You've been gardening from an early age. How did you get into it - was there a family influence?
My gardening journey started when I was 17 after applying for a job in a garden centre as a summer temp. At this point, although I loved nature and being outdoors, I had never done anything garden related and this was simply a job to make some money. During my first week the owner gave me some long straggly seed potatoes and said to take them home and plant them if I wanted, so I did. Little did I know that planting those seed potatoes would turn my thumbs green! I got the bug instantly. What else could I grow?
Over the following seven years me and my dad built a veg garden with 10 raised beds, a three-bay compost system and we acquired three freebie greenhouses too! I was growing everything and anything I could.
At 24 I moved to North Yorkshire with my partner Dean and, of course, I had to bring one of my greenhouses with me. I've grown so much in that greenhouse, it really is my happy place. After a few years living in North Yorkshire, I finally found my dream job, plant area manager at Whitegates Garden Nursery a family-owned garden nursery set in beautiful countryside and I get to look after all the plants. Heaven, right?
I live and breathe plants, all day every day. Me and my dad have competitions to see who can grow the biggest tomatoes and who harvests the first carrots each year. I grow all my plants from seed so every year I grow tomatoes, cucumbers and pumpkins for Mum, Dad and my granny too. It's such a great feeling growing plants for them all.
Do you do your gardening on an allotment or in the garden or both?
Bu hikaye Kitchen Garden dergisinin February 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Kitchen Garden dergisinin February 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
A FOOD FOR ALL SEASONS
Another Christmas has passed in a whirl of twinkling lights, naff jumpers and Brussels sprouts. No doubt we smug kitchen gardeners were patting ourselves on the back after another year of home-grown delights on the dinner table. Frost-sweetened parsnips dripping with butter, tender carrots and potatoes grown and roasted by our good selves. Not to mention the swede, turnips, cabbages and other winter treats. If you're reading this while Christmas memories are fresh, you might feel your waistline expanding just thinking about it. For some, it might even be too soon to talk about food full stop!
DIGGING THE DIRT THINGS THAT GO CLUNK IN THE LIGHT
John Holloway finds the mechanical and electrical tools on his allotment site somewhat 'challenging', shall we say. But has he found the perfect solution?
THE BIG (OR LITTLE) PARSNIP GROW-ALONG
Back in December we included a free packet of parsnip seeds with every issue and invited readers to join us in growing the longest root. Here are some top tips to get you started
DIGGING FOR DEVON!
Rhiannon Alcock thought gardening was definitely not for her. So who could have foreseen that one day she would go on to found a thriving community project growing food for food banks?
WINTER WONDERFUL
This month Anna Cairns Pettigrew has prepped a range of delicious and nutritious dishes for us all to try, with mustards, Savoy cabbage and 'Cavolo Nero' kale on the menu
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR COMPOST
Dr Anton Rosenfeld from Garden Organic shares some great ideas for ways to use your composted waste effectively
A wildlife pond is born
Jane Kelly finally got round to making her own pond in the hope that it would attract a variety of wildlife. And it did!
UNDER COVER
HARVEST WINTER SALADS - Winter salads, whether they have been growing outside, on a windowsill or under cover in the garden, will be starting to grow faster as the day length increases. Regular picking of the outer leaves helps to keep the plants healthy and producing for much longer.
HERB OF THE MONTH: SAGE ADVICE
Sage has been an important culinary and medicinal herb for centuries but it also comes in a range of leaf colours that makes it a real treat for the eyes (and nose) in borders and pots
CREATING A POTAGER GARDEN
Creating vegetable beds in patterns with dividing pathways can be an attractive and practical way to grow. Emma Rawlings offers some tips on making a potager
