What is a 'kitchen garden'? A garden where plants for use in the kitchen are cultivated for everyday use. I chose the name 'the kitchen garden series' because it represents a sense of place to me. Kitchen gardens are an important part of the history of the city I call home and the name connects me to the vital urban gardens and farms I strive to support. The name has come to mean so much more as I lean into new ideas and projects around my brand.

I have written about linen in other blog posts as one of our favorite material resources for the kitchen garden series products. Linen is made from the flax plant and is a naturally pest resistant, low water-use crop. When I learned that flax grows well in my region and opened a dialogue with growers like the Rust Belt Fibershed, ideas began to coalesce and spark. I now believe that flax plants have exciting possibilities if grown alongside the vegetables and herbs cultivated for use in the kitchen. As I step into this uncertain spring of 2020, I’m setting my sites on growing small plots of flax, experimenting with what it means to make local linen, and deepening my commitment to the kitchen garden series community.