HINGHAM, Mass. - BostonChron -- If there is some trial and error in starting a kitchen garden, I have tried, and I have errored. Quite a bit. I crammed too many eggplants and tomatoes into a small space. I had leafy greens that got way too much sun and wilted and withered. And I've also had gardens that had a lot of unused space where I could have grown something.

But my favorite garden is my kitchen garden, and I feel like I've perfected it over the years. I've learned how to get the most plants in the least amount of space, by carefully selecting companion plants that also have similar needs. And most importantly – herbs and veggies that I love to cook with and want to have right near my kitchen! The thing is, a lot of the mistakes I made with trialing and erroring on building the perfect kitchen garden would have been easy to avoid. I just didn't have the guidance I needed.

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Because of my experience, I want to help YOU get a better start than I did. Growing your own food is empowering; you get that sense of self-sufficiency and satisfaction that comes from communing with nature and eating what you grow. It's also a great way to supplement your grocery budget. Not to mention, it's pretty darn cool to plan your dinner based on what you can harvest right from your backyard!

The good news? Growing a kitchen garden is not that hard.

It's even easier when you have a guide that gives you the layout for a perfect garden.

My original plan was to find something like that to share with you, like a map or guide that had everything laid out for a kitchen garden. The more I looked, the more I thought that what I was looking for was something that didn't exist, and I'd need to make myself. And so, the printable Kitchen Garden Planting Charts were born! Or maybe I should say it sprouted?

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Either way, these charts give you easy-to-use layouts for two kitchen gardens. The larger garden chart offers a layout for over 45 vegetable plants, and for smaller spaces, we've made a chart with 23 vegetable plants. Both can be seen at https://foodgardening.mequoda.com/freebies/printable-kitchen-garden-planting-charts/.

These FREE printable Kitchen Garden Planting Charts are simple to use and accounts for companion planting, the amount of sunlight different vegetables need, and which plants are not ideal companions. We've made sure to plot these garden charts to help you take advantage of the space you have and grow a full garden without crowding your vegetables.

All you have to do is sow the seeds and let it grow!