Kitchen Seed Bank: How to Plant a Kitchen Garden, Literally.

Feb 10

by Sarah Halonen and Margaret Law, Volunteers

Kitchen gardens are present throughout human history, and exist in many forms around the world today. By definition, the kitchen garden is a small cultivated plot, situated close to the kitchen, that provides vegetables, herbs, and often fruit for a family’s table. The variety of plants grown in the earliest kitchen gardens was dependent on the locality.

Now, let’s imagine a kitchen garden in the most literal sense: a crop borne of the kitchen pantry!

In quest of the easiest available and most accessible seeds for your “kitchen garden” mid-pandemic, look no further than your kitchen seed bank: in the spice cupboard, pantry, and even fridge! How much more local can you get?

Some common seeds you may find in your kitchen seed bank:

Spice cupboard: mustard, black pepper, cumin, cardamom, coriander, fennel, dill

Pantry: dried lentils, chickpeas, beans, peas

Fridge: citrus, apple, papaya, avocado, squash, grape, tomato

So, how to plant your kitchen seeds to grow your very own “kitchen garden”? Here are some family-friendly fun ways:

Kitchen Seed Propagation

Grow an Avocado Plant

Planting Seeds from the Fruit you Eat

Egghead Planting Activity

And here are some creative ways to use up an overabundance of kitchen seeds:

Kitchen Seed Art

Seed Mosaic Build A Flower Activity