Designing the New Kitchen Garden

Designing the New Kitchen Garden: An American Potager Handbook
Although the tradition of a potager, or kitchen garden, dates back to the Middle Ages, its application in contemporary gardens is a concept whose time has come. For those concerned with the freshness and purity of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, having a bountiful garden just steps from one's kitchen is the ultimate guarantor of healthy eating. Creating these intricately patterned outdoor rooms, however, can perplex even the most accomplished gardeners. Understanding the form is essential to creating an authentic potager, and to that end, Bartley provides extensive historical background, tracing the potager's inception in medieval Europe to its development in modern-day France, where the practice of kitchen gardening has been raised to an art form. Liberally peppered with dozens of detailed design plans from America's premier potagers, and augmented by comprehensive lists of suitable plants, Bartley's entertaining and educational guide to kitchen gardening provides well-documented support for everyone interested in establishing an edible garden in their own backyard. Carol Haggas


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Review

"Throughout the book you'll find many easily made, charming garden structures, from blanching devices for rhubarb to wonderful tepees and wattle fencing. I can't wait to use them all in my own garden. Nearly every one of the chapters made me desperate to rush outside and get busy. I read this 222-page, information-packed book in one sitting."—Vern Nelson, Oregonian, May 25, 2006 (Vern Nelson Oregonian )

"Check out the stunning examples in this 222-page hardback, and then consider a new edible approach using some of this book's suggestions such as enclosing the kitchen garden and planting in modules instead of straight rows."—George Weigel, Harrisburg Patriot-News, July 6, 2006 (George Weigel, Harrisburg Patriot-News )
"The entire book is lavishly illustrated with many color photographs and drawings that should inspire dedicated ornamental gardeners to become more involved with edible plants, so they can have their stylishness and eat it, too!"—HortIdeas, July 2006 (HortIdeas )

“This lushly illustrated, 250-page hardback shows layouts for gardens planned to keep their visual appeal throughout the year, gardens that are virtually outdoor rooms.”

(Shelter Island Reporter )