Kitchen Garden November 2025

A year well-grown As autumn settles in, the pace on the plot slows but the satisfaction grows. There’s something deeply rewarding about this stage of the year – when the harvests are gathered, the jars are cooling, and we finally have time to look back at what worked and what didn’t. This month’s issue is full of ways to make the most of that pause. Martin Fish explains how to plant new soft fruit bushes for next summer’s harvest, while Rob Smith turns his attention to how to enjoy apples year-round, David Patch explains hazels, and Ben Vanheems helps you plan next year’s sowing list with confidence. If you’re still harvesting, don’t miss our feature on pickling and fermenting your gluts – it’s a brilliant way to capture the flavours…

GREEN COVER Sow field beans into empty beds as a green manure to protect the soil. These relatives of broad beans are very winter hardy and, if left to produce pods in the spring, taste delicious too KEEP FRESH Keep ventilating undercover spaces as the weather allows, to reduce the risk of mildews and moulds. Remember to close them up again before temperatures fall at dusk TUCK IN Bring potted citrus, peaches, nectarines and figs under cover in a polytunnel or unheated greenhouse, or into a sheltered spot for the winter CLEAR AWAY Empty old containers of compost, and store the containers until needed next year. The spent compost makes an excellent mulch on beds, or use it to make a new veg bed for the spring The weather may…

Under cover spaces such as polytunnels and unheated greenhouses protect plants from the extremes of winter weather, such as driving rain, hail and high winds, but they still get very cold inside. When the temperatures are below freezing outside, plants can freeze inside too. A few years ago, during a very cold snap, the air temperature inside my polytunnel was -12°C! Add extra insulation to greenhouses by fixing sheets of bubblewrap to the glass. There are special clips available from greenhouse suppliers that will secure it to the frame, or use bulldog clips. This will help to raise the temperature inside by a few degrees. It’s usually impractical to fix extra insulation to polytunnel walls, so instead I use 30gsm horticultural fleece spread over more tender plants, such as Florence…

SIX GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS Among a full weekend of autumnal family fun at the Malvern Autumn Show was the fiercely competitive CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championship, where six Guinness World Records were broken. This included longest radish and heaviest celeriac, found after a tense day of weighing and measuring, with 132 growers battling it out for medals. Some growers opted to carry their colossal vegetables in on foot, while supersized squashes that were too huge to handle were brought in using a telehandler. By the end of the day, six Guinness World Records were awarded, including: Tallest luffa plant 11.672m, Graham Barratt Tallest runner bean plant 8.006m, Peter Glazebrook Longest radish 7.848m, Joe Atherton Longest aubergine 49cm, Peter Glazebrook Longest sweet pepper 26.7cm, Kevin and Gareth Fortey Heaviest celeriac…

BISHOP’S CROWN SUCCESS I thought I’d send a photo of the first harvest of Bishop’s Crown chillies from this year’s KG free seeds. They’re very prolific! I’ve still got lots of green ones, so I’ve hung an apple among the branches to ripen them. Luckily, I have some seeds left and will sow them again next year. Fantastic results! Lindy Robertson * STAR * LETTER WINS 25 VOUCHER Ed: A brilliant haul, Lindy. An apple releases ethylene, which can help colour up green chillies off the plant – keep them somewhere warm and bright (out of direct sun) and check daily. FUNNIEST VEG WINNER I’m a huge fan of Kitchen Garden and it’s been invaluable as a new gardener. I started tomatoes in my tiny courtyard in spring, which quickly escalated…

Get in touch by post, email or via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/kitchengardenmag LITTLE APPLES, BIG MYSTERY Q. Does the team have any ideas why my apples are so small this year? Keith Jack, Liverpool * STAR * QUESTION WINS £25 VOUCHER A. A few factors can lead to undersized apples, even on otherwise healthy trees. This year’s cool, wet spring and poor pollination conditions affected many fruit crops – fewer fertilised seeds mean smaller fruit. If the tree set a heavy crop early on, it may also have struggled to size them up, particularly if thinning wasn’t done in June. Lack of water during key swelling periods in July and August can compound the problem, especially for espalier-trained trees, which have limited root space. To encourage better fruit size next…