1.
vegetable garden; kitchen garden
A garden where vegetables and herbs are grown, typically for personal or household consumption.
裏庭に菜園がある。
There's a vegetable garden in the backyard.
週末は菜園の手入れをしている。
I tend the vegetable garden on weekends.
定年退職後、家庭菜園を始めたのが毎日の楽しみになった。
After retiring, starting a home vegetable garden became my daily pleasure.
Combines 菜 (vegetables/greens) and 園 (garden/park). Refers specifically to a garden for growing vegetables, as opposed to a flower garden (花壇) or an ornamental garden (庭園).
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 家庭菜園: home vegetable garden
- 菜園を作る: make a vegetable garden
- 菜園の手入れ: tending a vegetable garden
- 市民菜園: community garden, allotment
- 屋上菜園: rooftop vegetable garden
USAGE:
The most common compound is 家庭菜園 (home vegetable garden), a popular hobby in Japan especially among retirees. 市民菜園 are rented plots in urban areas where city dwellers can grow their own vegetables.
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 畑: field, farm plot — a broader word for cultivated land, typically larger in scale than a 菜園
- 庭: garden, yard — general word for a garden or yard, not specifically for growing vegetables
- 農園: farm, plantation — a larger-scale agricultural operation