Kitchen Garden - April 2019
YOU & YOUR PLOT
6 ON THE VEG PATCH
This month Joyce Russell is sowing carrots and pumpkins, potting on seedlings and harvesting purple sprouting broccoli.
10 IN THE GREENHOUSE ✪
KG regular Martin Fish is busy potting citrus and potatoes, harvesting curly kale, sowing into the greenhouse border and planting early salads
12 WHAT’S NEW?
The latest news, comment and advice from the world of kitchen gardening
13 DIARY DATES FOR APRIL
14 YOUR LETTERS AND TIPS
Learn what other KG readers have been up to and pick up some great first-hand advice
18 DISCOVER YOUR NEW KG SUBSCRIBERS’ CLUB
Discover the great features, money-saving offers and competitions we have lined up for KG subscribers in April
20 KG PROBLEM SOLVER
Our panel of experts help solve some of our readers’ gardening conundrums
64 NEXT MONTH
Some of the highlights to be found in your May 2019 issue plus news of great free gifts
110 LAST WORD
Keen gardener and KG team member Pauline Hawkins looks back over a summer of endless sun and never ending tomatoes
GET GROWING
16 ON THE PLOT WITH THE THREE MUDKETEERS
More gardening fun with the KG team as they get the season under way on the KG plot
22 GROWING ONLINE
Our pick of gardening social media and websites
26 FOOD FROM THE FIELD
Gaby Bartai visits a growing project in Perthshire that is all about community
The third prize winner in our Passionate Plotter competition Kay McHugh, whose kitchen garden feeds three generations
36 BESIDE THE SEASIDE
Organic gardener Sally Cunningham extols the health and decorative virtues of sea buckthorn
40 A JOY OF SUMMER ✪
Veg expert Rob Smith has some top tips for success with courgettes every time
45 BRILLIANT BRASSICAS! ✪
Former head gardener Sue Stickland explores our changing attitudes to brassicas and the many exciting new varieties available
51 FLIGHTS OF FANCY ✪
Gardener and nature enthusiast Ben Vanheems encourages us all to make room for butterflies on our plots
56 EDULIS – A TASTE OF THE UNUSUAL ✪
Holly Farrell visits The Walled Garden, home of Edulis, a nursery specialising in plants for forest gardening and permaculture
60 VEG OF THE MONTH ✪
KG editor Steve Ott brings you his pocket guide to growing asparagus
66 HOMESPUN MAGIC
In the first of her new series, organic gardening expert Stephanie Hafferty offers a miscellany of helpful tips and tricks for kitchen, house and garden
70 UP WITH THE CHICKENS
Thinking of keeping chickens? Take the plunge – you won’t regret it, says Jason Weller, poultry expert and owner of East Sussex-based Mantel Farm
74 WHEN PEARS GO PEAR-SHAPED ✪
Award-winning fruit expert David Patch has all the advice you need to keep your pear trees healthy and productive
78 THE CULTIVATED PLOT
Gardening writer and photographer Graham Strong continues construction on his new allotment
82 REKHA’S GARDEN AND KITCHEN DIARY (NEW SERIES)
Former contestant on BBC’s The Big Allotment Challenge, Rekha Mistry, takes us through her gardening month
84 HIGH-RISE STRAWBERRIES ✪
Practical gardener Joyce Russell shows you a cheap and simple way to grow delicious strawberries on the patio
88 KEEP YOUR OPTIONS OPEN ✪
With so much seed choice available, Julie Moore gives eight reasons for growing open-pollinated varieties
92 HERB OF THE MONTH
This month a KG pocket guide to growing lemon balm for teas and desserts
WHAT TO BUY
62 SAVE UP TO £12 ON ASPARAGUS CROWNS ✪
94 TRIED AND TESTED –PLASTIC-FREE POTS ✪
Could you reduce reliance on garden plastics? We put some products through their paces
98 GREAT READER OFFERS – SAVE OVER £35
Claim two free* blueberry ‘Bluecrop’ plants worth £19.90, plus great savings on onions and raspberries (*Just pay p&p)
102 GREAT GIVEAWAYS WORTH OVER £1866 ✪
This month you could win a lawnmower, garden tools, watering kit, slug and snail killer and more
104 GARDEN STORE PLUS SUBSCRIBER SAVERS ✪
News of some great new products and services and a chance for KG subscribers to bag a bargain on gardening essentials
114 GIVEAWAYS ENTRY FORM