The Art of the Kitchen Garden (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "gardens have been an inextricable part of nearly every culture since the dawn of antiquity..." (more)
Key Phrases: Italian Renaissance, Middle Ages, Pliny the Younger

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Practicality and beauty come together in traditional kitchen gardens, where a little forethought and planning can turn the humblest of cabbage patches into a delight for the eye. Briefly tracing the history of horticultural design from ancient Roman times, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, when formal knot gardens and parterres flourished in Europe, through the lush Victorian carpet bedding, the Gertleys show how vegetable gardeners eager to raise their craft to a more ornamental level can poach traditional elements for their own backyard designs. From the tiniest of garden plots, such as a window box or container, to more expansive spaces, the authors provide instructions for achieving both "a visual feast and a surprising amount of produce at harvest time." Everything is here but the seeds?diagrams, plant lists, tips on color harmony and discussions of such dilemmas as dealing with succession planting without spoiling the overall look. If the prose is somewhat utilitarian, the book is commendably thorough, enlivened by vivid photographs that effectively prove the point: visual examples draw on such diverse sources as geometric quilt blocks, family crests, intricate Celtic knots and architectural detail. Elevating the useful to the beautiful has never looked so good, and this guide should help inspire gardeners to bring their vegetable plots out from behind the compost bins and onto center stage.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The difference between vegetable gardens and kitchen gardens, writes Turner in her introduction to Kitchen Gardens, is that "a kitchen garden has style." No more straight boring rows of vegetables: culinary gardens can now be made in a variety of styles and laid out in intricate patterns that include plenty of flowers among the edibles. Recognized garden writers address this style in 17 chapters: Suzy Bales on kitchen gardens in bloom, Renee Shepherd on essential vegetable plants, Cathy Barash on kitchen gardening in the Northeast, and so on. Grouped by theme (design, basic techniques, plant material, region), these short essays provide the inspiration and basic information to get any gardener started. The Gertleys' book concentrates on just one of the possible design styles for a kitchen garden, based on the parterre de broderie, which achieved its ultimate glory at Versailles. Beginning with simple geometric shapes, their designs become increasingly complex as they use Celtic knots, Japanese crests, and quilt patterns as their inspiration. These gardens demand much of their creators, as they must be meticulously laid out, carefully groomed, and even harvested with care in order not to destroy the patterns made by the vegetables. Unfortunately the diagrams for the various garden layouts are hard to decipher, putting an unnecessary burden on the gardener. A better volume to follow up on the ideas of Kitchen Gardens is Susan McClure's Culinary Gardens (LJ 10/1/97). For specialized collections.?Molly Newling, Piscataway P.L.,
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Taunton; First Edition edition (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561581801
• ISBN-13: 978-1561581801
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #307,935 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book inspired and educated me!, February 22, 2000

By A Customer

I was apprehensive about buying this book because so many gardening books are mostly pictures with little really good info. Not so with this book. It's full of helpful ideas, great pictures and old-fashioned inspiration. I know I will keep this one handy for years, maybe decades to come.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creative, fun, and inspirational, January 11, 2000

By A Customer

After reading this book, I am DETERMINED to try my hand at creating a Kitchen garden in this way. Why not have a vegetable garden that is beautiful to look at? The idea of mixing flowers and vegetables is charming and effective. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to put some fun and whimsey into their garden.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Function Forsaken by Fiddly Form?, May 15, 2006

By	Southern Review (USA) - See all my reviews

The Gertleys' book concentrates on the design styles for a kitchen garden, based on the parterre de broderie, which achieved its ultimate glory at Versailles. They use a series of simple geometric shapes to achieve their parterre gardens as their designs become increasingly complex. They derive design inspiration from Celtic knots, Japanese crests, and quilt patterns.

Their designs are inspirational to view however, their gardens are very demanding of their creators. The designs might raise or fall on the placement of a radish and are not especially functional. I am a cook first, gardener second, and artist last when it comes to potagers.

Their methodology requires far more nitty-gritty planning than suits my preferred approach. It often appears at counter purposes to a kitchen garden that is meant to supply the table since it is so meticulously groomed and cared for and harvested with such additional planning in order not to destroy the patterns made by the vegetables.

The book's approach is much like Charlie Tuna asking; "Do you want tunas with good taste? Or, do you want tuna dat tastes good?"

I admire the design talent and illustrations if not the philosophy.