The Kitchen Gardens serve multiple purposes in the next phase for PEG.
They will beautify PEG’s current entrance, provide produce for restaurant events, offer another revenue stream for the farm, and begin to exemplify one of the production models that can take place across PEG if the right entrepreneurs buy into this project.
Currently
The Kitchen Gardens will be an important zone one element at PEG aesthetically, productively, and as a potential educational highlight of the agritourism enterprise.
"With minimal bed preparation, seeding, and irrigation from the water tanks located by the farm hub, a large diversity of species and varieties will be planted and harvested throughout the growing season, from salad greens to ripe tomatoes to aromatic herbs."
"Located on the slope south of the container building, with a picnic area, and weaving paths, this roughly half-acre area expands the primary area of use (Kitchen Garden Zone) outside of the buildings, the nursery, and the compost piles."
The area around the farm hub is focused mostly on functional needs and farm infrastructure.
Establishment
Recommendations
Create beds using no till methods (sheet mulching for example), or using a rototiller (only once) to break up the compacted heavy clay soil while integrating compost and organic matter into beds.
For notill production, finished compost is applied to raised beds every year to provide ample seedtosoil contact, followed by mulch and handwork to reduce weed competition. Whether tilled or permanent, beds should be designed to follow the contour of the land, which both reduces loss of topsoil during heavy rains and creates a beautiful and natural aesthetic.
It is ecologically advantageous to grow annual vegetables using permanent notill planting methods, which greatly reduce fossil fuel usage and increase the biological health of the soil.
It is important that the detailed aspects of the garden layout, particularly the circulation and access, are designed on the ground, to ensure that they fully respect the experience of working, living, and visiting PEG.
This increase in function and aesthetics will immediately improve the arrival experience for people visiting PEG for tours.
"Because this area is so centrally located, it will be seen an experienced by almost everyone who visits PEG."
In Phase 1, the container building serves as a functional space that hosts educational events, popup restaurants, and other social activities.
Having a model garden that can also provide produce for these events will be important to build energy for the project in its early phases.
Management
Water
Almost all annual vegetables and perennial garden crops will require irrigation in this bioregion. Particularly in the area where the Kitchen Gardens will be.
They are high on a minor ridge where they are exposed to both direct sun and the prevailing winds. Both of these factors and the fact that these gardens should collect little surface flow from surrounding areas, means that they will need to be irrigated.
"Once well designed gardens are in place, install drip irrigation to reduce the amount of water and effort it takes to provide the moisture your gardens need."
"Once an irrigation system is in place, check it once per week and repair any leaks or blockages."
