Ask This Old House kitchen garden guide

Ask This Old House used social media on May 17 to point readers to a kitchen-garden guide that collects design, soil and layout advice for home growers. This Old House’s current guide, updated May 15, says the approach is meant to help readers plan a food garden that is both practical and visually structured. The article names Nicole Burke, founder of Rooted Garden, as the featured expert behind the design advice. Related This Old House material also links readers to a separate build guide for raised-bed kitchen gardens. ### What did Ask This Old House send readers to? This Old House’s “How To Design a Kitchen Garden” page says the guide covers the planning stage before any building begins. The article says readers should start with site selection, garden size and layout, then move to planting decisions and structural elements such as paths, walls, fencing and containers. (thisoldhouse.com) The May 15 update also ties the guide to Burke’s kitchen-garden approach. This Old House says her designs draw on the French potager tradition by mixing edible plants with ornamentals rather than treating a vegetable patch as a separate utility space. ### How much space does the guide say a beginner should plan for? Nicole Burke’s advice, as quoted by This Old House, starts with about 200 square feet of growing space. (thisoldhouse.com) The article says that can be divided into six raised beds measuring 4 by 8 feet each, a size it presents as large enough for variety without becoming too difficult to maintain. The same guide frames that recommendation as a starting point, not a fixed rule. (thisoldhouse.com) This Old House says the final size depends on how many people the garden is meant to feed and how much time the gardener can spend on upkeep. ### How does the guide handle sun and planting layout? This Old House says sunlight is the first requirement readers should measure before laying out a kitchen garden. (thisoldhouse.com) The guide recommends using a smartphone compass or the Sun Seeker app to identify the sunniest part of a property and avoid shade from trees, buildings and shrubs. The planting guidance is broken down by crop type. (thisoldhouse.com) This Old House says leafy greens can work with 3 to 6 hours of sun, most herbs need more than 5 hours, beans, peas and root crops need about 6 hours, peppers need more than 6 hours, and tomatoes need more than 8 hours a day. ### What does the guide say about soil preparation? Helen Norman’s kitchen garden example, cited by This Old House, used cardboard over turf-free soil as a weed barrier. (thisoldhouse.com) The article says the beds were then topped with 8 inches of finished compost and topsoil so they were ready for planting immediately. A separate This Old House build article adds more detail on bed construction and soil management. (thisoldhouse.com) That guide says raised beds can improve drainage and give gardeners more control over soil, while another raised-bed article says beds should generally be kept narrow enough for access from both sides. ### What kind of look is This Old House promoting? (thisoldhouse.com) Jenny Lee Hughes, identified by This Old House as a veteran garden designer, says structure matters in a kitchen garden. The guide says defined paths, stone walls, fencing and hedges help organize a mix of plants with different textures and sizes, while birdbaths, fountains and containers can serve as focal points. (thisoldhouse.com) Ann E. Stratton’s separate build article shows that idea in practice through a symmetrical raised-bed layout at Helen Norman’s Maryland property. This Old House says the garden combined vegetables, flowers and herbs and was designed to be productive as well as visually ordered. ### Where can readers find the next step? This Old House’s gardening section now points readers from the design guide to “How to Build a Kitchen Garden,” a longer article on constructing a raised-bed layout. (thisoldhouse.com) Additional related pages updated in May 2026 include guides on raised vegetable gardens, wooden garden beds and herb gardens, giving readers a path from planning to planting. (thisoldhouse.com)