you want a sure sign that winter in your area is past, look for the first leafing out of the birch trees and the bloom of the lilacs.

Don’t rush spring if you are in a region that is just seeing the last of the snow melt. It’s too early to be in the kitchen garden if the soil is partly frozen, muddy or wet. But changes will come quickly this month; April is the month of greatest change in the garden. Spring blossoms will arrive in the north and so will many song birds.

In the United States, the danger of frost is likely to continue this month in all or part of the states in the Northeast, Rocky Mountains and Plains regions, and some parts of the Pacific Northwest,. These regions include planting zones 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Here is a kitchen garden guide for cold and cool regions for the month of April:

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Raised Beds: Making the Kitchen Garden

Consider a raised bed if you live in an area where the soil is rocky or mostly sand or mostly clay. Adding organic matter to your soil is always a good idea and will always help make poor soil better. But sometimes a raised bed is the best solution.

You can choose the soil in your raised bed. You can purchase rich garden soil at the garden center or you can make your own by taking native soil from nearby and amending it with well-rotted manure and compost until it is rich and loamy.

The soil in a raised bed warms more quickly in spring—that’s good in short season and cool coastal regions. A raised bed also can be made tall enough to aid a back tired after years of bending. And the width of a raised bed will allow you to work your vegetable bed from different sides.

A bed width of no more than 4 feet (1.2 m) will allow easy access from each side. You don’t have to worry about soil compaction with a raised bed. All of your gardening is done from the edge. You can bring a chair, stool, or wheelchair to the edge of a raised bed. The more narrow the bed, the easier it is to reach into the bed without having to lean on the soil.

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Warm Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for April

April is a month of quick transition in the garden. Frost and possible extreme weather—such as snow—can still come in April, but so can unseasonably warm weather in many regions.

If the daffodils and tulips have bloomed and the lilacs are in bloom in your region, the time has come to sow directly in the kitchen garden. By the middle of the month you may be able to begin planting successive cool-weather crops, and by the end of April in the warmest regions you may be able to transplant out tomatoes, eggplant, and other warm-weather crops.

The timing of planting is important in the kitchen garden. Frost and cool weather can harm some crops, others thrive in cooler weather. If you are looking to get the most out of your kitchen garden, successive plantings of crops is a way to extend the season. Plant as early as possible and then replant every week to 10 days. You will have an unending harvest later. Fast growing crops are best for successive planting: lettuce, radishes, spinach, chard, peas, beets, and carrots in cool weather, and later string beans and sweet corn.

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Kitchen Garden Location

A kitchen garden is—as its name suggests--a garden that is as close to the kitchen as it can be. A kitchen garden provides the cook ingredients that are fresh-picked and at their peak of ripeness—fruits, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers.

Plan to use the produce from your kitchen garden immediately, at the very next meal. And when the next meal is not your immediate concern, you can use the ingredients from your kitchen garden to put-up produce for out-of-season meals. The kitchen garden allows you to plan and easily accomplish meals throughout the year that are seasonally tasty.

Easy and quick access to the kitchen is a key consideration when choosing the site for your kitchen garden. The closer your kitchen garden is to the kitchen door, the easier it will be for you to quickly prepare and cook the freshest ingredients.

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Cold Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for March

Spring has not come to most parts of the far north—zones 3-6, but you can still get some work done before spring-like weather arrives.

Here is a checklist of things to do in the kitchen garden during March in the cold regions of the Northern Hemisphere:

Plan and design. Map where snow melts first in the garden and mark these spots for planting early crops.

Planting bed and soil preparation. As soon as the soil is dry enough to work, clean up the garden and prepare the soil for planting cool-weather crops. First remove any winter debris or winter mulches, then take a soil sample and have it tested. You can renew most vegetable growing beds by simply adding well-rotted manure and compost.

Few seeds will germinate in cold soil where the temperature is below 45ºF (7ºC). Use a soil thermometer to check how warm your soil is.

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Planning Your Kitchen Garden

Many Harvest to Table readers have asked for tips on kitchen gardening. Over the past year and a half, I’ve written extensively about vegetables and fruits that you can find at the farm market or grow yourself. For the next several weeks, I will offer my insights into kitchen gardening. Check here twice each week to find the next set of kitchen garden tips. By early this summer, you will be bringing your harvest to table.

Planning a Kitchen Garden

Your kitchen garden should be close to your kitchen. It is a garden for the kitchen.

It can be small: just a few pots of herbs or salad vegetables. It can be a bed or two dedicated to the diversity of fruits and vegetables you eat every week or the food you like to give away to friends and neighbors. Your kitchen garden can be a converted flower bed bordering a fence or a hedge. Your kitchen garden can be a few edible flowers mixed with salad greens surrounding a fruit tree at the edge of the patio. Your kitchen garden can be a small raised bed with a comfortable bench right under your kitchen window.

Your kitchen garden will give you fresh and flavorful fruits, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. It will offer you ingredients at the peak of ripeness to be enjoyed minutes after harvest or first thing tomorrow. The kitchen garden will give you fruits and vegetables when they are the most tasty.

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