Shannon Butcher, Author at Kitchen Garden Magazine

Grow your own: Swiss Chard

3rd March 2023 Shannon Butcher Fruit & Veg Growing Guides

Swiss Chard is worth growing just for its decorative leaves and stems alone. However, the stems and the leaves also make a tasty alternative to spinach. Swiss chard is a crop for autumn, winter and spring harvests at a time when there is little else around. It grows in a clump about 45cm (11⁄2ft) high and wide. Varieties ‘Bright Lights’A…

Beginners tips: preparing to grow

3rd March 2023 Shannon Butcher Tips and Advice

More and more people are starting to appreciate the benefits of growing their own fresh fruit and veg and are seeking out their own patch to do just that. Learning to grow your own is not as daunting as it may first seem. Home-grown produce is not just fresher than anything you’ll find in the shops, in growing it you’ll…

Mortons Media Group Acquires Four New Titles

8th April 2022 Shannon Butcher News

Our publishers, Mortons Media Group Ltd. have recently acquired four new modelling titles to add to our portfolio, including RCM&E, Model Boats, Model Engineer and Model Engineers’ Workshop. The magazines will continue to be led by their existing editors. “We have owned these magazines for over 15 years but with our business focus changing within the group, we have concluded…

TV show seeks sheds with star quality

8th March 2022 Shannon Butcher Advertising Features, Features

Is your shed filled with vintage vehicles and motoring memorabilia ripe for rescuing? If it is, the producers of popular TV show Shed & Buried would like to hear from you, because they are currently filming a new series, due out later this year.Motorcycle fanatic Henry Cole and his best friend, engineering genius Sam Lovegrove, are heading back out on…

Kitchen Garden Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2022!

16th February 2022 Shannon Butcher Advertising Features, Features

Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and what better way to show your mum you care than by picking the perfect gardening gift. With our handy guide, you’re guaranteed to put a smile on your mum’s face! Backdoorshoes Treat your mum to a gift that lasts longer than a bunch of flowers! Buy any pair of backdoorshoes online and…

Bread & Water for Africa UK urgently appeal for £50k in five days to help save the charity

1st February 2022 Shannon Butcher News

Bread & Water for Africa UK must raise £50k in five days to keep their work going. Without it, the charity will have no choice but to close its doors within the week. Bread & Water for Africa UK CEO, Ruby Glasspool said: “Like many charities, our goal for the last eighteen months has been to survive the financial setbacks…

New accessibility features added in the latest Kitchen Garden app update

15th September 2021 Shannon Butcher News

Users of the Kitchen Garden app on mobile can expect to find plenty of brand new accessibility features to greatly improve navigation and readability. The app has been redesigned for IOS and Android to optimise the user experience, allowing readers to catch up on gardening news and features with ease. These improvements include: Altering text sizeA text to speech functionNight…

Major Milestone for Kitchen Garden Podcast as it surpasses 250,000 downloads!

2nd September 2021 Shannon Butcher News, Podcast

The Kitchen Garden Podcast, home to a bi-monthly discussion of fantastic tips, how-to’s and news on all things gardening, has reached an amazing new milestone of a quarter of a million downloads! With a whopping 250,000 downloads now under its belt, the Kitchen Garden Podcast won’t take much recommending to those looking for something new to get stuck into. Whether…

Bread & Water for Africa make an urgent call for donations to their Back to School appeal

1st September 2021 Shannon Butcher Advertising Features, Features

Every child needs access to a daily meal and the chance of an education. Yet right now, in Africa, many children miss out on the one meal they could get each day, and the chance of a place at school simply because they do not have the clothes or shoes legally required to attend. It seems unthinkable that a child…

Growing Online

9th June 2021 Shannon Butcher Features

We dig deep into the World Wide Web to harvest some great websites, tips and gardening chitchat. Sowing Mangetout (KG YouTube Channel) Emma is sowing ‘Sweet Horizon’ mangetout, ideal for steaming or stir-fries. Seeds can be sown March-July and pods harvested June-September, depending on when you sowed them. One method is to sow in cell trays initially, one seed per…

Plums on Parade

8th June 2021 Shannon Butcher Features

David Patch is talking plums and explains why compromise and patience are both important in choosing which variety to grow. Gardening can mean many things to different people, from the aesthetic of creating a beautiful herbaceous border to the sheer visceral pleasure of burrowing in the soil to unearth your first new potatoes of the season. For me, gardening has…

It’s crunch time

17th May 2021 Shannon Butcher Features

Celery is an integral part of any salad, and cool, crisp sticks freshly picked from the garden are a delight. KG editor Steve Ott offers his advice for growing tasty heads. This underrated veg is so versatile that it really is a must-have for any plot. The crunchy texture of fresh sticks offers a great contrast to the soft leaves…

Episode 100 – The Last 100 Years in Gardening with special guests Terry Walton and Gerald Stratford

14th May 2021 Shannon Butcher News, Podcast

It’s a big milestone episode this week as we hit our 100th podcast! To celebrate, we have a special episode featuring a fascinating discussion of the last 100 years of gardening as well as interviews with Radio 2’s Terry Walton and the lockdown sensation that is Gerald Stratford. Special guest Gerald Stratford is a veteran gardener whose photo of his…

Courgette? You Bet!

13th May 2021 Shannon Butcher Features

If you’re new to growing veg, courgettes may look like they could be a difficult crop to grow. The truth is, says Tony Flanagan, they’re one of the easiest and (be warned!) one of the most prolific. I’m not sure exactly when courgettes started to become a popular veg but for many years now they have been a supermarket constant.…