Trevor's Kitchen Garden How I grow my own food and how you can too.

The first and most obvious thing to do when setting up a kitchen garden is to plan.

I first of all worked out where I was going to locate my vegetable patches. When you’re doing this, take into account where the sun shines, how accesible the site is (ideally near the kitchen!) and whether any drainage might be needed. Remember, this is a garden you will enjoy spending a lot of time in and it will feed you and your family for many years;  it’s worth getting it right from the start.

As I mention in the video, I was able to use some old doors to mark out my plot. This was a great help in helping  to visualise the layout. Don’t worry if you can’t find some old doors, lengths of string and some pegs work just as well!

Here’s my garden as it appeared in early February 2009.

Trevor's garden. Photo taken 2 February 2009 by C.Finn.

And here’s a very short video overview taken at the end of March. See how much things have grown since the photo above!

Here are some sketch plans:

Back garden plan

Front garden plan

As Gaeilge

Plean gairdín cúil

Plean gairdín tosaigh

If you’re only starting your garden, don’t be put off by my apparently  sophisticated design. My garden evolved over time, several years in fact. Start with what you can manage. You can always extend it. Don’t worry, you’ll soon be getting such enjoyment and satisfaction that you will want to extend your plot. The important thing is to keep it manageable and enjoyable.

My, how things grow! Here’s another short video tour of the garden taken in min-June 2009.

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