My strawberry patch

The most recent addition to my kitchen garden is my strawberry patch. Instead of growing these in the ground though, I decided to plant them in tubs.


Anyone from Melbourne will probably recognise these as the old council recycling tubs. My local council recently switched to wheelie bins for recycling, and encouraged residents to find other uses for the old tubs, rather than throw them out.

They seemed to be the perfect size for growing something in, and when I saw some strawberry plants for sale at my local nursery, I knew that this is what I had to use them for.



I bought six different varieties (Hokowase, Lowanna, Red Gauntlet, Strawberry Delight, Sweetest, Tioga) and a couple of the plants already had some strawberries growing on them. It will be a few weeks before they're ready for picking, but when they are, I'm looking forward to some tasty, homegrown berries.

The berries you buy in the store nowadays just don't seem to have that much flavour. Often they're still a little green, or they are bruised and mouldy.

The best strawberries I ever tasted were in Paris about 5 years ago (2001). I remember walking past this little greengrocer with a craving for some fresh fruit. The strawberries stood out because they had a strong, sweet aroma. I took some back to my hotel room, where I had some that night, and finished the rest off the next morning. The flavour was so intense, and I remember thinking 'this is how a strawberry should taste!'

Hopefully my strawberries will pack that same punch.

In my kitchen garden ...

This list was last updated on Sunday 15th October 2006

In my kitchen garden, I am currently growing:

Basil, Limelight	Nasturtiums
Basil, Perenniel	Oregano
Basil, Sweet Genovese	Oregano, 'Country Cream'
Beans, Butter	Oregano, 'Hot 'n' Spicy'
Beans, Green	Oregano, Greek
Blueberry, 'Denise'	Parsley, Curly
Capsicum (4 varieties)	Parsley, Italian
Chilies (4 varieties)	Passionfruit, 'Panama Red'
Chives, Garlic	Peas
Chives, Onion	Plum, Ornamental
Coriander	Pumpkin, Grey
Eggplant (2 varieties)	Rocket
Feijoa	Rosemary
Geranium, Lemon Rose	Sage
Lavender, English	Sage, Fruit Salad
Lavender, French	Sage, Pineapple
Lavender, Italian	Salad Burnett
Lemon, 'Lisbon'	Shallots
Marjoram	Strawberries (six varieties)
Mint, Chocolate	Thyme, Caraway
Mint, Common	Thyme, Common
Mint, Moroccan Tea	Thyme, Lemon
Mint, Spear	Thyme, Variegated Lemon
Mint, Variegated Apple	Tomatoes, (nine varieties)

My kitchen garden (blog) begins

My blog begins today, but my kitchen garden began a few months ago when I first planted some herbs - Oregano, Coriander and Basil. Since then I have also planted some Thyme, Mint, Chives, Parsley, Salad Burnet, Rosemary, Sage, Lavender, Passionfruit, Tomatoes and Strawberries. I also have a Lemon tree in the front yard, which was already here when I moved in. I look forward to the day when I can start harvesting some of this, but in the meantime I will probably be haunting the nurseries and looking for more wonderful edible plants to put into my garden.