By Kurt M. Jones, Chaffee County Extension Director
I was at a conference recently and was visiting with some
colleagues from across the Western United States. The conversation came
around to how baking, cooking and gardening all relate to one another. It
was an interesting analogy that I will attempt to recreate for you here.
If you think about it for a while, you realize that for many
of us, Baking is a prescriptive activity. You find a recipe that
you like, maybe tweak it for high altitude adjustment, but then you follow the
directions and let the science of chemistry and physics turn into delectable
treats. Gardening has similar attributes. You pick plants that will
work in our growing environment, arrange them according to their irrigation
needs (what we call “hydrozoning”), and provide plant care including proper
irrigation, proper plant nutrition to minimize stress, and Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) techniques when problems appear. Even our current Master
Gardener textbook is entitled The Science of Gardening, and employs many
of these concepts for those students.
I have to admit, I may be addicted to cooking shows. I
find it fun to see cooks sweat it out when presented with a basket of mystery
ingredients and they need to create a meal from unusual ingredients. They
are judged on taste, creativity in how they use the basket ingredients, and
cooking technique. In other words, they are skilled in the art of
cooking based on their understanding of the base ingredients and cooking
techniques.
Gardening definitely has an artistic component as
well. Landscape Architects utilize design concepts such as line, color,
texture, form, unity, scale, balance, simplicity, variety, emphasis and
sequence when creating themes for the outdoor “rooms” they create. They
create rooms by considering the plants that make up the floor, walls, and
ceilings in the outdoor spaces based on a family’s desires for that space, and
the potential of the site where the landscape will be located. Plant
selection and placement in the landscape is much more about its “fit” into the
total picture, rather than the “pick and plunk” method that many of us employ.
Much like how the creative cook utilizes different spices
and herbs to elicit different sensations on the palate, the artistic gardener
utilizes plant materials and other garden elements to create different emotions
for those who experience it. Understanding the science behind how to grow
appropriate plants successfully and keep them healthy is much like the baker
who utilizes the science to create delicacies which compliment the gourmet
meal.
It is about time for lunch, so here ends the analogy between
baking, cooking and gardening. Happy Gardening, Cooking and Baking!
