• Home
• blog
• akg
• articles

AKG - Christmas Eve in the Garden

akg_xmas.mp3 (right click to download)

Click play to play this episode without downloading:

A special Christmas edition of the Alternative Kitchen Garden, with a Christmas story – Christmas Eve in the Garden – written and read by Emma Cooper.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter and you can also download a PDF copy of the Christmas story.

AKG080 - Christmas for the Birds

akg080.mp3 (right click to download)

Click play to play this episode without downloading:

Starlings on the bird table

Food waste and declining bird populations have been in the news this year. So why not help both situations by feeding some of your Christmas leftovers to the birds?

I usually make bird cake in the winter, as it’s a great way of combining different foods into a high fat meal for the birds.

In this show I talk about which leftovers you can feed to the birds, and which should be avoided. There’s more information on feeding the birds this Christmas available from the RSPB. And I come up with the slogan “Stodge for the Birds this Christmas”!

If you want to buy your garden birds a present then take a look at the Christmas Dinner Kit from Garden Bird Supplies. But you’ll have to order before midnight on 21st December to ensure delivery in time for Christmas.

And to wrap up the show there’s a story from GreenPrints Magazine.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

AKG079 - Oca

akg079.mp3 (right click to download)

Click play to play this episode without downloading:

Oca tubers

White and red oca plants

In this episode I have a look at growing Oca, one of the Lost Crops of the Inca, and a tuber that can be used like potatoes but which doesn’t have problems with blight. My seed tubers came from Real Seeds; keep an eye on their website to find out which varieties they’ll be offering for sale for next year.

Madeleine from Mad About Herbs talks about her pineapple sage plants – they’re brightening up her conservatory at the moment. Follow the link for photos and recipes.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

AKG078 - New for 2009

akg078.mp3 (right click to download)

Click play to play this episode without downloading:

I’ve been thinking ahead to next year’s garden, and buying some seeds and a few unusual plants.

I have 2 new Chilean Guavas (Ugni molinae) from Jekka’s Herb Farm, as well as some sea kale seeds.

Ben from Real Seeds brought some Exploding Cucumber seeds to the Food Growing Bloggers event over the summer, so I will be trying those as well.

An idle flick through the Jungle Seeds catalogue brought sesame, cassabana, a sweet potato, wonderberries, edamame and a beautiful lilac pepper.

I’ve also made an advance order of risotto rice from Seeds of Italy, and bought 5 plants from Kore Wild Fruit Nursery for the Grow Dome.

If you’re interested in Australian gardening, then don’t forget to check out a new(ish) gardening podcast – Dig It Down Under.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

AKG077 - Gifts for Gardeners

akg077.mp3 (right click to download)

Click play to play this episode without downloading:

My new homemade garden toolbelt

With the holiday season upon us, it’s time to talk about gifts for gardeners. A subscription to Permaculture Magazine might suit an alternative kitchen gardener or someone interested in sustainable living – have a look at the online version to see a free online copy or find out how to get a free sample issue.

The Ethical Superstore have lots of green garden gift ideas, as do the Natural Collection. And Gluttonous Gardener do some very classy crates crammed with plants and edible goodies.

But good gifts for gardeners don’t always involve spending money, and so I talk about free and homemade presents you could give this Christmas. I’m sure you have lots more suggestions – so get in touch!

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

AKG076 - The Eden Project

akg076.mp3 (right click to download)

Click play to play this episode without downloading:

A view across the Eden Project’s Outdoor Biome

See more photos of Eden

In this episode I take a look at the Eden Project – one of my favourite gardens to visit and a real horticultural wonder of the world. The Eden Project focuses on edible and useful plants, and so it’s a great place for an Alternative Kitchen Garden to visit to pick up ideas and see unusual plants growing. It’s also perfect for an environmentally friendly day out.

Even if you can’t get to the Eden Project now, it might be a place you’d like to support. You can shop online at the Eden Shop or become an Eden Friend.

I also unveil the winner of the Permaculture competition, have a quick look at the new River Cottage Land Share scheme, and invite you to send in your letters to Santa if you’re hoping for gardening goodies this Christmas.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

AKG075 - Composting in Winter

akg075.mp3 (right click to download)

Click play to play this episode without downloading:

Can you compost in winter? Of course you can! Whether you’ve got a hot heap, a cold compost bin, a wormery, or just some space for trench composting, then with a little bit of preparation you can continue composting through the winter. And if you won’t be able to see the garden under the snow, then think about Bokashi.

And don’t forget that it’s time to make leaf mould!

AKG listener Mark has been conducting some experiments in his garden this year – find out whether tansy protected his brassicas from whitefly, if nettle concentrate puts cabbage white butterflies off, if pennyroyal deters ants and if you can use marigolds to control weeds.

You’ve only got a couple more days to enter my permaculture give-away, so send those entries in!

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

AKG074 - Permaculture Basics

akg074.mp3 (right click to download)

Click play to play this episode without downloading:

This episode takes a look at what Permaculture is, and some of the basic tools and concepts we can use to make permaculture gardens. Permaculture has been mentioned before on the show – The RISC Roof Garden is an example of the permaculture Forest Garden, and comfrey is known as the permaculture plant.

In this episode we look at layers, zones, forest gardens, herb spirals and sheet mulch gardens, and you can find more about all of these in my permaculture basics Squidoo lens.

I’m also giving away a copy of the new second edition of Permaculture – A Beginner’s Guide by Graham Burnett. To be in with a chance of winning, send me your thoughts on permaculture – ideas, photos, drawings, poems, articles or anything else – by the end of October. If I get enough entries I’ll put them all on show somewhere, and Pete and I will pick our favourite to be the winner.

And show listener Teresa recommends tuning in to the October 10th episode of Science Friday, which is about fall gardening and composting.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

AKG073 - Out & About

akg073.mp3 (right click to download)

Click play to play this episode without downloading:

The Agitator

Madeleine from Mad About Herbs is back to tell us what we should be doing in the herb garden now that it’s autumn.

I’ve been out and about, to the Food Growing Bloggers Meet-up – check out my photos. We were lucky enough to be joined by Ben from Real Seeds, who talked about the important of seed saving (a topic that was also covered in AKG 028). There were also talks from Patrick from Bifurcated Carrots and Simon from The Plot Thickens.

And I’ve also been to a composting plant in Dorset – New Earth Solutions – to see one of the ways in which we can deal with organic waste (garden waste, food waste and cardboard). I took some photos there too!

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

AKG072 - September

akg072.mp3 (right click to download)

Click play to play this episode without downloading:

It’s time to clear spent crops away to the compost heap

It’s September, and here in the Alternative Kitchen Garden we’re looking back at what’s been happening this summer and turning our thoughts to getting ready for winter.

As well as harvesting the last summer crops before the first frosts (check out the frost dates in your area), we’re saving seeds, sowing green manures, getting ready to make leaf mould and thinking about homes for wildlife. And on top of all that we’re sowing seeds for winter salads and leafy greens and peashoots!

To round off the show we have a wonderful music track from Rebsie Fairholm (who also blogs at Daughter of the Soil) about something that disturbs the peace in many an autumn garden.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

Guerilla Gardening

This week, Rachel is sharing her Big Sofa with Richard Reynolds – author of Guerilla Gardening: A Handbook for Gardening Without Boundaries. They had a good old chat, over a cup of tea, about how he got started as a guerrilla gardener and why lavender is the perfect plant for guerrilla gardeners.

AKG071 - Ladybirds

akg071.mp3 (right click to download)

Click play to play this episode without downloading:

The latest episode of the Alternative Kitchen Garden is on ladybirds – or ladybeetles – which are a real force for good in the garden. I’ve been finding out about our native ladybird species, but also about an invasive alien species that I’ve spotted in the garden. If you want to know what Harlequin ladybirds look like, or report a siting, then visit the website of the Harlequin Ladybird Survey.

You’ve been sending me emails on using tansy to repel whitefly, composting food waste in a food digester (check out Lisa’s Bokashi website) and courgettes.

There’s still a few days left if you want to listen to my appearance on Radio 4’s Go4It show, and if you haven’t already seen it then you might want to check out my article on useful weeds that appeared in the Guardian newspaper: No Hoe Zone.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

AKG Index

2007
AKG001 - Jerusalem artichokes
AKG002 - Garlic
AKG003 - Compost
AKG004 - Indoor Salads
AKG005 - Sowing Seeds
AKG006 - Chard and leaf beet
AKG007 - Comfrey
AKG008 - Parsley
AKG009 - Raised Beds
AKG010 - Nasturtiums
AKG011 - Seedlings
AKG012 - French Beans
AKG013 - The RISC Roof Garden
AKG014 - Water Wise Gardening
AKG015 - Courgettes/ Zuchinni
AKG016 - Windowboxes
AKG017 - June
AKG018 - Oriental Vegetables
AKG019 - Sunflowers
AKG020 - Welsh Onions
AKG021 - Peas and Peashoots
AKG022 - Lemon Balm
AKG023 - Seeds for Late Sowing
AKG024 - Ryton Organic Gardens
AKG025 - Armchair Gardening
AKG026 - Worm Composting
AKG027 - Green Manures for Fall
AKG028 - Seed Saving
AKG029 - Pee
AKG030 - Overwintering Onions
AKG031 - Sweetcorn
AKG032 - Leaf Mould
AKG033 - Slugs
AKG034 - A Review of the Season
AKG035 - Broad (Fava) Beans
AKG036 - Apple Day
AKG037 - 20 Garden Uses for a Plastic Bottle
AKG038 - Pumpkins
AKG039 - Mushrooms
AKG040 - Cats in the Garden
AKG041 - Planting Pips
AKG042 - Chickpeas/ Garbanzo Beans
AKG043 - Tiger Nuts/ Chufa
AKG044 - Soil Composition
AKG045 - Herbs for Tea
AKG046 - 2007 Quiz
AKG047 - A Look Back at 2007

2008
AKG - Christmas Eve in the garden
AKG048 - Onions and Shallots
AKG049 - Grow Dome Tour
AKG050 - Seed Swaps
AKG051 - Cress
AKG052 - Buying Plants
AKG053 - Garden Planning
AKG054 - Tomatoes
AKG055 - Peppers
AKG056 - Aubergines/ Eggplants
AKG057 - Sprouting Broccoli
AKG058 - Cold Frames
AKG059 - Weeds
AKG060 - Cat Cold Composting
AKG061 - Potatoes
AKG062 - Chickens
AKG063 - Achocha
AKG064 - Blueberries
AKG065 - Grow Your Own Fresh Air
AKG066 - Pest Repellent Plants
AKG067 - Master Composters
AKG068 - Bokashi
AKG069 - June Catch-Up
AKG070 - Winter Crops
AKG071 - Ladybirds
AKG072 - September
AKG073 - Out & About
AKG074 - Permaculture Basics
AKG075 - Composting in Winter
AKG076 - The Eden Project
AKG077 - Gifts for Gardeners
AKG078 - New for 2009
AKG079 - Oca
AKG080 - Christmas for the Birds

Download previous episodes in batches of 10.

Go4It and Penelope Bennett

If you’re missing your regular dose of the AKG while I’m scribbling away at my book then you might be interested in the following.

On Sunday (Sun 13 Jul, 19:15 – 19:45) I’m making a guest appearance on the Radio 4 programme Go4It. I went to Dulwich on Monday and was grilled about fruit and vegetables by a group of school children with an allotment. And just so you know, the hour we spent recording outside was about the only dry hour in the day! If you can’t listen live then you’ll be able to catch the show via the website all next week.

And over at The Big Sofa, Rach has been lucky enough to interview one of my gardening heroes – Penelope Bennett, who wrote the book Windowbox Allotment. It’s an awesome book, encouraging people with the smallest spaces to start growing edible plants, and it’s fantastic to hear the author talking about her own garden in London.

AKG070 - Winter Crops

akg070.mp3 (right click to download)

Click play to play this episode without downloading:

In this episode you can find out the exciting reason why recent AKG episodes haven’t been quite as regular as they could be, and why your garden knows that we’ve just passed the solstice – even if you don’t!

But the main focus of this episode is on planning for winter crops, especially for those people who have started to grow their own vegetables because they want to save money during the Credit Crunch and would like to make the most of their garden throughout the year.

You might also want to go back and listen to episode 23, on seeds for late sowing, or episode 18 on Oriental vegetables. And last year I wrote an article on how to grow spring cabbage.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter and you can also download a PDF transcript of this show.

January 6th 2009
9:00 PM GMT

XML Feeds

Contact

Search Me