One of the joys of growing your own food is cooking it all up fresh from the garden in a range of delicious recipes. The faster you can get your fresh produce from soil to fork, the more rich in nutrients it will be and the better it will be for your health. One great way to make sure you can cook your produce right away is to cook it up in an outdoors kitchen in your garden. You do not need a big budget to create cooking areas in your own outside space. Here are a few DIY ideas to help you create cooking areas in your home-growing garden:
A Simple Fire Pit
A simple fire pit can be all you need to cook outdoors. Of course it should go without saying that you should keep fire safety in mind at all times and make sure that you do not place your fire too close to trees or buildings. That said, a small fire pit can really enhance your garden, providing not only a place to cook but also a place to relax, unwind and enjoy long summer evenings with friends and family. You can place a grill over your fire pit, or even invest in a Dutch oven, to branch out and do more than just toasting some marshmallows.
A Pizza Oven
Another cool, sustainable idea for your garden kitchen is to create a wood-fired pizza oven, which could even be run from branches pruned from your garden trees. You can build the base of your pizza oven from reclaimed bricks or even stones and rocks from your garden, then sculpt the top, oven section from clay – which could potentially also be obtained from your garden.
A Solar Oven
In summer, you may even be able to cook food using the power of the sun. You might not even need to burn anything at all. This sustainable option is another DIY project that can help gardeners to go greener, and try something a little bit different too. A glass topped solar oven with a reflective surface inside can be surprisingly effective – even climate.
A Smoker
Another DIY project that you could consider for your outdoors kitchen is a smoker, which could be used to add a smoky flavour to a wide range of vegetables, or even fish or meat. There are plenty of DIY instructions available online which will show you how to make a small smoker cheaply and easily, often using a range of reclaimed materials.
These are just some of the many projects that you could consider in your garden this summer. If you grow your own, kick things up a notch by making sure that you can cook up a storm without even venturing inside your home.