Author: Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.
Chelsea Fringe at Nine Elms on the South Bank

Chelsea Fringe at Nine Elms on the South Bank

News
Nine Elms on the South Bank is drawing together a programme of local activities as part of #Chelsea Fringe. The international garden festival that’s now in its fourth year and celebrates everything from guerrilla gardeners to community projects and large-scale installations. The programme at Nine Elms draws inspiration from the area’s horticultural and industrial heritage, celebrates the area’s flourishing green…
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New berry on the block

New berry on the block

News
There’s a new #berry on the block this #strawberry season, with extra #health benefits. This unique, almost black strawberry called Nerina is packed with health-giving antioxidants in form of polyphenols and vitamins. However, you will not find it in punnets but in products. Nerina, which relates to the original wild strawberry, is the result of years of research and cultivation…
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Enjoy the great outdoors with celebrity TV gardener David Domoney

Enjoy the great outdoors with celebrity TV gardener David Domoney

News
Whether you’re planning a BBQ in the garden, looking to makeover a tired outdoor space, or looking for green-fingered ideas for little ones. Having started out his career working at a garden centre, the ITV’s Love Your Garden presenter has teamed up with Dobbies Garden Centres to share advice and ideas. To see the range of vidoes available, visit: www.dobbies.com/spring/how-to-with-david-domoney.…
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Growing vegetables in small spaces

Growing vegetables in small spaces

News
BBC Gardener of The Decade, Katherine Crouch, shows how to plant and grow a vegetable garden in a small space. Katherine uses a grow bag and wooden poles to allow the vegetable plants and seeds to grow upwards to maximise what fruit and vegetables you can grow in a small space. The varieties of climbing vegetables used in this video…
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Pennard Plants and Roots and Shoots celebrate Kipling's 150th anniversary

Pennard Plants and Roots and Shoots celebrate Kipling’s 150th anniversary

News
“This should really be the goodwill garden,” says Roots and Shoots Director Linda Philips of the Rudyard Kipling inspired garden the London charity is creating in the Grand Pavilion at Chelsea Flower Show with Pennard Plants. #Chelsea #Garden #Horticulture “It’s built on many thousands of pounds of goodwill and generosity and very little money, £5,740 to be exact. Not your…
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Top tips for better beetroot!

Top tips for better beetroot!

Tips and Advice
Want better beetroot in 2016? Read on for our top tips… Sow small numbers regularly to avoid gluts. Roots take roughly 90 days to mature from sowing. Choose a sunny, sheltered site for your crop. In a crop rotation, beetroot are usually grouped with other roots such as carrots and also onions. If using older varieties you will find that…
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Are you up to the Churchill Cup challenge?

Are you up to the Churchill Cup challenge?

News
Visitors to this year’s Blenheim Palace Flower Show are being invited to enter the ‘Churchill Cup’ hanging basket competition, when it returns to the Oxfordshire stately home this #summer Visitors to this year’s Blenheim Palace Flower Show are being invited to enter the ‘Churchill Cup’ hanging basket competition, when it returns to the Oxfordshire stately home this summer. Are you…
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Strawberries - Sweet Success

Strawberries – Sweet Success

Tips and Advice
With spring around the corner there’s no better time to make plans for a haul of sweet and succulent #strawberries. #BenedictVanheems recommends his favourite varieties and creates a strawberry bed It’s almost the start of another promising growing season. If there’s one way to bring on the excitement of summer plenty it’s to make preparations for that best-loved of home-grown…
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Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

Recipes
#Carrotcake Simple to make, yet worthy of a gold star, this carrot cake really is a winner in the afternoon tea department. Rich, moist and flavourful, it’s an all-round favourite. Serves 8 • 155ml (5½fl oz) sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing • 230g (8oz) self-raising flour • 1 tsp baking powder • 2 tsp ground cinnamon • 1 tsp…
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MyGardenSchool launches Christmas competition

MyGardenSchool launches Christmas competition

News
#MyGardenSchool, the world’s first virtual horticulture school, has announced a Christmas competition entitling winners to a free four-week virtual course. This virtual school recently launched Sally Nex’s Advanced Vegetable Gardening and Self Sufficiency, and other courses such as Edible Gardening Made Easy and Organic Gardening. The MyGardenSchool Mystery Christmas Flower competition runs each week for four weeks. Every Monday a…
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