La Jolla Back-Door Kitchen Garden Creation
If you want to really elevate your plant-based (vegan) cooking, you will need access to fresh herbs, vegetables and fruit. A well-kept secret is that you don’t even need a big allotment or large vegetable patch to do this.
For many people living in suburban and urban areas, backyard space can be limited. Creating a back-door kitchen garden that is steps from your kitchen brings the natural advantage of being able to skip out the back-door and immediately gather herbs and veg for your meal. To use your smaller space to its full advantage and have a beautiful and compact kitchen garden these 6 steps can jumpstart your design ideas.
1. Take advantage of space and light. If you are growing herbs and plants in a smaller backyard space, there may be ways to take advantage of the space and light potential. Building raised and/or stepped beds will take advantage of a small space, gather plants in an area where they receive light and be a beautiful feature that you can see from your kitchen window. Container growing is a popular choice, but plants grown in pots can be vulnerable to pests and may suffer during cold weather. If space is small, some crops, such as beans, peas and fruit trees can be grown vertically, and in the case of fruit trees, they can be trained to grow close to walls.
2. Grow pollinator crops and create natural defenses for your plants. There are ways you can create natural advantages for your plants that protect them against pests and encourage pollinators – all without using toxic pesticides that harm bees. You can grow plants that encourage pollinators, such as daisies, goldenrod, butterfly bush and lavender (every climate will have different pollinator-friendly plant species). You can also introduce insect populations that can control pests (take care to introduce a species native to your area).
3. Rotate crops and take care of the soil. It’s extremely important to know what kind of soil you are dealing with. In some urban or former industrial areas with highly toxic soils, it may be inadvisable to grow some edible plants, such as root vegetables, in the soil. If the soil is low in nutrients you can add nutrients to the soil or grow “cover crops” [link] that can help to fix nutrients back in the soil. You can do this by adding compost and other organic soil nutrients. Some plants are nitrogen hungry, while other plants are nitrogen fixing. Plants like clover, vetch and winter peas and beans fix nitrogen back in the soil. Other plants, like brassicas, need a lot of nitrogen, so if you are growing them, you may need rotate them to maintain your soil health. Soil should always be tested for nutrients, PH level and contaminants to determine how the soil should be maintained, what kind of crops will grow best there and whether it is safe to grow edible food. Unfortunately urban soils, especially in former industrial areas, are often contaminated with chemicals like arsenic, cyanide, lead, hydrocarbons, copper and mercury so they may be unsafe for growing certain edible plants.
4. Stagger your crops for seasonal cooking. When you go vegan you will be relying on plant-based food. It’s more responsible to eat local, seasonal vegetables than to buy imported veg that is grown with carbon and chemical heavy processes. Depending on your local climate you may be able to grow herbs and veg all year round, or you may want to create an indoor garden space, such as a kitchen extension with a light-well, where you can grow indoor herbs and veg when temperatures drop.
5. Consider an Aquaponics or Hydroponics System. Due to intensive farming, the world is facing the destruction of soil nutrients and the waste of water. Aquaponics or Hydroponics systems are space-saving ways of growing fresh herbs and vegetables in a closed system without using soil, and using much less water. These systems use water to create nutrients for plants, but they can use 80-90 percent less water than outdoor growing. They can be a good solution for climates that are dry and/or cold, or for limited backyard space. Aquaponics involves using fish manure to fertilize the soil. If you choose to use an Aquaponics system you will also need to properly care for the fish who are part of the system. They need space, care and attention to their habitat. Hydroponics and aquaponics can produce higher yields for smaller spaces but they may suit some crops, like lettuce, better than others.
6. Always Compost. Composting the leftover food from your vegan kitchen will help you produce beautiful, rich, soil that can enrich your garden soil and the environment. There are different options for composting, such as simple outdoor composting, or various methods of indoor composting. You should carefully research which one is right for your needs as composting needs to be properly aerated and sheltered.
At Earth Science Design, we have spent more than ten years researching all aspects of responsible conscious design. Whatever you would like to change about your space, whether big or small, the possibilities are endless. If you are seeking advice on vegan cooking design we can consult with you on how to create a beautiful vegan kitchen that is in tune with the environment. If you want to learn how to eat and grow seasonally we can consult with you on how to do this by using your kitchen and your backdoor space to eat and grow on a harmonious cycle. Whether the change you are making involves green interior design, building or growing, we can help you to rediscover natural and non-violent ways of inhabiting your space. Please contact us to learn more about our conscious interior design services.
