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
DIGGING THE DIRT NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Every allotment site needs its own superhero and, luckily for John Holloway and his fellow allotmenteers, Sailor Steve came to the rescue
MAKE ROOM FOR CABBAGE
Our humble cabbage is a powerhouse of goodness and we could all benefit from eating more of it. KG deputy editor Emma Rawlings offers tips on growing this popular brassica
SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THESE
Instagrammer Olga Grieves is passionate about growing sweet peas. This month she shares her favourite varieties and explains how to create a stunning display
HERB OF THE MONTH MINT
With its strong flavour, distinctive aroma and its versatility, mint has to be one of the best herbs to have outside your back door, ready for you to pick from spring through to autumn
PRODUCTIVE PLOT
Last summer we launched a competition to find our Top Plotters, with the top three winning some great prizes and the chance to be featured in Kitchen Garden magazine this year. Here we meet our third-placed winner
SUPER SOUASHES
Every garden should make space for squashes but with so many to choose from and so many ways to grow them, where to begin? Benedict Vanheems gets us started
GET PLANNING!
As much as we love to get going straightaway on our veg patch or allotment it's always good to start with a plan, as Becky Searle explains
Bio-stimulant or plant food: What's the difference?
Angharad James, product manager at Maxicrop, explains the difference between a bio- stimulant and plant fertiliser, and discusses which to choose when for a thriving garden
MEET THE BLOGGER MY COTTAGE GARDEN
Inspired by her grandfather, Instagrammer Sarah Pursey from Northamptonshire shares her passion for growing veg and flowers in her long back garden, a throwback to the 1930s
POTTY ABOUT STRAWBERRIES
This month David Patch turns his attention to growing succulent strawberries in pots, offering useful practical tips and recommendations for some choice varieties
