Blog Archives Page 7 of 8 - Kitchen Garden Magazine

Hibiscus and honey poached plums

11th July 2016 Steve Ott Blog, Recipes

Sweet plums have a delicate floral flavour which is enhanced by gentle cooking. Lucy Burton shares her recipe for hibiscus poached fruits July brings with it a sweet abundance of stone-fruits. The crates of glossy cherries, apricots, peaches and plums adorning our corner-shops herald from Italy, Spain and the UK alike, and are perfect for summery puddings. Perfectly ripe fruits…

Elderflower drizzle cake

13th June 2016 Steve Ott Blog, Recipes

Wild elderflower has a short season, but is ripe for the picking in June. Lucy Burton shares her recipe for a summery drizzle cake For eleven months of the year, elder trees languish quietly and inconspicuously in our hedgerows, gardens, woodlands and wastelands. But June brings with it elderflower season and, quite suddenly, these sweet scented white flowers bloom in…

Peach and Rose Lemonade

29th May 2016 Steve Ott Blog, Recipes

Homemade lemonade is a world away from store bought fizzy pop. Lucy Burton adds peach and rose for a delicious and tempting virgin fizz Few things signal the dizzy, balmy height of British summer better than rosy ripe peaches. June brings with it an abundance of seasonal produce, as stoned fruits and summer berries begin to ripen. The gardens, hedgerows…

From the Forum: Garlic confusion?

24th May 2016 Steve Ott Blog

The Kitchen Garden Forum is a fun, thriving community of people like you. Each week we highlight a thread for further discussion. Forum user dan3008 asks: HiI’ve over wintered my first “winter” garlic this year (October onwards), and the stem now seems to be splitting? 3 individual stems, which were held together by a papery leaf, which fell off over…

KG team get competitive

10th May 2016 Steve Ott Blog

The Kitchen Garden editorial team (The Three Mudketeers) are competing among themselves to grow the largest tomato and longest cucumber Last year the Kitchen Garden editorial team headed by editor Steve Ott, deputy editor Emma Rawlings and technical writer Tony Flanagan (aka The Three Mudketeers) competed to grow the largest tomato. Steve won with his whopping fruit and the seed…

Growing broad beans under cover

6th May 2016 Tony Flanagan Blog

If you have a greenhouse or polytunnel you can guarantee yourself a very early crop of broad beans in May Not only are broad beans delicious if picked young, they are easy to grow too. I usually grow a crop outside but have given up sowing in autumn as the wind just plays havoc with them as I have a…

Pollinating indoor strawberries

25th April 2016 Tony Flanagan Blog, Tips and Advice

If you’ve been growing strawberries under cover, don’t forget you can help with their pollination It’s April and the strawberries in my polytunnel are starting to flower, which is great! However, although strawberries are self-fertile (which means they are self-pollinating) they may need a little help if you’re growing them under cover. Outside strawberry flowers will have the wind and…

Pickled Rainbow Chard

18th April 2016 Steve Ott Blog, Recipes

Magical chard stems have just as much flavour as the leaves. Lucy Burton shares her recipe for pickled rainbow stems Luscious, sturdy chard is a staple of many vegetable patches. Adaptable to a range of soil acidities and resilient to winters’ frost, chard flourishes throughout the year, and does not have a set season of bloom. Instead, most plants yield…

Sowing Carrots

15th April 2016 Tony Flanagan Blog, Tips and Advice

Here are a few tips you might find useful for sowing carrots The main sowing period is March through to June, though I have sown in July too with good results Don’t sow in soil that has been freshly manured or your carrots will fork If sowing in early spring, warm the ground up a little by covering it with…

Carolina Reaper’: too hot to handle?

15th April 2016 Tony Flanagan Blog, Tips and Advice

So why grow the world’s hottest chilli? Well, a bit like climbing Mount Everest, ‘cos it’s there! Well here’s a chilli that needs some careful handling…literally. The ‘Carolina Reaper’ is the hottest chilli in the world. Chillies are one of my favourite plants so I thought – more out of curiosity than anything else – I’d give this one a…

The Millipede: Friend or Foe?

15th April 2016 Tony Flanagan Blog, Tips and Advice

Here’s a little creature you’re bound to come across as you work the soil, so what should you do when you find one? You will often find these little beauties in the soil. They are thinnish (compared to grubs), brown, segmented and when you pick them up they will curl themselves up. Oh yes, and they have lots of pairs…

From the Forum… Does weedkiller really kill twitch?

13th April 2016 Steve Ott Blog

The Kitchen Garden Forum is a fun, thriving community of people like you. Each week we highlight a thread for further discussion. Forum member Barry asks: I am very interested in your experiences regarding weedkiller.As part of the instructions for Roundup, it states that some stubborn weeds may require more than one application of weedkiller. Now, what does that exactly…

What’s in a hoe?

13th April 2016 Tony Flanagan Blog, Tips and Advice

In addition to Dutch hoes, there are plenty of other types on the market but which one is best for you? SpeedhoePersonally, I think it’s hard to beat a Dutch hoe for weeding, especially between rows. A lot depends on what you’re growing, the space you have and whether on the level or in a raised bed. In our April…

Why chives?

12th April 2016 Tony Flanagan Blog, Tips and Advice

Chives are not only great in the kitchen but they’re a truly beautiful herb when left to flower I do get impatient waiting for spring onions to mature so I tend to use chives in salads instead. They’re easy to cultivate and, as a perennial herb, they’re there for cutting year on year. If you have a herb patch, the…