Plan a Harvest Kitchen

By Carolyn Robinson
Published on March 1, 1970
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Another snapshot six months later showing how our suburban house has been turned into a homestead by adding a harvest kitchen. The garage was remodeled — note the greenhouse window. Also, we improved the front entrance and added picket fence at left
Another snapshot six months later showing how our suburban house has been turned into a homestead by adding a harvest kitchen. The garage was remodeled — note the greenhouse window. Also, we improved the front entrance and added picket fence at left
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A good harvest kitchen should provide room for canning, freezing, cooking and more.
A good harvest kitchen should provide room for canning, freezing, cooking and more.
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This snapshot shows our house, which is the so-called
This snapshot shows our house, which is the so-called "Cape Cod" style. We found that the ordinary-size kitchen cramped our canning, freezing, and cooking so we planned the addition of an up-to-date version of the old "summer kitchen."
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The big roomy old farm kitchen was the harvest kitchen's — yet our's is completely new in design and conception.
The big roomy old farm kitchen was the harvest kitchen's — yet our's is completely new in design and conception.

Not long after my husband, Ed, and I moved into our country house I began to realize my department was going to be overcrowded.

One look at our big quick freezer, the cream separator, the honey extractor, the pressure canner and another look at our small kitchen and we were somehow reminded of trying to get a grand piano into a phone booth!

You see, when you begin to grow a good part of your food you need a “factory” to process it and preserve it. And you just live differently. The ordinary kitchen-dining room combination of the conventional house simply doesn’t fit.

What you need is a streamlined, modern little food-conserving set-up, combined with the charm and warmth of grandmother’s kitchen.

We went to John Whitney, an architect who specializes in country houses, with our idea. Together we planned out every detail of food preservation, preparation and serving, added such things as the greenhouse window (for winter herbs, flowers, and spring plant starting), a desk and record-keeping corner and a rocking chair corner for relaxation, drawing, sewing and general coziness.

And now we have our “harvest kitchen.” It has turned out lovelier and more practical than our fondest dreams. Believe me, if you want to make cooking, canning and freezing a joy for your wife build her a harvest kitchen.

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