Kitchen Garden

Kitchen Garden Magazine - UK's No.1 for growing your own fruit and vegetables. KG also offers great monthly give-aways, special gardening offers, recipes, growing tips and much more.

Welcome

TOP JOBS FOR FEBRUARY • The days are finally getting longer, so Stephanie Hafferty explains what to do now – and what's still worth waiting for

UNDER COVER

WHAT'S NEW? • ALL THE LATEST NEWS, PRODUCTS & FACTS FROM THE WORLD OF KITCHEN GARDENING

HAVE YOUR SAY • SEND US YOUR LETTERS AND TIPS: KG.ED@KELSEY.CO.UK

Kitchen Garden

QUESTION TIME • GOT A FRUIT OR VEG PROBLEM? ASK KG FOR HELP

SENSATIONAL SPUDS • From chitting to curing, growing great potatoes is much simpler than you might think. Benedict Vanheems shares everything you need to know for reliable, delicious harvests from early summer right through to Christmas

A SUPER SPINACH • Tall, fast-growing and surprisingly productive, tree spinach is a pink-tipped leafy annual that earns its place in the veg plot as a reliable summer green that Rob Smith recommends for easy, high-yield growing

OUR TOP PLOTTERS • Back in the summer we launched a competition to find our Top Plotters, with the top three winning some great prizes and all being featured in Kitchen Garden magazine this year. Here we meet our second place plotter

PLANNING FOR PERFECT PEAS • The first pea crops of the year are always a tasty favourite. Martin Fish shares practical methods for successful early sowings, indoors or out

MENU-LED GROWING • The carefully-managed garden at Fischer's Baslow Hall in the Peak District supplies its restaurant with distinctive, seasonal produce. Charlotte Sterland meets head gardener Kim Orwin and discovers how a compact space has been transformed into an exceptionally productive growing area

RENOVATING A PROBLEM SOIL • Garden Organic's research manager Anton Rosenfeld advises on how to assess the well-being of your soil to troubleshoot problems

THE PERMACULTURE KITCHEN GARDEN • This month Stephanie Hafferty explores the second key principle which will help you build a more productive plot year-round

HERB OF THE MONTH MARJORAM & OREGANO • Closely related but very different in flavour and habit, marjoram and oregano are reliable, low-effort herbs that earn their keep in both the kitchen and the garden

SEED SAVIOURS • Alice Whitehead reveals how half a century of conservation has seen the Heritage Seed Library grow from a small start to a national treasure

SO WHICH SEED-STARTING CONTAINERS REALLY WORK? • Not all seed trays are equal. We put several popular containers under the spotlight in tests to see how they influence pea root growth

GROWLIGHTS EXPLAINED • What the different spectrum settings do – and when to use them

TRY GROWING AND COOKING UNUSUAL HERBS • From lime-scented mint to blackcurrant sage and cola plant, Becky Searle explores lesser-known herbs that bring new flavours to the garden and kitchen, with expert picks from Urban Herbs

GIVEWAYS • TO ENTER OUR GIVEAWAYS SEE PAGE 67 OR VISIT THE KG WEBSITE

GARDEN STORE PLUS SUBSCRIBER SAVERS* • Are you a subscriber to Kitchen Garden magazine? Then visit www.mudketeers.co.uk for details of how you can take advantage of the exclusive subscriber-only deals on these pages!

WHY EVERYONE SHOULD GROW STRAWBERRIES • Whether you're planning ahead or starting from scratch, a few key decisions make all the difference with strawberries. David Patch shares practical guidance to help you get it right from the outset

NATIONAL NEST BOX WEEK • To mark National Nestbox Week, we revisit a classic nest-box design. Small, practical adjustments make it easier to build and better suited to outdoor conditions

READER OFFERS •...