Kitchen Garden

50 YEARS A-GROWING AND STILL GOING STRONG

Who do you credit with giving you your enthusiasm for veg growing?

My desire for gardening was matured at the tender age of four by my father and he encouraged me to take my first allotment at 11 years old. My gardening guru was Geoff Hamilton and his ‘down to earth’ and practical, thrifty ways are instilled in me to this day.

Over the 50 years you have been growing fruit and veg, are there tools and techniques that have become a regular feature on your plot?

My Dutch hoe is more than 40 years old and is kept sharp in my constant battle with the weeds. My ‘hack’, which is a double flat-bladed tool on a spade-sized handle, is great for earthing up potatoes

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