The Witches Kitchen Garden

I can’t imagine not having a garden. From time to time, my life gets so busy that my garden gets neglected, or lack of water makes me scale right back. But I always go back to it. Life is such a miracle, such a lucky nexus of so many necessary conditions, and food is so much at the centre of it.

Food is the basis for our own life – the pleasure of it and the keeping of it. It  is also the basis of our relationship with every other species on the planet, either directly in a forage or predator relationship, or indirectly as competitors for the finite planetary resources.

Honouring, respecting, enjoying, being responsible about food seems to me to be basic to loving life. Every witch’s kitchen needs a kitchen garden!

It does not, however, have to be a full permaculture system (fun though that is!) Herbs in pots make a huge difference to culinary style. Growing sprouts and salad greens in boxes and little doorstep beds is small effort for large reward. In season vegetables, once you are into the rhythm of it, don’t take a huge amount of time or space. Backyard fruit trees, well chosen, can earn their keep with side benefits before you even get to the gluttonous yields. Chooks make wonderful pets.

I have written about permaculture, on and off, for years. Here are some articles about the basics, and (more fun for me) my new blog diary of garden adventures.

• Early Spring

  • Hilling Up the Spuds
  • Leafy Planting in Early Spring - Advanced Seedlings
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Early Spring
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in Early Spring - Planting Asparagus
  • Paw Paw and Citrus Fruit Salad
  • Leafy Planting Days in Early Spring and Teenage Mums
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Early Spring - The Summer Crops Go Out
  • Roots and Perennials Planting in Early Spring - Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
  • Roast Goose: Step One
  • Leafy Planting Days in Early Spring for a Neglectful Gardener
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in Early Spring

• Mid Spring

  • Fruiting Planting Days in Mid Spring - Catching Up
  • Roots and Perennials Days in Mid Spring - Avoiding the Bolters
  • Leafy Planting Days in Mid Spring - Heat and Bolt Resistant Varieties, and Low Expectations
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Mid Spring - A Big Planting Day
  • Roots and Perennials Planting in Mid Spring - Getting Ready for Frizzle Weather
  • Hilling Up the Spuds
  • Leafy Planting Days in Mid Spring - Using the Shadehouse
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Mid Spring - the Sweet Corn Goes In
  • Roots and Perennials Planting in Mid Spring - just the regulars
  • Leafies in Mid Spring - the Frizzle Weather is Here
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Mid Spring - Beans of Many Kinds

• Late Spring

  • Planting Leafy Greens in Late Spring - If You Must
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Late Spring - Cramming a Bit More into A Garden That Is Full!
  • Leafy Planting Days in Late Spring - Don't be Afraid of Shade
  • Fruiting Planting in Late Spring - Practicing Restraint
  • Roots and Perennials Planting in Late Spring - Trying Sweet Potatoes Yet Again
  • Eat It or Plant It?
  • Bringing in the Garlic
  • Leafy Planting Days in Late Spring
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Late Spring and There's Still Room for Endamame and Sweet Corn

• Early Summer

  • Leafy Planting Days in Early Summer
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Early Summer
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in Early Summer

• Mid Summer

  • Fruit Tree Shopping
  • Leafy and Fruiting Planting Days in a very Wet Mid-Summer
  • Roots and Perennials Planting in MidSummer – Next Year’s Strawberries
  • Leafy Planting Days in Mid-Summer
  • Tomatoes as Themselves
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Mid Summer - Don't Be Afraid of Shade
  • Roots and Perennials Planting in Mid Summer - The Mulberry Trees Go In
  • Surviving the Frizzle Weather
  • 41 Degrees (106)
  • Leafy Planting Days in Mid Summer
  • Snake Beans
  • Fruit Fly
  • The Turmeric is Flowering

• Late Summer

  • Leafy Green Planting Days in Late Summer
  • Fruiting Planting in the Long Days of Late Summer
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in Late Summer
  • Leafy Planting Days in Late Summer Frizzle Weather
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Late Summer
  • Roots and Perennials Planting in Very Late Summer - Planting Spuds
  • Tromboncino Genealogy
  • Leafy Planting Days in Late Summer
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Late Summer - Beating the Mouse Plague
  • Beans for Us and Beans for the Chooks
  • Roots and Perennials Days in Late Summer
  • Saving Tromboncino Seed
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in Late Summer
  • Rainy Missed Planting Days in Late Summer

• Early Autumn

  • Leafy Green Planting Days in Very Early Autumn
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Very Early Autumn
  • Leafy Planting in Early Autumn
  • A One Pot Autumn Garden
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Early Autumn - A Risky Planting
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in early Autumn - Garlic Planting Time
  • The Garlic Agrees
  • Leafy and Fruiting Planting in Early Autumn
  • Roots and Perennials Planting in Early Autumn

• Mid Autumn

  • Happy Autumn Equinox!
  • Planting in Mid-Autumn
  • Leafy Planting Days in Mid-Autumn
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Mid Autumn - Peas in Paper Pots
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in Mid Autumn - Self Sown Garlic
  • Leafy Planting in Mid Autumn - The Winter Greens Go In
  • Fruiting Planting in Mid Autumn - Peas, Snow Peas and Broad Beans
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in Mid Autumn - Onions and Garlic Go In
  • Leafy Planting in Mid Autumn - the first of the Winter Greens Go In
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Mid Autumn - Broad Beans, Peas and Snow Peas
  • Roots and Perennials Planting in Mid Autumn - Planting Out the Garlic

• Late Autumn

  • Leafy Planting Days in Late Autumn
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Late Autumn - Peas and Broad Beans
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in Late Autumn - Planting Carrots
  • Leafy and Fruiting Planting in Late Autumn
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in Late Autumn
  • Oceans Eleven in the Garden
  • Leafy Planting Days in Late Autumn

• Early Winter

  • Leafy Planting in Early Winter - Thinking Forward
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Early Winter - Celebrating the Solstice
  • Leafy Planting Days in Early Winter
  • Fruiting Planting in Early Winter

• Mid Winter

  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in Mid-Winter - Planting Shallots
  • Jonquils
  • Leafy planting days in mid-winter - Staggering the Planting
  • Fruiting Planting Mid Winter
  • Roots and Perennials Planting in Mid-Winter - Getting Ready for Spuds
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in Mid-Winter - The Last of the Onions
  • Leafy Planting Days in Mid-winter - Finding the Gaps
  • Fruiting Planting in Mid-Winter - The Last Of The Peas Go In
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days in Mid-Winter - Globe Artichokes From Seed

• Late Winter

  • Leafy Planting in Late Winter - Making Leaf Pots
  • Fruiting Planting in Late Winter
  • Roots and Perennials Planting in Late Winter - Turmeric
  • Imbolc in the Garden
  • Leafy Planting Days in Late Winter - Basil Time
  • Fruiting Planting in Late Winter
  • Roots and Perennials Planting in Late Winter - Planting Spuds
  • Planting Mulberries from Cuttings
  • Some for Us and Some for the Chooks
  • Roots and Perennials Planting Days after Imbolc
  • Fruiting Planting Days in Late Winter

• Year Round

  • Mowing
  • A Short Lesson In Exponential Growth
  • Gardening in Small Spaces: Go for Herbs
  • A Garden With Stamina
  • Making Compost with Azolla
  • Leafy Planting Days in Mid-Autumn
  • Hubble Bubble
  • Homegrown Coffee
  • One of the Nicest Things About Gardening
  • Chickweed
  • We Have Fish
  • We Have Geese
  • True Love is a Pile of Compost
  • Home From The Beach
  • Bean Basics
  • Why I Don't Use Chook Domes Any More
  • We Have Chooks Again!
  • Saving Seed
  • The Mulch Mountain
  • Azolla for the Chooks
  • Compost Gold
  • How They've Grown
  • 28 Spotted Ladybeetle