The latest issue of KG sees a festive, fruitful, flavoursome and fun finale to the annual growing calendar.
So it’s the end of another gardening season. I do hope that yours was all you wanted it to be and that you’ve harvested some good crops and managed to fill your freezer with lovely home-grown goodies, writes KG editor Steve Ott.
Of course the end of one season merely marks the beginning of the next and this issue is filled with essential preparations for next year, growing guides and news including our pick of the best new seed varieties for 2020 – all to make your next sowings and plantings even more fruitful.
Growing your own produce is about many things, but mostly about the flavour. So it is great to be able to bring you a report on a unique show, entirely judged on flavour rather than appearance, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year with a stonking 494 entries! Food for thought for the many shows around the country to include some ‘just for the flavour’ classes of their own, perhaps?
Bee ready to help our pollinators
As the days get shorter and colder, our pollinating friends such as bees and bugs will be aiming to hide away from the worst of the winter. Find out how you can help them during the chilly months with help from Julie Moore. Perhaps you could build or buy a ‘bug hotel’ or a home for bees to take shelter in? You’ll find plenty of handy tips and suggestions in the December issue of Kitchen Garden.
Growing for flavour
We all aim to grow fruit and vegetables for their flavour, rather than for their looks! Find out about an organisation that takes its local produce show a step further by making ‘taste’ the key to the success of the entries. There at its inception, show judge and exhibitor Terry Marshall is once again at the West Yorkshire Organic Group’s annual show, now in its 30th year. Find out more inside!
Festive recipes for the family
Doesn’t this winter squash pastry parcel look absolutely delicious? KG‘s resident chef, Anna Cairns Pettigrew, shows you how to get the most out of a range of seasonal vegetables. This main course dish, which is ideal for serving to vegetarians instead of the festive bird of choice, is packed with winter squash, chickpeas, tomatoes and Indian spices.
The December issue of Kitchen Garden also features a range of Christmas gifts and, continuing the Christmassy theme, a fun quiz with a gardening theme. And, of course, all your favourite columnists, latest news, your letters and much, much more!
