The June issue of Britain’s best grow-at-home magazine is out now. If you can’t go out, subscribe and read online, or get it delivered!
This is officially a coronavirus-free zone, writes KG editor Steve Ott (pictured below). We can’t claim that reading KG or even growing your own veg makes you immune from the virus, but we can promise not to talk about it (much)!
Instead we will focus on the fact that the June issue marks the long-awaited start of summer and the hope that your veg plot or allotment is proving to be a haven away from the worries of the world. To help the feeling along we turn the spotlight on lots of like-minded gardeners who have found just how gardening, and growing your own in particular, can help keep us all happy and healthy.
This month for example, we welcome Annabelle Padwick, also known as blogger ‘Life at No.27’ to the team. Annabelle is a great example of how gardening can help boost your well-being and self-esteem and will be writing on this topic for us in her fascinating monthly features. We also have news of a great project instigated by young plotters in Derby, and visit some more KG readers’ plots.
If it is pure growing advice you’re after, you won’t be disappointed this month. KG regulars David Patch and Rob Smith bring you some great advice on growing mangetout peas and passion fruit while I turn the spotlight on chard and turnips, two vastly underrated crops that deserve a place on any plot.
Finally, a reminder to visit our social media pages and website for all the up-to-the-minute news and views on veg gardening. You’ll find the KG team’s video diaries on our YouTube channel; the diaries are being updated regularly and we’d just love to chat and answer your questions via the comments section. Stay well.
The low-carbon garden
Gardeners are green-minded folk, but even our seemingly innocuous pastime has its impacts. With more of us looking to be planet-friendly and lower our carbon footprints, Benedict Vanheems asks: how can kitchen gardening play its part?
Over the past year, climate change – perhaps more appropriately termed the ‘climate crisis’ in thewake of its urgency – has been hitting the headlines. Recent wildfires in Australia and floods closer to home bring the shocking reality of the situation to life. No longer is it a distant threat; the climate is changing now, with weather turning ever more extreme and global temperatures already up a full degree Celsius over the past century. The rate of change is gathering pace too.
At first glance gardening isn’t a huge contributor, but every aspect of our life contributes to our carbon footprint: from what we wear, to how we travel, the way we heat our homes and, yes, how we garden. The good news is gardens can be a powerful force for good, helping to chip away at our impact and shining a light on the positive ways we can push back at this very grave threat.
This article concentrates on ways to lower the carbon footprint of how we garden, but many of the principles will also help to give wildlife a helping hand, while making our neighbourhoods happier, healthier places to be.
Lots more in store
There’s lots more in your Kitchen Garden magazine for June, and despite our team members working from home, we are striving to bring you the best content so you can enjoy spending time at home too, and growing your own produce. Plus no copy of Kitchen Garden would be complete without Anna Cairns Pettigrew’s latest delicious recipes using home-grown produce. For those who are stuck at home – and, let’s face it, that’s most of us – it provides a great opportunity to get creative in the kitchen.
So make sure you get your copy of Kitchen Garden, and by subscribing you’ll get a great bonus of FREE seed packets!
Stay home, stay safe, and make the garden a great focus for spending life under lockdown. Gardening is great for mental and physical health, and at the end you’ll reap the rewards in plant form!
