OUR PLOTTEER OF THE MONTH

Last year we officially launched a competition to find 12 readers and their plots that would feature in Kitchen Garden magazine this year. Here we feature another of our talented winners

- LYDIA DYSON

LYDIA DYSON OF EAST LEAKE, LEICESTERSHIRE

Lydia’s garden is proof you don’t need a lot of space to grow veg; just clever planting and use of vertical spaces.

Do you have an allotment or a garden veg patch and how long have you been growing?

I have been growing in a raised bed and containers in my garden since the beginning of March 2020, so about 18 months.

Do you share your plot with other people?

I’m the main gardener in our house, but my two-year-old daughter also likes to ‘help’. She’s helped with planting her own seeds, watering and watching them grow. As well as helping harvest (and eat straight away) the strawberries, tomatoes and cucumbers growing in the garden!

Why did you start growing your own produce?

It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and my fiancé Rob bought me and our daughter some seeds and garden equipment for Christmas so that we could start growing together this year. Lockdown then spurred my desire to be more self-sufficient and to grow my own organic veg. At the beginning of lockdown, we decided to transform the entire garden. We returfed, put in new plants, a herb garden and extended the patio. Rob also built me a 3m x 0.8m raised bed especially for growing veg in!

Your favourite gardening celeb is going to film your plot. Given a blank cheque, what would you do on your patch before he/she arrived?

I’m very happy with my little patio garden, but I would love the addition of a greenhouse. I’ve seen some fantastic wall/lean-to greenhouses that would look lovely next to my raised bed.

Did you learn anything new last year from tending your plot that you hadn’t known before?