Medieval Gardens      Bestiary      Catalog      How to Order Tile      Site Map      Search      Contact

Medieval Herbs and Vegetables

Medieval Italian Kitchen Garden

Medieval kitchen garden vegetables

Tiles for Kitchen Backsplash

Large or small, the garden should be orderly and rich. It should be well fenced from the outside world. It should by no means imitate either the willfulness or the wildness of nature, but should look like a thing never to be seen except near the house. It should, in fact, look like part of the house. ~William Morris

Backsplash

Example backsplash design with six-inch medieval garden tiles and three-inch field tiles.*

Medieval kitchen garden backsplash

*Glossy green, as well as field tiles in other colors, are available at most tile store, or big big box stores. Usually, without special order. I suggest waiting until you get your medieval kitchen tiles and taking one with you to the tile store to pick a field tile that you like.

Medieval / Renaissance Italian Kitchen Tiles

Kitchen tiles are available on , native White, light cream ceramic or tumbled stone.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower

Squash

Small Squash Vine

Cashew

Cashew

Rodia

Rodia

Asparagus

Asparagus

Rosemary

Rosemary

Parsnip

Parsnip

Pumpkin

Pumpkin

Lemon

Lemon

Red Beans

Red Beans

Artichoke

Artichoke

Mushrooms

Mushrooms

Radishes

Radishes

Gourd Squash

Gourd Squash

Morning Gloria Vine

Morning Glory Vine

Apios

Apios

Sunflower

Sunflower

Turnip

Turnip

separator

Medieval Herbs and Vegetables Pricing and Specifications

Ceramic

4.25 inch tiles : $56 each

6 inch tiles : $67 each

separator

Tumbled Marble

Available in both 4 and 6 inch tiles.

Size: 6 inch square tiles (15.4 cm), or 4 inch (10.16 cm)

Tumbled Tiles : $77 each

Customer Photos

MedievalItalian Kitchen Garden Accent Tiles

Designing a Medieval Kitchen Garden

Medieval gardens

There are many varieties of medieval gardens, so you have a lot of room for creativity. Here are some guidelines:

  • Medieval gardens are sanctuaries, as if an outside room of the house. Start with a square or rectangular space.

  • Create a border. Permanent borders can be hedges or walls. At Red House, the border was created with trellises. You can also use fruit trees or topiary to create your borders. Italian cypress works well if you need a wind break. Roses also work. At Kelmscott Manor, Morris used a border of standard roses to line the walkway to the entrance of the house.

  • A fountain, or waterfall at the center or the garden is traditional. You can also use statuary that suggests water, or a stone bird bath.

  • Create your walkways. You might create a circular center walkway around fountain with short walkways leading up to it. Or lay the garden out like a chess board.

  • You now have several areas. Medieval kitchen gardens grew herbs for both cooking and their medical / magical properties, but these it is difficult to keep these distinctions separate. Organize your planting by the needs of the plant with sun-loving plants together and so forth, with the tallest plants toward the back of each bed.

Related Pages

    Flowers and Feathers: Medieval Crowns

    De Materia Medica

    Voynich Manuscript Tiles

    Bestiaries

    Background Colors

    Tumbled is, well tumbled, and varies with what I'm sent when I order blanks but can be modified a bit; some have more veining and "character" than others. For ceramic, I have two cream background colors: whipped cream (closest to blue-white), and creme fraiche (whipped butter). Creme fraiche is not the yellow of your store-bought butter but has a richer color than whipped cream.