kitchen garden coaching
One-on-one help for your existing garden. For new and seasoned gardeners alike, if you’re ready to elevate your kitchen gardening practice, start here.
new-client kitchen garden CONSULTATION
$250
Let’s start with a 60 minute onsite session to assess your space, discuss your growing goals, and answer your gardening questions. Your visit with Mary will include:
Sun analysis. What does “full sun” mean, how much does your garden get, and how can we work with what you have?
Structural set up. We’ll assess your raised beds, fencing, and pathways with best next steps.
Soil education. The foundation for a healthy garden, let’s discuss how you can build your soil’s health with locally-sourced compost and amendments.
Support structure advice. Vertical growing adds beauty to your space and maximizes your growing potential. We’ll discuss ready-to-buy and DIY trellising options.
Irrigation options and best practices for hands on or hands off watering.
Our Northeast growing season runs from April through November. Let’s hone in on which crops you want to grow, how they can fit, and what our planting and harvesting windows are.
Q and A time.
Email summary of our session.
Planting Plan Package
Mary’s planning & planting techniques custom fit to your garden
$275
Spend less time guessing and more time engaging in the joy of planting, growing, and harvesting. My Planting Plan package includes:
GROW LIST. Planning starts with deciding what you want to grow! Together we’ll hone in on the vegetables, herbs, fruits, and flowers best suited to your schedule, garden setup, and our local growing conditions. I’ll ask you to fill out our crop checklist to get the conversation going. Then we’ll follow up with a call to hone in on your best bets for this season.
CUSTOM CROP LAYOUT. Using your grow list and garden specs, I’ll design an illustrated map of what goes where in your garden—demonstrating proper placement and spacing for each crop. You’ll see how very much you can fit in your beds using vertical growing, succession planting, and our high-intensity approach.
PLANTING CALENDAR. An indispensable tool customized to your garden and our Northeast zone 6b region. Planting windows and methods for each of your crops. You’ll know which crops to buy and sow as seeds, and which to shop for as starter plants from your local nursery. When to get them in the ground, and how long each crop takes to mature.
SOURCING GUIDE. How to buy your seeds and starter plants. Our preferred local nurseries and online sources including favorite varieties and how many of each starter plant to pick up.
1:1 planting session
Plant your garden with Mary
$150 per 60 minute planting session
Be confident that everything is in its proper place. Mary will demonstrate best-practice planting techniques for direct seeding and transplanting each crop.
Timing. Book two sessions, one in April and one in May for your spring/summer garden. Add an August planting if you want to grow a fall garden.
April session: this is when we plant our cool-season crops (think lettuce and kale). They need as many cool days as we can give them. By mid May it’s too late to plant cool crops.
May session: this is when we plant our warm-season crops (think cukes and tomatoes). We need the threat of nighttime frost to have passed, so we can safely get our cold-sensitive crops into the ground.
August session: this is your second round of cool-season planting for a fall garden.
Sourcing. You’ll source seeds and starter plants ahead of time (option to sign up for the Planting Plan Package for direction).
1:1 garden coaching
Let’s meet in the garden
$150
60 minute mid-season garden coaching session with Mary. We’ll discuss how everything’s going and growing. I’m here to answer your questions and prepare you for upcoming garden tasks. Crop by crop, I’ll advise on best practices for planting, pruning, tying and trellising, organic pest and disease control, best-practice harvesting techniques, and more. Be sure to bring a notebook to jot things down.
Virtual garden coaching
Let’s Zoom in on how your garden’s going
$125
60 minute 1:1 virtual session with Mary for gardeners anywhere. Let’s discuss your goals, questions, and concerns. Start here if you are interested in the MKG Planting Plan or if you’re looking for general or targeted kitchen gardening advice. Be sure to bring a notebook to jot things down.