Kitchen Garden - January 2017

YOU &  YOUR PLOT

6 ON THE VEG PATCH
Harvest kale, sow onion seeds, buy seed
potatoes, check stored produce, prune fruit
bushes, sort netting and fleece

10 IN THE GREENHOUSE
Chit potatoes, sow khol rabi, protect crops from
the cold, harvest salad leaves, hunt down pests
and diseases, clean greenhouse glass, invest in a
mini greenhouse, plant greenhouse fruit

12 WHAT’S NEW?
The latest news, comment and advice from the
world of kitchen gardening

14 YOUR LETTERS AND TIPS
Learn what other KG readers have been up to
and pick up some great first-hand advice

20 QUESTION TIME
Regular Gardeners’ Question Time panellists
Bob Flowerdew and Anne Swithinbank answer
your fruit and veg growing conundrums

24 BRITAIN’S MOST PASSIONATE PLOTTERS
Meet more of the winners in our annual
competition to find Britain’s keenest fruit and
veg gardeners

94 DIARY DATES
Great things to do and see this month

95 LAST WORD WITH THE KG FORUM
We dip into the wealth of knowledge to be
found on the KG forum. This month the topic
of discussion is whether supermarket garlic is
suitable for planting

98 NEXT MONTH
Some highlights to be found in your February
issue plus details of great free gifts

GET GROWING

16 ON THE PLOT WITH THE THREE MUDKETEERS
Learn what the KG team have been up to this
month and pick up some great top tips

28 MAKE IT! A GARDEN LINE
KG editor Steve Ott explains how to make
a simple gadget to keep your sowing and
planting on the straight and narrow

30 GET INTO HERITAGE…POTATOES
In the first of his new series Rob Smith
reveals his favourite heritage potatoes
for flavour

34 TAKING CARE OF THE FUTURE AT EMR
Gardening expert and former head
gardener at Ryton Organic Gardens,
Sue Stickland visits East Malling
Research in Kent – home of British
fruit breeding

40 VEG AT A GLANCE – LEEKS
KG’s Tony Flanagan offers his advice on
getting the best out of this winter favourite

44 IN FROM THE COLD
Keen veg grower Ben Vanheems explains
how you can get an early start and offers
some ideas for January sowings

49 TIME TO TRY SOMETHING NEW
KG editor Steve Ott selects his favourite new
varieties from the 2017 catalogues

54 LIVING WITH WEEDS
Organic gardening expert and author John
Walker encourages us to take a fresh look at
weeds and to see the many positive things
they can bring to our plots

58 A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO CELERIAC
Gardening guru Anne Swithinbank explains
how to get the best from this tasty winter root

62 AT A GLANCE…REDCURRANTS
A KG pocket guide to growing these jewels of
the fruit garden

66 KEEP THOSE CROPS MOVING
Joyce Russell explains why crop rotation is
important and offers some tips on planning
your own sowings

70 GROWING ONLINE
Our roundup of the best from the world of
online gardening

71 NEW VARIETY ON TEST
Read our verdict on summer squash ‘Honey
Boat’ from D T Brown

74 FEED THE BIRDS
Advice from the UK’s leading bird charity to
keep your garden birds fed this winter

 WHAT TO BUY

61 WIN WOODBLOCX RAISED BED
VOUCHERS WORTH £500!
Raised beds, boxes and planters – easy to
assemble and come with a 15-year guarantee

78 READER OFFERS
Claim your free onion and garlic bulbs worth
£8.70 plus save on top yielding and blight-free
potato collections

80 TRIED AND TESTED
This month the KG team has been going up in
the world by testing raised beds. Discover our
best buys

84 GIVEAWAYS WORTH OVER £1457
Our giveaways this month include a great
package of goodies courtesy of the Organic
Gardening Catalogue and Mary Anne Rogers,
tool kits from Wilkinson Sword, handy What Knot
cargo nets and Johnsons seed tin collections

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

88 KG INSTANT SAVERS
Save up to 20% on a range of great gardening
products with our exclusive deals

89 WIN A FANTASTIC PIZZA OVEN
WORTH MORE THAN £250