Turn your veggie patch into a focal point in the garden

09.02.2024 - 14:28 / theprovince.com

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Don’t plant a veggie patch in the back corner of a garden — take it from a functional space to a focal point in the yard. This is the advice from Seed & Nourish’s Carissa Kasper, who recommends establishing permanent garden beds and pathways and using an organic approach for a successful garden.

“Make it a focal point in the garden, a place where we want to be; it sets us up for success,” says Kasper, one of The Vancouver Sun Gardeners’ School speakers on the Garden Stage at this year’s BC Home + Garden Show.
Kasper began gardening at a time of change in her life.

“I believe growing a garden has the power to transform you,” she says. “That’s specifically why I like growing food. The idea of growing nourishment for yourself, the alchemy in that, going from a seed to something that feeds you, is the basis of my name for my business,” she says.

Kasper suggests three steps to establish a successful veggie garden. The first is to create permanent beds and pathways (these could be raised or in-ground beds) and to add vertical structures; second, add compost and manure every season to replenish nutrients; and third, throughout spring, summer and fall, grow nitrogen fixers — plants like beans and peas that add nitrogen back to the soil — and cover crops through the fall and winter.

“One of my favourites for small kitchen gardens is broad beans, which can be planted quite late and will protect the soil and replenish nitrogen through the fall and winter,” she says.

Kasper believes permanent vertical structures such as obelisks and trellises add a sense of