‘Why do the carrots have green leaves coming out of them, mummy?’ asked my six-year-old son, Tommy. I had purchased some beautifully fresh carrots from a local farm food shop earlier that day and they still had their little green foliage hats on. The thought that carrots were once living happily in the soil somewhere was a complete shock to my son, and it was in that moment that I realised my children didn’t really know where their fruit and vegetables come from.
Our small garden had played host to an array of beautiful flowers and a couple of carefully pruned trees, but I had never really given much thought to the idea of growing anything edible. In early 2020, as we descended into the first national lockdown, I decided now was as good a time as any to give growing our own food a go.
SHEER JOY
As my son and I began to grow these new, alien plants in our once flower exclusive garden, we both began to find a new passion for gardening. Any experienced allotment gardener will tell of the sheer joy of being able to grow and then eat your own produce; it’s an enormously satisfying experience and quickly becomes addictive. It also made me very aware of the fact that even I wasn’t sure of exactly how all our vegetables were grown. That quickly became apparent when I found myself muddling up the parsnip and spinach seedlings and wondering why the spinach leaves tasted so grainy and bitter!
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SEPTEMBER SPECIALS
This month, with sweetcorn, figs and blackberries on the menu, Anna Cairns Pettigrew is not only serving up something sweet and something savoury, but all things scrumptious
FLAVOURSOME FRUIT AUTUMN RASPBERRIES
September - is it late summer or the start of autumn? David Patch ponders the question and says whatever the season, it's time to harvest autumn raspberries
SOW GREEN THIS AUTUMN
Covering the soil with a green manure in winter offers many benefits and this is a good time to sow hardy types, says KG editor Steve Ott
A HISTORICAL HAVEN OF FRUIT AND FLOWERS
KG's Martin Fish takes time out from his own plot to visit a walled garden in Lincolnshire which has been home to the same family for more than 400 years
RESTORING THE BALANCE
The phrase regenerative gardening is often heard in gardening circles, but what is it? Can it help you to grow better veg? Ecologist Becky Searle thinks so, and tells us why
WASTE NOT, WANT NOT
Garden Organic's Anton Rosenfeld shares his expertise on using compost made from green bin collections with handy tips on getting the right consistency and quality
Celebrating Organic September!
In this special section we bring you four great features aimed at improving your crops and allowing nature to thrive
SEEING RED
Do your tomatoes have a habit of remaining stubbornly green? Or perhaps you're lucky to enjoy lots of lovely fruits - just all at once. Either way, Benedict Vanheems is here with some top tips to ripen and process the nation's favourite summer staple
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Rob Smith is talking broccoli this month with a review of the different types available and suggestions for some exciting new varieties to try
A NEW kitchen garden
Martin Fish is getting down to plenty of picking and planting on the garden veg plot, while Jill is rustling up something pepper-licking good!