History of kitchen gardening By Allah Dad Khan Horticulturist KPK 2002

2. Kitchen Gardening in
Pakistan
By Allah Dad Khan
DGA KPK

5. However, before planning into the activity
of 'gardening vegetables, you need to
make sure of certain factors.
The place or site you choose should receive
6-8 hours of sunlight a day and also it should
be near to a water supply.
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6.  While gardening has been a part of human culture for more than 10,000 years, the idea of kitchen
gardening is something unique.
 These small family plots have been called by a variety of names over the years: kitchen gardens,
victory gardens, portage gardens, cottage gardens, Roman peristalses and horticulture gardens,
and the Japanese tea garden.
 Though each of these grows vegetables, fruit, flowers, and herbs, they are all adapted to their
environments and the culture of the people tending them.
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Large-scale potager atVillandry,
France

7.  Potatoes played an important part in a little
known chapter in the history of kitchen
gardening. In 1894, the worst economic
depression of the 19th century hit, with
unemployment in the nation's cities reaching
35 per cent.

8.  The traditional kitchen garden, also known
as a potager (in French, jardin potager) or in
Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from
the rest of the residential garden –
the ornamental plants and lawn areas. Most
vegetable gardens are still miniature versions
of old family farm plots, but the kitchen
garden is different not only in its history, but
also its design.
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9.  The kitchen garden may serve as the central
feature of an ornamental, all-season landscape,
or it may be little more than a
humble vegetable plot. It is a source of herbs,
vegetables and fruits, but it is often also a
structured garden space with a design based on
repetitive geometric patterns.
 The kitchen garden has year-round visual appeal
and can incorporate permanent perennials or
woody shrub plantings around (or among)
the annuals
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10.  If I had an outdoor space, I’d have my hands
in the dirt right about now. Instead, I’ve been
distracting myself by flipping through books
about other people’s gardens and I’ve
become entranced with the history of the
kitchen garden.
 .

11.  The kitchen garden is a bit different from the
humble vegetable garden – which is planted
in the spring and harvested in the fall (with
surplus canned or dried).The kitchen garden
is designed to be useful and visually
appealing year-round, and often
incorporates flowers (edible as well as non-
edible) amongst the vegetables.

12.  The visual appeal of the kitchen garden is
extremely important.The kitchen garden is
not solely concerned with food but also with
beauty. In French it’s called a potager (love
that word) - what’s grown in the garden is
served at the table.

13.  Vegetables grown in Pakistan
 More than 35 kinds of vegetables are grown
in numerous eco-systems in Pakistan from
the dry zone to the wet zone, low elevation to
high elevation, rain fed to irrigated and low
input to very high input systems such as
plastic houses.

14.  During summer and spring season, tomato,
chilies, brinjal, potato, cucumber, gourds and
okra are abundantly available. During rainy
season, gourds, cucumber, beans, okra and
brinjal are common.The winter season is the
most important for growing a wide variety of
vegetables including, cauliflower, cabbage,
lettuce, spinach, onion, potato, carrot, radish,
turnip, coriander, fenugreek and peas..

15. Vegetables produced in different zones by
using different production technologies
during different seasons are traded across
regional markets of Pakistan in order to meet
consumer demand across the country.

16. Varied agro-climatic conditions prevailing in
different provinces of the country also
contribute to year round production of
different kinds of vegetables.Thus many
vegetables can be grown and seen in the
market during any season.

17.  A traditional kitchen garden has four
quadrants with a central water source.This
design evolved from a combination of
sources - the gardens of Egypt, Persia,
Mesopotamia and Babylon. In the Middle
Ages, monasteries developed elaborate
kitchen gardens.

18. Because they were secluded from the outside
world, the monks were responsible for
growing the food necessary for their survival.
Not only did the monks have elaborate
kitchen gardens (and were great seed savers),
but they also would have had a cloister
garden, a medicinal garden and an orchard.