Italian Kitchen Garden
An 8×4 orto with San Marzano tomatoes, Genovese basil, zucchini, chicories, fennel, and the full Italian herb rack.
About This Template
This is an orto — the Italian kitchen garden that keeps a household in sugo, salad, and contorni from June to November. The north edge grows the sauce: three San Marzano tomatoes (the DOP sauce variety) with Genovese basil stacked beside them, a zucchini given real room, and a pair of eggplants over bell peppers for caponata and grilling. The third row is pure Italian salad culture — peppery arugula, bitter radicchio and endive, escarole for winter, and Florence fennel for shaving raw. The front row finishes the pantry: flat-leaf parsley, a serious garlic strip, and the Mediterranean shrubs — rosemary, sage, oregano, and thyme — that season everything else. Grow it once and the passata section of the supermarket loses its purpose.
Benefits
- 1San Marzano trio yields enough for a season of passata and pizza sauce
- 2Chicories and escarole extend the salad harvest deep into cold weather
- 3The tomato-basil pairing helps in the bed before it shines on the plate
- 4Perennial herb corner seasons the kitchen year-round after one planting
- 5Covers antipasto to contorno from 3 square meters of soil
Growing Tips
- 1Prune San Marzano to two stems and strip lower leaves for airflow
- 2Pick zucchini at 20 cm — and check every single day in July
- 3Sow arugula in the tomato row's shade in high summer to slow bolting
- 4Plant the garlic strip in October for fat heads the following July
Included Plants (16)
San Marzano Tomato×3
Solanum lycopersicum
Spacing: 60 cm · 24 in
Genovese Basil×2
Ocimum basilicum 'Genovese'
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Zucchini
Cucurbita pepo
Spacing: 90 cm · 35 in
Eggplant×2
Solanum melongena
Spacing: 60 cm · 24 in
Bell Pepper×2
Capsicum annuum
Spacing: 45 cm · 18 in
Arugula×4
Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa
Spacing: 15 cm · 6 in
Radicchio×2
Cichorium intybus var. foliosum
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Endive
Cichorium endivia
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Florence Fennel×2
Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Escarole
Cichorium endivia var. latifolia
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Oregano
Origanum vulgare
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Flat-Leaf Parsley×4
Petroselinum crispum var. neapolitanum
Spacing: 20 cm · 8 in
Garlic×8
Allium sativum
Spacing: 15 cm · 6 in
Rosemary
Salvia rosmarinus
Spacing: 60 cm · 24 in
Sage
Salvia officinalis
Spacing: 60 cm · 24 in
Thyme
Thymus vulgaris
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Ready to Start Growing?
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