Innehållsförteckning för September 2025 från Kitchen Garden

Summer jamming Well, the mists may not have started yet, but the season of mellow fruitfulness is certainly upon us. Lunch at the moment is usually a heaped bowl of French beans with salty, chopped anchovies run through them, and I’m picking around 2kg of blackberries a day from the unkempt edges of my garden, and preserving them as fast as I can. Luckily, bramble jelly is a favourite in our house – and I’ve been testing jelly strainers (see page 63) – but so too is fruit in light syrup, which is stirred through yoghurt or porridge, used in fools and baking – or eaten straight from the jar with clotted cream… Preserving seasonal gluts is as old as time, and there’s something very satisfying about sitting back at…

WOOLLY THINKING Plastic pots are out – wool is in! Wool Pots are a zero-waste, sustainable alternative made from British wool. Created by friends Graham Hull and Tom Lind, the idea came after a farmer friend highlighted the high cost and difficulty of disposing of raw fleece. At the same time, a report revealed that around 500 million plastic plant pots are dumped in UK landfills every year. Wool Pots are a win-win: they’re better for the planet, and for your plants. The woven wool allows more oxygen to reach the roots, supporting stronger growth. It retains water well – plants need around 20–30% less watering – and when you plant out, there’s no root disturbance. You simply pop the whole pot in the ground and it’ll break down naturally…

A row of young vertical cordons dividing the garden from the veg plot in Martin’s garden For me, there is nothing nicer than picking fresh fruit from the garden, but as gardens tend to get smaller finding space for fruit trees can be a problem. The answer? Grow trained trees that take up much less space! They can be free-standing or grown against fences and walls, and they also look decorative. Most fruit trees respond well to being trained into various shapes and designs. Apples and pears tend to be grown mainly as cordons, espaliers and step-overs, although they also make good fans. Stone fruits, such as plums, cherries, peaches and apricots, are mainly grown in a fan shape against a wall or fence. This method doesn’t require as much…

Organic growing is a system that works with natural processes. It’s a holistic approach where the soil, biodiversity and a healthy growing environment are integral to growing practices. From a legal perspective, any produce sold with an ‘organic’ label must be regularly monitored by an organic certification body, such as the Soil Association or Organic Farmers and Growers. While we may not follow this official route in our own gardens, our Garden Organic Principles of Organic Gardening can still be extremely useful if you’d like to grow organically. These cover a wide range of everyday gardening practices, including soil care and pest management. We understand that acceptable practices are not always black and white, so in our Principles, we’ve developed a traffic light system to help guide you. Deep green…

For many kitchen gardeners, herbs are among the most rewarding plants to grow. They’re compact, quick to establish, and often thrive with very little fuss. But beyond their culinary uses, many herbs also offer gentle health benefits, something more people are discovering. Whether it’s a sprig of peppermint (Mentha piperita) in hot water to ease digestion,a rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) salt to liven up roast potatoes, ora lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) tea to calm the nerves, herbs have long been part of everyday wellbeing, and the best part? Many of these useful plants are already growing in our gardens. Take rosemary, for example. Most gardeners know it as a hardy evergreen that pairs beautifully with lamb or potatoes. But it has also been traditionally used to improve circulation and concentration. A…

Kitchen Garden magazine BEST BUY 2025 KITCHENCRAFT HOME MADE PRESERVE STRAINING KIT A chunky, well-constructed bit of kit, this was easy to assemble. The big plus point of this strainer is that the legs are adjustable, so it will fit a wide variety of containers. The stand isn’t tall, so it will easily sit on a worksurface under wall units while it’s working. The mesh bag was very wide and well-supported by metal eyes. The horizontal bottom of the bag meant the weight of the pulp was spread out, and this was the slowest to drip through. That said, I tend to do mine overnight, and this would be perfect for that. The mesh bag discoloured and didn’t come clean, but nor did my muslin – purely a cosmetic issue.…

Back in the Victorian era, almost every private estate would have at least one heated vinery specifically for the culture of grapes – it was considered a sign of social prestige for both the landed gentry and the newly-rich industrialists to have picture perfect bunches of home-grown grapes for the table. The methods their head gardeners developed through trial and error, generally called ‘rod and spur’ pruning, still hold true to this day, even if most of us will be growing grapes in a polytunnel or small greenhouse rather than a large, elaborately glazed structure in an imposing walled garden. Traditionally, vines were planted vertically about 1.2m apart, just in front of the brick wall at the back of a lean-to glasshouse. They would then be trained up and over…

GATHER UP Tender potted plants, such as outside chillies, aubergines and tomatoes, as well as scented pelargoniums can all be put under cover to extend their cropping season LIFT CARROTS Rub off any lumps of mud, twist off the foliage, and leave somewhere airy to dry for a while. Once dry, store in cardboard boxes or thick paper sacks in a cool, dark, frost and rodent-free space START ONIONS Plant autumn onion sets 2cm deep using a dibber, 10cm apart, in rows 30cm apart. After watering, feed with a liquid feed or a mulch of compost. Protect against birds HARVEST MELONS For many varieties, you can tell when they are ripe by the gorgeous melon fragrance. Another way to check is to tap the skin–it should sound hollow. Make the…

When it comes to one of the veggies (technically a fruit) thatI love to grow for preserving, tomatoes are at the top of my list! There are so many different types of tomatoes, with different flavours and uses, but it wasn’t always that way.Tomatoes can be traced back to the high valleys of the Andes, where wild relatives still sprawl among volcanic rocks. Indigenous farmers carried seeds north to Mexico and developed larger, more flavoursome fruit. Spanish ships then ferried the seeds to Europe early in the 16th century. Southern Mediterranean cooks soon embraced this new fruit. But in Britain the plant’s nightshade-shaped leaves looked rather too close to the deadly belladonna for comfort, and for two centuries the clusters of red and gold spheres grew mainly as exotic curiosities…

We are all well-acquainted with the joys of growing our own food, from fresh, crispy carrots to sunripened tomatoes fresh from the vine. But nowadays, another type of food is becoming increasingly popular to grow because it is easy to cultivate, quick, and not always great in supermarkets. I am, of course, talking about mushrooms. Foraging for mushrooms has been part of many cultures since the beginning of time, with the knowledge of mushroom identification being passed down through the generations. In Slavic countries such as Ukraine, they hold significant cultural importance, with families and friends venturing into the woods to harvest mushrooms together and sharing their finds. Here in the UK, we are much less receptive to the idea of foraging for food. I still come up against resistance…

But let’s be honest – sometimes the pigeons aren’t the only ones who are amused. We asked you to send in your scarecrow creations, and you didn’t disappoint… GUARDIANS OF THE GARDEN A BRIEF HISTORY Ancient origins: The idea of using figures to scare off birds dates back thousands of years. Ancient Egyptian farmers placed nets and human-like figures in wheat fields to deter flocks along the Nile. Greece and Rome: Greek farmers carved wooden statues of Priapus (the god of fertility, with… exaggerated features!) to frighten birds. Roman vineyards used similar figures, combining scare tactics with superstition. Japan’s kakashi: Japanese rice farmers created scarecrows called kakashi, often dressed in raincoats and hats, sometimes holding fake weapons. Some were burned in ritual ceremonies to protect the crops. Medieval Europe: Poor…

(AGM is the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Under RHS garden trials these varieties performed particularly well) SAVE OVER £13 SAVE* ON KINGS SEEDS! 20% OFF SPINACH AND VIOLA SEEDS Kings Seeds are offering KG readers the exclusive chance to save 20% on spinach and viola seeds. To take advantage of this offer, simply visit kingsseeds.com/kitchen-garden and enter the code: KGSEP25. Offer expires September 25, 2025 Garlic Collection Offer 2025 7 varieties for just £26.75 Item Code: 231628 GARLIC COLLECTION This collection of garlic bulbs is great value for money, and takes the hassle out of choosing which variety to grow. Mixture of softneck and hardneck types. Seven fantastic varieties are included in this collection: 1 x Carcassonne (hardneck) 1 x Rhapsody (softneck) 1 x Caulk (hardneck) 1 x Solent (softneck)…

Get in touch by post, email or via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/kitchengardenmag AUBERGINE ANXIETIES Q. Every year I grow quite a few aubergines. When they are growing strongly, some of the plants start to lose some leaves. It happens every year to about half the plants. It doesn’t seem to affect the crop and they buck up again very quickly, but then it may happen again. I find it very perplexing as all the plants are treated the same. It happens to soil-grown and pot-grown plants equally. I would love to know what you think. Cortina Grant, Hampshire A. Leaf drop on aubergines is common and is usually due to natural ageing, water stress or inconsistent feeding – especially in pots. Older, lower leaves often yellow and fall as plants…

PHILIPPA ELLIS COUNTY DURHAM Philippa is passionate about growing her own food and has transformed her council allotment into a prize-winning plot. With raised beds, recycled materials and clever companion planting, she grows everything from carrots and chillies to asparagus and potatoes – and even finds space for a wildlife pond and hedgehog rescue scheme. Do you tend your plot on your own? I tend the plot myself, though my husband lends a hand with the heavier jobs when needed. Do you have an allotment or a veg garden at home? I have a council allotment, 90 feet long by 30 feet wide, which costs £75 per year. I’ve been growing veg for seven years. Do you grow in containers? Yes – I grow carrots in a container that’s 1ft…

You moved to your home in East Ayrshire in 2019. Had you and your husband Peter had much gardening experience before that? We had no gardening experience before moving to our new home and we had a full blank canvas to get started with. We were eager to live more sustainably and use this space as best we could, so Peter and I took a permaculture design course (PDC PRO) with Oregon State University to guide us. It just gave us that extra boost of confidence and knowledge to design our space, grow food for the family and care for the land naturally and effectively. You started by developing a food forest garden. What plants are you growing there? Our food forest was the first area we developed, designed to…

ASPARAGUS Asparagus beds are a long-term investment, but a little end-of-season care helps ensure fat, juicy spears come spring. Whether your bed is newly planted or decades old, now’s the time to look after the ferns and prepare the soil for winter. WHAT TO DO NOW ■ Let ferns feed the crown Don’t cut anything yet! The tall, feathery growth is busy storing energy for next year’s spears. Wait until all the foliage has turned yellow or brown - usually by late autumn - before cutting it down to ground level. ■ Cut back and clear up Once the fronds have died back fully, cut them cleanly and remove them from the bed. This helps prevent overwintering diseases like rust or fungal infections. ■ Weed carefully The shallow crowns can…

KILNER JAM THERMOMETER AND LID LIFTER For years, I used an old sugar thermometer before moving to a digital version, but both of these put my hands at risk of hightemperature burns. Spotting this clip-on Kilner thermometer, I had to give it a go. It came with no instructions – after all, how hard can it be to use?– but actually, the image on the packaging showed the clips sitting inside the pan. The probe slides into a clip that is supposed to hold the dial at an easytoread level just above the pan lip, but it kept sliding down. Frustrated, a quick look at the Kilner website showed that the clips actually sit on the outside of the pan. Problem solved! The angle of the probe means the jam…

PLUM GALETTE Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 25 minutes + chilling time | Cook time: 35-45 minutes September is plum season at its best – hedgerows and gardens bursting with juicy fruit. This rustic galette is a lovely way to let them shine, with a crisp, buttery pastry and gently spiced fruit. Perfect warm with a dollop of crème fraîche or yoghurt INGREDIENTS For the pastry 200g (7oz) plain flour 1 tbsp caster sugar ½ tsp salt 115g (4oz) cold unsalted butter, cubed 3-4 tbsp cold water For the filling 500g (18oz) ripe plums, halved, stoned and sliced 2 tbsp soft brown sugar 1 tbsp cornflour ½ tsp ground cinnamon Zest of ½ lemon To finish 1 tbsp milk or plant milk (for brushing) 1 tsp demerara sugar (optional) METHOD…