Kitchen Garden - June 2016

YOU YOUR PLOT

6 ON THE VEG PATCH
Plant leeks, tend to outdoor tomatoes, harvest
rhubarb and lettuce, thin out and train plums

10 IN THE GREENHOUSE
Tend to cucumbers, prune grapes, harvest
early beans, care for tomatoes, deal with pests

12 HOT TOPICS
News from the world of kitchen gardening

14 YOUR LETTERS AND TIPS
Find out what other KG readers are saying

16 QUESTION TIME
Bob Flowerdew and Anne Swithinbank answer
your fruit and veg growing conundrums

60 GROWING GUIDES
The best websites, blogs and apps

80 MEET THE PLOTTERS
We visit the plots of more of the wonderful
entrants in our Passionate Plotter Competition

99 NEXT MONTH
Highlights to be found in your July issue plus
details of great free gifts

106 LAST WORD
This month Mike Thurlow explains how his
love for heritage veg began

GET GROWING

20 SOW, GROW AND PICK IN DAYS
Ben Vanheems has advice for those
looking for quick-growing crops to ﬁll the
patio with ﬂavour

26 BOUNTIFUL AND BOTANICAL
Garden writer Sue Stickland takes us on a tour
of the beautiful kitchen garden at the National
Botanic Garden in Carmarthenshire

32 BACK TO BASICS…CUCUMBERS
In the ﬁrst of his regular monthly features, Rob
Smith offers advice to those new to growing
their own. This month, cucumbers

36 ON THE PLOT WITH
THE THREE MUDKETEERS
Chat, tips and gardening gossip from the KG
team. Plus enter our fun Spot The Difference
competition

42 WHAT SHALL I
DO WITH ALL THESE BEANS?
KG’s Emma Rawlings offers some answers,
helped by the KG online community, to the
question of what to do with the inevitable
summer glut of beans

46 PESTS APLENTY!
Pest expert Pippa Greenwood takes the worry
out of controlling early pest attacks with
plenty of practical advice

52 FRUIT AT A GLANCE…
STRAWBERRIES
A KG mini growing guide to achieving a
bountiful crop of our number one summer fruit

56 YOUR FREE SEEDS
Get the best from your free packets of seeds
this month

63 THE VIRTUES OF NASTURTIUMS
Organic gardening expert Julie Moore looks
at the many ways nasturtiums can be useful
around the veg plot

68 THE ART OF VEG
GROWING SWEDISH STYLE
Gardening journalist Asa Langefors visits a
delicious Swedish plot where colour and form
are almost as important as yield

76 MAKE A BLUEBERRY COVER
Award-winning practical journalist Joyce
Russell has a simple plan for making a highly
effective cover for blueberries and other fruit
that is sure to keep the birds at bay

84 CAULIFLOWERS WITH MEAL APPEAL
Veg expert Colin Randel reveals the latest
winners of the prestigious Award of Garden
Merit from the RHS. Sow some now on
your plot

WHAT TO BUY

55 SAVE 10% ON STRAWBERRY PLANTS

74 READER SAVERS
This month claim your free 5-packet squash seed
collection worth over £8 plus save on Brilliant
Bean, Root Crop and Quick Crop collections plus
cabbage and sweetcorn collections

88 KG INSTANT SAVERS
Save on a range of gardening products with
our exclusive deals, including garden clothing,
wildlife habitats, seaweed fertiliser and secateurs

89 TRIED AND TESTED
The KG team put some popular makes of
utility belts to the test to see how useful they
are to busy gardeners

92 DIARY DATES
Great things to see and do this month, plus
giveaways entry form

95 GARDEN STORE
News of the best new products and services
to reach the KG ofﬁces this month

96 GIVEAWAYS WORTH OVER £2734
This month you could win easy-to-install
wooden raised beds, plant protection products,
including stylish crop covers, gardening tuition,
quality hand tools and wood preservatives