Welcome!
Welcome to the Mighty Kitchen Garden!
When I moved into a house and started my first veggie garden in 2008, I didn't know what on earth I was doing. So I did what any modern gal would do and headed for the interwebs. Through other blogs and websites I started to learn more than I could imagine about gardening.
Next, the harvests starting coming in and I thought... oh no! What do I do with them?!?! So back to the internet I went and started hunting through every cookbook I could find to gather ideas. You see, I'd just spent a couple months growing this tomato, so I was determined to make it taste good.
Several years later and I have a pretty good handle on both growing and cooking vegetables. My goal for the MKG blog is to aid fellow gardeners and cooks by providing tips, ideas, and recipes for growing and cooking vegetables. Just the sort of thing that I was so happy to find back in 2008. I hope you find something you like here, too!
Changes
The MKG started in 2008 in California. In December 2011, we picked up and moved from that lovely Mediterranean climate to Glasgow, Scotland! Here we live in a flat without a yard so I've gotten myself a shared community garden space. I like to think of it as my Wee Kitchen Garden. It's quite the change from walking out the back door into a veritable cornucopia, but it's going well so far. Getting used to gardening in this mild and damp climate is definitely going to take some getting used to - three cheers for root vegetables!
Climate
The MKG started in 2008 in California. In December 2011, we picked up and moved from that lovely Mediterranean climate to Glasgow, Scotland! Here we live in a flat without a yard so I've gotten myself a shared community garden space. I like to think of it as my Wee Kitchen Garden. It's quite the change from walking out the back door into a veritable cornucopia, but it's going well so far. Getting used to gardening in this mild and damp climate is definitely going to take some getting used to - three cheers for root vegetables!
Climate
The Original Mighty Kitchen Garden is located in the East Bay Area of northern California, inland from San Francisco. Our USDA climate zone is 8B and our Sunset Magazine climate zone is 14.
The Wee Kitchen Garden is located in Glasgow, Scotland. The Glasgow climate is oceanic, being tempered by the Gulf Stream. Average temperatures range from ~1°C - 19°C, or around 34°F - 68°F, with abundant rainfall.
The Wee Kitchen Garden is located in Glasgow, Scotland. The Glasgow climate is oceanic, being tempered by the Gulf Stream. Average temperatures range from ~1°C - 19°C, or around 34°F - 68°F, with abundant rainfall.
The Vegetable Garden Setup
The Original MKG is in the south sideyard of my former house, oriented ~E-W. The growing space is split up into five raised beds: 4'x12' (3, N-S), 4'x10' (1, E-W) and 5'x12' (1, E-W). I rotate my crops each year within these beds, never planting the same family in one bed more than once per three years.
Trees and Vines
In addition to the veggies, the MKG contains the following fruit trees:
In addition to the veggies, the MKG contains the following fruit trees:
- Orange (variety unknown)
- Pluot (grafted two varieties, unknown, one possibly Flavor Queen?)
- Meyer Lemon
- Pineapple Quince
- Pluot (grafted two varieties, unknown, one possibly Flavor Queen?)
- Meyer Lemon
- Pineapple Quince
New for 2011!
- Oro Blanco Grapefruit (potted)
- Bearss Lime (potted)
- Olive
- Black Mission Fig
- Jiro Persimmon
- Ambrosia Pomegranate
- Pineapple Guava (4 as a hedge)
- 6-in-1 espaliered Apple: Fuji, Gala, Gravenstein, Braeburn, Red Delicious & Golden Delicious
- 6-in-1 espaliered Pear: Bosc, Comice, D'Anjou, Red D'Anjou, Bartlett & Flemish Beauty
Vines, Berries & Brambles:
- Syrah
- Zinfandel
- Hayward Kiwifruit (and a male vine for pollination)
- Heritage & Fall Gold Raspberries
- Ollalieberry
- Black Satin Thornless Blackberry
- Reveille, Jewel & Legacy Blueberries
The Community Garden Setup
The WeeKG is located at the Woodlands Community Garden in Glasgow. I share a group of raised beds with 6 other gardeners, however to-date only 4 of us are working on it. For 2012 we plan to plant a variety of vegetables including peas, kale, broccoli, chard, arugula, spinach, claytonia, potatoes, tomatoes and courgettes (zucchini). I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the last two...
Contact
- Oro Blanco Grapefruit (potted)
- Bearss Lime (potted)
- Olive
- Black Mission Fig
- Jiro Persimmon
- Ambrosia Pomegranate
- Pineapple Guava (4 as a hedge)
- 6-in-1 espaliered Apple: Fuji, Gala, Gravenstein, Braeburn, Red Delicious & Golden Delicious
- 6-in-1 espaliered Pear: Bosc, Comice, D'Anjou, Red D'Anjou, Bartlett & Flemish Beauty
Vines, Berries & Brambles:
- Syrah
- Zinfandel
- Hayward Kiwifruit (and a male vine for pollination)
- Heritage & Fall Gold Raspberries
- Ollalieberry
- Black Satin Thornless Blackberry
- Reveille, Jewel & Legacy Blueberries
The Community Garden Setup
The WeeKG is located at the Woodlands Community Garden in Glasgow. I share a group of raised beds with 6 other gardeners, however to-date only 4 of us are working on it. For 2012 we plan to plant a variety of vegetables including peas, kale, broccoli, chard, arugula, spinach, claytonia, potatoes, tomatoes and courgettes (zucchini). I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the last two...
Contact
If you would like to contact me, you can do so through mightykitchengarden ... followed by the at symbol ... gmail d-o-t com. Thanks for visiting!
