The Kitchen Gardener: Grow Your Own Fruit and Veg

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Let’s dispel some of these initial faults, and explain how we can maximise our yields, and our happiness. Tasks will be fun, varied, sociable and informative and will always be tailored to your ability or capacity. We're going to have herbs and leafy greens and root crops and fruiting crops all planted together in one bed so that we can harvest them and enjoy them fresh. It’s cold, Christmas is over, and although the days are getting lighter bit by bit, the long days of summer still feel a long way off.

I put in seeds for all the early spring vegetables: lettuces in abundance, spinach, French arugula, microgreens galore, kale, Swiss chard, pac choi, radishes, peas. We've squeezed kitchen gardens into the thin strip of space between driveways and fences, so believe me when I say you do not have to get rid of all your grass to have a kitchen garden.And finally, to add a splash of colour – and to help with pest control – you can grow bedding plants such as nasturtiums or marigolds around the edges of your kitchen garden. The Kitchen Garden is home to an array of heritage and modern cultivars, plus we are trialling new crops. It’s worth noting that sweet potatoes thrive in warm, humid conditions, and they can either be grown inside, such as in a greenhouse, or outside in a sunny yet sheltered position.

Unusual vegetables used by the hotel kitchen are beautifully laid out, and there are herb gardens, polytunnels full of micro leaves and an extensive orchard of heritage fruit.

By examining the botany of plants, we can understand behaviours and adaptations, giving growers the tools to delve further into our favourite foods. This book ideal for those like me who want to try and grow things the correct way and the type of pests and disease's to look out for. The garden has established fruit beds including gooseberries (harvested usually in July), two varieties of rhubarb Early Timperley and Victoria which allow us to extend the season from May sometimes until September. Since this is the third year for my asparagus plants, it will be the first year for eating these delicacies.