December 2010

NEWS

6 FIRST PICKINGS
All the latest news and views form the world of kitchen gardening

YOUR PLOT

10 JOBS FOR DECEMBER
Essential tasks for your plot from the KG team

14 UNDERCOVER
Sue Stickland's seasonal tips on growing undercover

16 BACK TO BASICS - POTATOES
Your how-to-grow guide with expert writer, Joe Maiden

20 YOUR PLOTS
We take a look at some readers' veg gardens

24 'S' FOR SUCCESS
Pamela Deschamps visits a nursery to get some tips on training fruit trees

28 YOUR LETTERS AND TIPS

30 VEG PLOT ANSWERS
Your fruit and veg questions answered

32 READERS' EXCHANGE
Ask a question or help other readers

34 WEBWATCH
Helen Gazeley reviews some garden related websites

36 SET THE JUICE LOOSE
Make your own fruit juices from your excess apples and other fruits. Barbara Hill explains how

39 WHERE BIGGER IS BETTER
Jean Vernon visits the UK National Giant Vegetable championship

ALLOTMENT LIFE

42 END OF THE BEGINNING
Former professional gardener, Graham Uney, has taken us through a season on his vegetable plot and now we take one last look

44 HOLD THE SALT FOR HEALTHY PLANTS
Exhibitor Medwyn Williams explains how the soil in undercover growing situations can suffer from salt build up

46 A PLOTTER'S YEAR
We follow the growing diary of Andrew Tokely on his Suffolk plot

48 COPING WITH WILD WINTER WEATHER
In her series on unearthing the facts Joyce Russell looks at different ways of tackling garden problems, this month coping with bad weather

52 HOW NEW VARIETIES GET INTO THE CATALOGUES
Colin Randel explains how new seed varieties get chosen

ORGANIC GARDENING

54 WINTER FRUITS AND TROPICAL INDULGENCES
Bob Flowerdew takes a look at some of the exotic fruits you can grow with a little extra heat

58 ALWAYS ASK QUESTIONS
John Walker encourages us to ask companies 'green' questions before purchasing from them

60 FULL OF EASTERN AND WESTERN PROMISE
Bob Sherman raves about mouse melon and other exotic fruits we can grown in UK gardens

62 HERBS TO KNOW AND GROW
This month myrtle

63 TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE SPUD!
Lucy Halliday looks at how potatoes could be used to create electricity

64 GARDEN ON A BUDGET
Andy Hamilton has some ideas to make your gardening pound go further

66 VEGAN VEG
It's a homegrown Christmas at Stream Cottage

68 GOING FOR GOLD
Gaby Bartai reports from the Dundee Flower Show

72 10 STEPS TO CLEAN BOOTS
Joyce Russell makes a handy boot scraper

78 CHRISTMAS APPROACHES
Steve Ashton has some suggestions for treating wildlife this winter

SEASONAL RECIPES

80 FESTIVE FARE
Christina Maxfield suggests some recipes for Christmas

WHAT TO BUY

84 IN THE GARDEN SHED
This month some great gift ideas for kitchen gardeners

READERS SAVERS

88 SPECIAL KG OFFERS
FREE fig tree (Just pay ?4.50 p&p)

95 GIVEAWAYS WORTH OVER ?815
Your chance to win Ladder Allotments, seed vouchers and soil-free growing kits

106 giveaways entry coupon

CHICKENS

96 ENEMIES WITHOUT... AND WITHIN
How to protect your hens from predators

OTHER FEATURES

76 SUBSCRIBE TO KITCHEN GARDEN

99 KG 2010 INDEX

102 NEXT MONTH
What?s in store for your January issue of Kitchen Garden