On a lovely summer evening a couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to tour the kitchen garden at The Pantry at Delancey—a new community kitchen space run by Brandi Henderson, Olaiya Land, and Brandon Pettit. Located just behind Delancey (the pizzeria that Pettit runs with his wife, the writer, Molly Wizenberg), the Pantry is really a gathering place, a kitchen, and a classroom all in one. It has an incredible lineup of classes scheduled for this fall (think Badass Bartending, Homemade Halloween Candy, and Gluten Free Baking), as well as family style dinners, which will be held around the Pantry’s huge and beautiful table. Inside the space reminds me of a super hip farm kitchen, with white walls, shelves of cookbooks, and a big stove. Outside the kitchen garden is clean, simple and inviting.

The garden was designed by landscape architect Chris Saleeba of Fresh Digs (I did a sneak peek of Chris and his wife Ashley’s front yard vegetable garden in 2010). Almost all of the work, which included lots of digging, leveling, and rock hauling, was done by the Pantry crew. And kudos to them! It is really a lovely space. The garden runs East to West in a narrow alley-like area behind the building. Chris designed a pathway, divided by wide, packed gravel stairs and landings delineated with wooden decking. Planting spaces run on either side of the pathway. A custom fence lines the southern border of the garden. It features wide spaced planks that screen the garden from the adjacent house while still allowing light to stream through. Horizontal lengths of twine run between the fence posts. The idea here is to pack in as much food as possible by utilizing the garden’s vertical space.

The east end of the garden gets the most sun and it is planted with a mix of herbs, fruit (like the rhubarb pictured above), vegetables and flowers. An edible wall and containers are planned for the future.

Currently a mix of brassicas, including red bok choy (one of my favorite vegetable varieties) and ‘Red Russian’ kale line the beds. Artichokes and columnar apple trees add an architectural presence. Plants that produce food over a long period, including sage and Swiss chard are dotted throughout.

The west end of the garden is shaded by a large street tree, so the beds are planted with shade-tolerant edibles and native plants, including ferns, parsley, kale and ‘Golden Alexandria’ strawberry. This alpine strawberry actually prefers to grow in a spot that gets some afternoon shade because its unusual chartreuse leaves burn in hot sun.

The garden had a pretty tight budget and Chris (pictured above) and the team at the Pantry worked hard to stay within it. Rather than paving the pathway or building a boardwalk, they used inexpensive, but attractive, crushed gravel. The team also scavenged some very cool pavers (pictured at the bottom of the post) at the Re-Store, which are used to add interest to a gravel patio area and also as stepping stones within the planting beds. They also relied on their own labor and volunteer time from friends to transform the overlooked area into a functional space.

Perennial edibles form the backbone of the garden, including evergreen ‘Sunshine Blue’ blueberries, the columnar apple trees, artichokes, herbs, and strawberries. These plants will ensure that the garden looks great year round, while leaving space for seasonal annual edibles like greens, tomatoes, and squash. I am so thrilled that the Pantry team decided to integrate an edible garden with their kitchen and community table. It is a beautiful garden and really shows that food can thrive in even the smallest of urban areas!

If you are interested in taking a class or attending a dinner at the Pantry, you can see the schedule on their website. If you, like Chris’ work, you can see more of it over on FreshDigs!

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