Meghan Markle has become something of a font of gardening inspiration of late, so yes, we sat up and paid attention when she posted a photo to Instagram (amongst a carousel of other photos from her daily life) of a harvest basket.
Positively overflowing with fresh vegetables from her Montecito garden, it’s the kind of image that makes you want to go outside immediately and start growing things (or picking and eating them if you’re me). After all, there’s something seriously aspirational about a well-stocked harvest basket… especially when it represents a garden that’s actually producing with so much abundance you can’t possibly hold it only in your hands.
Before we talk about what goes in it, though, let’s talk about Meghan Markle‘s basket itself, because it matters more than you’d think.
How To Recreate Meghan Markle’s Harvest Basket
Whether you’re a fan of Meghan Markle or not, there’s no denying that a proper harvest basket, sometimes called a trug, is one of the most useful things a kitchen gardener can own.
The wide, shallow design lets you carry large volumes of produce without bruising your precious herbs or crushing delicate leaves. The open weave allows air to circulate, which keeps greens fresher than a plastic bag or a deep bucket. And because you’re laying things flat rather than piling them high, you can actually see what you’ve got, which makes sorting and washing much faster and way more satisfying.
Check out Meghan Markle’s harvest basket below (it’s the seventh image in the carousel):
For a budget-friendly trug that still looks the part, this handwoven wicker garden basket (available on Amazon) covers all the basics. It’s wide, shallow, has dual handles, and is easy to wipe clean after a muddy morning harvest.
If you’re willing to spend a bit of extra cash, this KOUBOO rattan basket (also available on Amazon) looks as good in the house as it does in the garden.
For cut flowers, which are equally worth growing, a deeper trug with a handle that keeps stems upright is a better choice than a shallow basket. If you grow both edibles and flowers, which is very much worth doing, two baskets is not an unreasonable investment. Think of them as the garden equivalent of a colander and a mixing bowl: technically you could manage with one, but you’ll be glad you have both. Plus, if none of the above sounds appealing to you, the fact that it looks pretty on Instagram should be reason enough!
If you’re cutting flowers as well as harvesting produce, this taller JJSQ wicker basket (available on Amazon) is the better choice. It has deeper sides that keep stems upright rather than letting them flop sideways.
Shop Harvest Baskets:
Of course, buying a harvest basket is the easy part of getting that Meghan Markle look. Filling it? Why, that is where the real gardening begins.
1. Work Backwards From the Basket
The most productive approach to a kitchen garden is to decide what you want to be harvesting first, then plant around that goal rather than filling beds with whatever caught your eye at the garden center in March.
For a summer basket overflowing with color and variety, which is truly the Meghan aesthetic, you need warm-season crops: corn, squash, peppers, tomatoes, beans, and zucchini. These all go in the ground in spring, need a full growing season to produce, and really hit their stride in July and August. Plant them early enough, and you’ll have exactly the big armful you’ve been dreaming of in the middle of summer.
Alongside those, fast-growing crops like lettuce, radishes, and spring onions are ready within weeks and can be sown in succession (a small row every 2 to 3 weeks), so you always have something ready to pick rather than a ton followed by a sad trip to the grocery store a couple of weeks later.
2. Remember Herbs Are the Cheat Code
No harvest basket looks properly abundant without herbs, and they’re the most forgiving, fastest-growing, and most versatile thing you can grow. Basil, parsley, chives, rosemary, sage, and mint all thrive in containers or beds; most are ready to harvest within weeks of planting, and a generous handful of mixed herbs transforms even a basic basket into something truly Instagram-worthy.
Herbs also do the thing that’s hardest to fake: they smell amazing. A basket that smells of fresh basil and rosemary is doing more sensory work than any amount of visual styling.
3. Set Up A Realistic Season-by-Season Harvest Plan
If you want something harvestable year-round rather than just in peak summer, make like Meghan Markle and set up a simple planting framework:
Spring: Snap peas, lettuce, spinach, spring onions, radishes, strawberries, herbs. These grow fast, they’re satisfying, and really beautiful together in a basket.
Summer: Corn, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, basil. This is peak harvest season, so plant ambitiously.
Autumn: Kale, chard, leeks, carrots, beetroot. Cooler temperatures actually improve the flavor of most of these crops, and the colours are really something.
Year-round: Herbs. Always herbs. Rosemary alone is enough to make a basket look nice regardless of the season.
4. And Don’t Forget The One Rule That Makes It All Work
Succession planting s the difference between a garden that produces continuously and one that has one great moment in June and then peters out. Plant small quantities of the same crop every two to three weeks, and you’ll have a rolling harvest from spring through to the first frosts.
And that’s the real secret behind a basket that looks full. Not necessarily a bigger garden or more varieties of veg, but better timing and some planning ahead before you even make a hole in the ground.
The rest is simple patience and a bit of sunshine, which in Montecito is not hard for Meghan Markle.
