The Kitchen Garden Magazine Podcast

Kitchen Garden magazine was recently voted Britain’s best gardening publication 2018 by the Garden Media Guild at gardening’s version of The Oscars, held annually at The Savoy Hotel in London. To mark the occasion roving reporter Hope Bolger of BBC Radio Lincolnshire visited KG HQ in Horncastle for a quick chat over the airwaves with editor Steve Ott to find out more about the publication, why the judges awarded KG this great accolade and why one of the magazine’s newest writers, fruit expert David Patch, was also judged to be Britain’s best by his peers.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kitchen Garden has picked up a top accolade from the Garden Media Guild Awards.The magazine was crowned Garden Publication of the Year at a lunch at The Savoy Hotel, London on November 29, while one of its contributors, David Patch, was named Practical Journalist of the Year at the event.Visit our YouTube channel to see our Christmas advert: https://www.youtube.com/kitchengardenmagazineMudketeers Club https://www.mudketeers.co.uk  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Rachel Atkins looks at a selection of gift ideas for green-fingered loved ones.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Apart from its infamous gaseous effects on the digestive system, the artichoke is no joke, says Rob Smith. It’s an attractive plant, easy to grow and produces tasty tubers - read by Rachel Atkins.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Greetings from the KG plot! There's lots to do this month as we all prepare for Autumn and Winter - Martin Fish has the details. In Question Time we cover; Blackfly on beans, the Froghopper, poor soil problems, a failing apple tree and grafted tomatoes. Presented by Rachel Atkins.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Drying is one of the oldest methods of preserving fresh produce, and for the gardener it offers convenience, reliability and speed. Written by Benedict Vanheems. Rachel Atkins tells us what’s involved.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Foraging expert Geoff Dann explains how by doing your homework you can gather wild mushrooms with safety. Read by Rachel Atkins.Fungi foraging can be daunting to a beginner. Britain is home to a vast variety (perhaps seven times as many species as there are plants) and some of them are deadly. In many cases, identification isn’t easy (even for experienced mushroomhunters).Going foraging with an expert doesn’t always help – some of my students, especially when the fungi are plentiful, are so overwhelmed that they are even more cautious at the end of the session than they were at the beginning. For most people, though, a few hours spent with an experienced person certainly speeds up the first steps.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

From cracked or slow-ripening fruits to no fruits at all, blight-battered foliage or an outbreak of whitefly – a lot can go awry with your tomatoes. But forewarned is forearmed, says Benedict Vanheems. Understand the threats and take action now to ensure trouble-free toms. Read by Rachel Atkins.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The KG team went to Easton Walled Gardens near Grantham in Lincolnshire to film their videos for the forthcoming August issue. Join them as they take a stroll around the lovely fruit and veg garden and chat about the delights that they found there, such as burgeoning crops including potatoes, beans and salads and some of the many sweet peas that the gardens are famous for.Why not visit for yourself? For more info see www.visiteaston.co.uk  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How is it that an allotment can be kept so neat and tidy and packed with bountiful crops when its owner is never seen? Emma Rawlings narrates the story of the mystery of Plot 4B.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As a special treat this month, we bring you the complete audio version of the April 2017 issue. Subscribers to our digital edition get the complete audio every month. For some great subscription offers, take a look here: classicmagazines.co.uk/kg264  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In episode 33, Steve, Emma and Tony take a look at adding colour to your garden with dahlias, growing your own tea, salad varieties and asparagus. They discuss reducing the use of plastic on the plot, and introduce the potato bag challenge – all this and more is available in the April 2018 issue, on sale now. For some great subscription offers, take a look here: https://www.classicmagazines.co.uk/kg264  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The choice of salad for the home gardener to grow is enormous and makes supermarket bags of leaves seem boring. Sue Stickland shares some of her favourites (read by Rachel Atkins).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I always remember my granddad growing tomatoes in his old greenhouse when I was a child. The thought reminds me of summer with hours spent in the warm sun, picking the ripe fruit, and it brings a huge smile to my face even now.I don’t have many gardening friends who don’t grow at least one type of tomato, be it in a hanging basket at the front of the house, or as a cordon in the greenhouse. There is certainly a type of tomato for every situation and for every taste.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Happy new year! Welcome to a wonderful new year of growing your own fruit and veg. What could be more exciting than the prospect of a new season ahead and all those seed packets to open and sow, with bumper crops to follow later in 2018. In this packed issue we have plenty of food for thought and top advice from our team of experts to get your gardening year off to the best possible start.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's almost Christmas, and we can't talk about festive related vegetables without mentioning the good old sprout. Heritage veg enthusiast Rob Smith loves them and highlights some of his favourite old varieties - read by Rachel Atkins.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It’s hard to believe that we are about to say goodbye to another gardening season. I hope yours has been as trouble free, enjoyable and productive as ours on the KG plot. But while it is sad to see the garden preparing for its winter hibernation, the prospect of a new gardening year ahead is so exciting.With this in mind we have some great features in this issue for you, including one for those of you thinking about giving over some space to a brand new vegetable garden.We can also announce the results of our two big competitions for 2017, the Passionate Plotter and Massive Marrow competitions.Both received a great response from you this year and I hope you enjoy reading about our prize-winning plots and seeing the skill of fellow readers who did battle with their superb squashes! We hope you will be inspired to enter our competitions next year, details of which will be announced early in 2018.Merry Christmas to all our listeners and readers.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out informatio

Pumpkins and winter squash have been around in one form or another for thousands of years, be it the stereotypical orange pumpkin that is carved at Halloween, or the small oblong squash which tastes just like a sweet potato. So, when is a pumpkin a winter squash? Or is it a gourd and where do courgettes fit in? The world of cucurbita (the family that all of the above belong to), can be a minefield. Therefore, I’ve tried to simplify which belongs to what and why.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Home-grown garlic tastes delicious and with many different varieties to grow it means you can experience a wider taste range than you would get with supermarket garlic. Garlic has been grown for centuries and has long been known for its healing powers. In Ancient Egypt garlic was renowned for its health-promoting properties and this has only strengthened as science has proved a lot of these claims. Growing your own may seem unnecessary when you can buy bulbs very cheaply in the supermarkets but home grown has a far superior taste.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This time of year is one of flux for the kitchen gardener, as summer advances and gaps begin to appear where crops once stood. It’s hard to admit it, but the best of the growing season is past us and… whisper it… the cooler months of autumn and winter aren’t far off.But this podcast isn’t about writing off the summer and resigning yourself to the cold to come, far from it! It’s about hope and sowing the seeds of success – quite literally – for next year. And green manures are how you’re going to do it!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.