Sunset Sunset
How to Grow a Chef's Garden
  • Food & Drink
    • Recipes
    • Wine & Drinks
    • Holidays
    • Parties & Menus
    • Garden to Table
    • Grilling
  • Home & Garden
    • Garden Basics
    • Edible Gardening
    • Landscaping
    • Green Living
    • Flowers & Plants
    • Home Tours
    • DIY Projects
    • Decorating & Design
    • Idea Houses
    • Outdoor Living
  • Lifestyle
    • Gifts & Shopping
    • Weddings
    • Pets
    • Tech
    • Family
    • Videos
  • Travel
    • Destination Guides
    • Outdoor Adventure
    • Camping
    • National Parks
    • Culinary Travel
    • Wine Country
    • Road Trips
    • Hotels
    • Sunset Travel Awards
  • Subscribe
  • Food & Drink
    • Recipes
    • Wine & Drinks
    • Holidays
    • Parties & Menus
    • Garden to Table
    • Grilling
  • Home & Garden
    • Garden Basics
    • Edible Gardening
    • Landscaping
    • Green Living
    • Flowers & Plants
    • Home Tours
    • DIY Projects
    • Decorating & Design
    • Idea Houses
    • Outdoor Living
  • Lifestyle
    • Gifts & Shopping
    • Weddings
    • Pets
    • Tech
    • Family
    • Videos
  • Travel
    • Destination Guides
    • Outdoor Adventure
    • Camping
    • National Parks
    • Culinary Travel
    • Wine Country
    • Road Trips
    • Hotels
    • Sunset Travel Awards
  • Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Magazine Customer Service
  • Marketplace
  1. Sunset
  2. Home & Garden
  3. Edible Gardening

How to Grow a Chef’s Garden

An award-winning L.A. restaurant gets more than a third of its produce from an unlikely place—the owners’ tiny front yard

More
Mike Irvine
1 of 10 Amy Dickerson

Room for Veggies

When Niki Nakayama was house-hunting in Greater Los Angeles, she had one rule: “If there wasn’t room for a vegetable garden, it wasn’t right,” says the chef and co-owner, along with her wife and sous chef Carole Iida-Nakayama, of the wildly popular restaurant N/Naka. At the heart of their modern take on kaiseki—a traditional Japanese cuisine involving one- or two-bite courses and impeccable plating—are seasonal ingredients. And what could be fresher than food grown in the couple’s own yard?

Eventually they landed on a mid century modern home in Culver City. The back quickly became a playground for their three dogs, but they saw potential in a sunny, 700-square-foot front yard overgrown with hedges and patchy grass. Enter Dan Allen of L.A.- and Oakland-based urban-agriculture design firm Farmscape, who replaced the lawn and ornamental plants with raised beds and fruit trees.

Follow these tips to capture the magic of this chef’s garden, and see their favorite edibles to grow.

Advertisement
2 of 10 Amy Dickerson

Tip: Greener Fences

A carefully pruned “citrus fence” acts as a screen between the garden and the street, without giving up crop space to fences or ornamental hedges.

Advertisement
3 of 10 Amy Dickerson

Tip: An Arm’s Reach

For easy harvest, ensure beds are no more than 4 feet wide for arm’s-reach access to the center of the plot.

Advertisement
4 of 10 Amy Dickerson

Tip: A Little Messy

Don’t force the garden to be neat and tidy, within reason, let plants like kabocha squash run a little wild.

Advertisement
5 of 10 Amy Dickerson

Grow: Japanese Cucumber

Japanese cucumber ‘Tasty Queen’ thrives on a trellis and has fewer seeds than traditional varieties.

Advertisement
6 of 10 Amy Dickerson

Grow: Shishito Peppers

“The best representation of shishito peppers are ones you grow at home,” says Nakayama. “They’re sweeter with more tender skin.”

Advertisement
7 of 10 Amy Dickerson

Grow: Tomatoes

“Homegrown tomato flavor is incomparable,” says Iida-Nakayama. “Plus, all the juices!”

Advertisement
8 of 10 Amy Dickerson

Grow: Microgreens

“Microgreens are really easy,” says Iida-Nakayama. Her favorite is ‘Rambo’ radish.

Advertisement
9 of 10 Amy Dickerson

Grow: Passion Fruit

Fully ripe when purple, fast-growing ‘Frederick’ passion fruit is prolific and attractive.

Advertisement
10 of 10 Amy Dickerson

Grow: Eggplants

Eggplants struggle in the area’s dry climate, except ‘Millionaire’ with its long, slender fruit.

Advertisement

You May Like

Edible Gardening
Big Tips for a Mini Veggie Garden
Home & Garden
Our Guide to Growing Citrus in the Garden
Green Living
10 Ways to Fight Global Warming in the Garden

Read More

Sign Up for our Newsletter

Get fresh recipes, wine pairings, weekend getaway ideas, regional gardening tips, home design inspiration, and more.
Sign up

Subscribe & Save

Subscribe today for as little as $1.34 per issue!
GET IT NOW

Sign Up for our Newsletter

Get fresh recipes, wine pairings, weekend getaway ideas, regional gardening tips, home design inspiration, and more.
Sign up
Sunset
Sunset
  • Food and Drink
  • Home and Garden
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Newsletters
  • Video
About
  • About Us
  • Events & Offers
  • Subscriptions
  • Site Map
Contact
  • Advertising
  • Careers
  • Email the Editors
  • Magazine Customer Service
Copyright © 2018 Sunset Publishing Corporation. SUNSET is a registered trademark of Sunset Publishing Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. SUNSET may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.