Veg plot entrepreneurs

The contestants were quizzed about their plans to make millions, but they were also asked about interests outside of work. Sadly none of them seemed to have any life outside of business: “I live to work, it’s all I do,” one candidate said proudly. Perhaps it’s bad form for budding business leaders to have (or admit to having) a life outside of the boardroom. Four better candidates for the cardiac unit I couldn’t imagine. They may be a bit young to appreciate it I guess, but it did remind me of one of the reasons so many people love gardening – allotment gardening in particular – the fact that it is such a relaxing and satisfying pastime. A part of the feeling of well-being it can bring comes from the satisfaction gained by harvesting wonderful fresh fruit and veg.

The ultimate rewards, the harvests, are right at the heart of this month’s edition. As well as your free 36-page supplement packed with delicious recipe ideas that comes with this issue, we have no less than seven pages of advice on preserving your produce – whether by drying or making flavoursome jams, oils and vinegars.

If you are still on the look-out for somewhere to grow your own and to ‘chillax’ however, you’ll want to read the second part of Sue Hinton’s feature in which she offers an insight into how local people took the bull by the horns and became allotment entrepreneurs in their own right. And we meet another community of gardeners in the heart of the capital who have set about building a very different type of allotment garden – a ‘pop-up’ one which, for a short time, changed an unloved piece of development land into a venue for garden-lovers.

Also in this issue, Bob Flowerdew brings you his composting masterclass in which he answers all your questions and offers advice based on many years of experience. Another ‘old hand’, Andrew Tokely, takes a look at two crops which are often considered to be more challenging, even by experienced growers – celery and celeriac – and explains how to maximise your chances of success. At the other end of the scale, Joe Maiden has advice for all those who would like to grow a few vegetables, but only have very limited space in which to do it, in his feature on table top growing.

The KG team was at BBC Gardeners’ World Live recently and brings you all the latest news from the show, while for herb lovers Joyce Russell introduces us to the wonderful mint family which includes... well... mint! But also sage, basil, balm, thyme, lavender, oregano, rosemary and catnip.

These are just a few of the highlights in this packed issue of KG.

Happy plotting.

Steve Ott
Editor