kitchen gardens

What’s all the fuss about Kitchen Gardens these days?

Every school seems to have one. High end restaurants seem to have them. 

We're being told we should be striving to have one of our own on home improvement shows.

Admittedly, it is an almost romantic notion that one would have access to a geometrically structured and designed feature garden of edible delights.

It does leave me feeling, however, quite inadequate that I don’t have at least an eight by ten metre plot of fertile ground from which I lovingly pluck my perfectly ripened fresh fruit and vegetables just moments before preparing a restaurant quality meal for my family; of course using a recipe passed to me by my mother’s mother’s mother…

Okay okay. Perhaps I’m getting a little too worked up now.

Nevertheless, there’s no hiding the fact that there is a lot more pressure placed on the “home-chef” than there used to be. Steak and three-veg seasoned with salt and pepper and maybe some tomato sauce no longer seems adequate evening fare!

My ten year old cousin not only spruiks a knowledge of crème fraiche and pate, but a desire to eat the stuff! I’m not even sure if it’s socially acceptable to serve party pies and cocktail frankfurts at kids parties anymore!

I’m not advocating a return to "simpler" times. Personally, I cringe a little at frankfurts as finger food, but the new gourmet phenomenon does bewilder me somewhat.

The Weekend Australian Magazine recently published its Top 50 Hottest Restaurants in Australia, concluding that we want to eat simple, casual, quality food in a relaxed, friendly environment.  

Why then, do I feel I need to poach, roast and confit my chicken before it’s adequate to serve to friends and family? Can’t I just throw it in a pan and be done in ten minutes? Then we can get onto the casual, relaxing friendliness?!

Fruit and vegetables fresh from the garden are undoubtedly in their ideal state for eating – and we most certainly source the freshest and highest quality local produce we can for service at Doubletake Cafe – but it’s not as simple as this for all of us.

It’s a time consuming and physically demanding task to keep on top of weeds, pruning and garden critters. That is, in fact, if we even have the luxury of space in which to create our perfect Kitchen Gardens! Let’s not forget also, that gardening is a slow process. It will be a good many months before I can roast anything off the three pumpkin plants I have somehow managed to sprout from seed. (Which reminds me – they probably need a water… and a bigger pot... Oh dear!)

In the meantime, I’m glad to have the option of frozen vegies or eating out at a good local café. 

I’m grateful to those farmers who put the effort into providing us with fresh produce every day, because if the state of my Kitchen Garden is anything to go by, we would all be lost (and very hungry) without them!

Avo on Sourdough with Ristretto Double Shot... 

What more could you want?

If you’d like to see some very cool kitchen garden’s though (yes yes, I am eating my hat right now) – this blog-page has some inspiring stuff http://selina-veggiegarden.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/bit-of-design-inspiration.html