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Unfortunately, it's a fact of gardening life that your vegetable crops are not only a source of food for you and your family, but for a whole host of pests and diseases as well.

Garden pests that we are on the look-out for this week are butterflies and white fly. The broccoli and sprout plants are now a really good size and we are being vigilant to make sure the netting on the vegetable cage doesn't touch any leaves, allowing butterflies to lay their eggs through it.

Healthy plants will resist pests and diseases much better than those grown under stress, so it's important to adopt a good feeding regime to keep your crops happy. Leafy vegetables, such as brassicas will be treated to a top dressing of fish, blood and bone every six weeks.

Hot on the heels of our announcement that pest control guru Julian Ives has joined the Harrod Horticultural team is the publication of a little book which is sure to get plenty of use in the kitchen garden, down at the allotment and in the vegetable patch this season – our Little Book of Pests.

Unfortunately the vegetables you are attempting to grow for your own consumption are also much loved by lots of pests which exist in your garden - here are our most common garden pests .

Whether it's slugs, aphids, carrot root fly, rabbits or birds causing you sleepless nights, we have compiled a rogue's gallery of the top 10 grow your own garden pests. Often identification is the most difficult part of the conundrum and getting to the root of the problem is easy once you know which pest you are tackling.

Birds do so much to reduce the population of garden pests, and that's enough of a reason alone to support the latest Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Big Garden Birdwatch. The 2006 event is to be held over the last weekend in January (28th and 29th) and hundreds of thousands of people are expected to participate.

Sprouting broccoli is fairly easy to grow, quick to prepare and good to eat! It is very nutritious and full of vitamins too. The crop does occupy the land for a long time but on the upside it does provide a harvest from late winter to late spring when other vegetables are in short supply. Keep an eye out for pests & disease!

Fruit Cages are becoming very popular additions to the garden as grow your own fruit and vegetable enthusiasts realize that you can harvest more of the crops you grow if you protect them from birds and other pests with a taste for something sweet in the garden.

So, this week I want to talk about companion planting in the kitchen garden, companion planting is a must for organic gardeners as it is the natural way to control pests and aids pollination, plus it looks really pretty

Vine weevils can be one of the most destructive garden pests and as they wreak their havoc undetected underground, it can often be too late once you've eventually laid eyes on them

One of the challenges of kitchen garden, allotment and vegetable plot growing is to overcome the army of garden pests with designs on your crops.

The 2010 version of our pest control guide ran to reprints galore so we're expecting the 2011 tome - The Little Book of Least Wanted Pests - to be just as successful. The 24 pages are crammed with pest control solutions and advice from pest expert Julian Ives and you'll find the organic answers to problems from A (ants) to almost Z (whitefly), along with plenty of tips to make your plants stronger and more pest and disease resistant. It's a must-have guide to accompany you through the growing year

Often regarded as the ornamental flower garden, kitchen garden or vegetable patch nerve centre, the greenhouse can easily get cluttered, disorganised and generally become a mess without the provision of greenhouse staging – and that kind of chaos is bad news for gardeners but good news for pests!

You can't over-estimate what a major garden problem slugs are and for years, gardeners have tried all sorts of tricks, traps and techniques to protect their plants from these premier league pests and now, in the shape of Nemaslug Slug Killer, they may have found the answer.

Experts predict that this will be the worst ever year on record for the slimy garden pests due to a particularly warm winter, with above average temperatures recorded for December and January.

The warm spring weather is loved by the plants and unfortunately by the pests too - we have already had our first cabbage white in the kitchen garden!

The late summer can be a time when certain insects become more pests of humans than of plants! This can happen at the time we are using our gardens most for socialising and outdoor living but fear not, as Harrod Horticultural can provide you with safe and natural solutions for keeping these nuisance pests under control. Find out what damage ants and lawn pests can do to the garden on our latest informative seasonal summer press release - and more importantly, how to stop them!

Crop protection is vital in any garden if you are to grow successful fruit and vegetables or your prized dahlias, whether you are protecting from pests and wildlife or from the cold weather both can be equally destructive if adequate protection is not put into place.

Root Aphids are one of the most common garden pests, appearing on leaves and stems of flowers and vegetables in vast quantities but it's not just the foliage they like to feed on...

The new year has at last brought some seasonal cold and frosty weather to Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. For me these are ideal conditions for a healthy garden, as sub zero temperatures help to cleanse the garden of some overwintering pests and diseases. It also sweetens the brussel sprouts and parsnips to make them tastier than ever. Better still the blue skies and sunshine bring an added beauty to the garden that has been missing during the dark, grey days we've seen so often of late.

We have had the perfect growing weather in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this month. It's been a mixture of warm sunshine and steady rain and the crops are really thriving. Unfortunately so are the weeds! And the pests are beginning to arrive as well....

With interest in Grow Your Own flourishing, Fruit Cages are fast becoming staple additions to the garden. There is nothing more upsetting than discovering your tasty strawberries, raspberries, leeks, or other such delights have been devoured by garden pests and animals. A fruit cage increases the amount of produce that makes it from the veggie patch to the table.

Over the last week there seems to have been a surge in pests in the kitchen garden, with the calabrese plants being the worst hit by an unknown culprit!

Pests and diseases account for a large percentage of plant failures in the kitchen garden and ornamental border so accurately diagnosing who and what is munching or afflicting your plants is essential - and that's where Harrod Horticultural, in league with pest expert Gavin Hatt can help.

Discover the advantages of gardening with nature whether you have a large garden or just a window box. By actively encouraging birds, mammals and insects into your garden you can successfully control garden pests naturally whilst looking after the wildlife too!

It has been a challenging month weather wise; we have had heat, sunshine and thunder storms, the weather does really affect how the crops grow.

Home composting can seem overwhelming and mysterious, but in reality, it's a simple process that almost everyone can use effectively. With little more than fallen leaves and kitchen scraps you can make dark, nutrient-rich compost that will work wonders for your garden. What is more, you'll be helping the environment in the process too.

Well this has been another month where we have been scanning the skies looking for any sign of rain and unfortunately, we have not really been rewarded with any sufficient quantities; the occasional down pour and half an hour of drizzle every now and then.

Well October has been a month of four seasons in one day. We started the month with warm and occasional hot days and still watering the kitchen garden on a regular basis. By the end of the month the temperature had dropped drastically and the garden was empty of the lovely summer produce and the leeks and parsnips were fattening up for the winter dinner table.

Raised bed gardening is becoming more popular than ever before with increasing numbers of people opting to grow their own food and live a more sustainable lifestyle. With the variations in height, size, potential higher yield and aesthetic value, raised bed gardening should be on your mind for gardening success.

After a warm, sunny and very dry month, the rain has arrived at last in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. The warm weather has been enjoyed by plants and gardeners alike and brought the garden on in leaps and bounds, but the lack of rain at a crucial time in the growing calendar has led to copious watering at a busy time. The welcome rainfall will restock the waterbutts and give the irrigation and watering cans a rest for a while.

Aubergines are an attractive crop to grow and provide you with a taste of the mediterranean. A beautiful and delicious addition to your harvest, they are a very saitsfying crop to grow.

August has been a month of wall to wall sunshine in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, with lovely hot temperatures and very little rainfall; traditional harvest weather. Gardeners and crops alike have thrived in it, although both have needed regular watering, particularly on the days of blistering heatwave conditions!

The temperatures have dropped, the days are getting shorter, and the lawn is covered by a blanket of golden yellow and rich orange hues. Autumn has arrived. Now is the perfect time to prepare your garden for the cold, dark weather that lies ahead. Here's everything you should do to ensure your garden remains in tip-top condition ready for a vibrant spring

Autumn is an important time of year for taking care of your lawn. The effort you put in during autumn will improve the quality and health of your lawn right through into spring and beyond. Here's some tips on caring for your lawn in autumn from our friends at Rolawn.

The big autumn tidy up continues this week in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden as we turn our attention to our bean supports. The bean plants have been shedding their leaves over the past few weeks and are now skeletons of the plants they once were.

Another long Bank holiday weekend is upon us and the weather looks like it is going to be perfect for gardening!

The Harrod Horticultural ethos is global! Here's a little video clip for you which shows, I think, that biological pest control is worldwide!

We interviewed Brigitte Girling (Creator of Moss and Stone) who teaches an array of flower classes which will allow you to develop ‘naturally artful, animated designs creating a visual story within your work’.

Broccoli has had a resurgence in popularity mainly due to it's high vitamin content and anti-cancer agents. It is a fast-growing and easy-to-grow crop, producing bluish-green heads that are harvested in the summer or autumn, depending on the time it is sown.

Brussel Sprouts are a must-grow crop in the Harrod Kitchen garden. It is highly nutritious vegetable and an essential ingredient in a good Christmas Dinner.

It has almost been like summer, not spring, with the warm weather we have been experiencing. Most days there has been full sun and blue skies which has been brilliant as that has given me the opportunity to get out and really start clearing the flower borders and beds.

In a recent blog post by the Hip Horticulturist they discussed 5 ways to cheer up a garden shed this summer and talked about how our wooden raised beds can transform the look of any garden.

Kept my eye on the cherries this year, again and decided to leave the sleeves off till late June as the weather has been exceptionally wet. Noticed a lot of Ant activity on the tree - bad news as they do farm cherry black fly.

Removing weeds from the vegetable patch is easily the least glamorous and time consuming job of the lot. It's not all bad news as there are plenty of ways to make it easy on yourself so you can spend more time on the fun bits of growing your own!

All around the garden new growth is slow to emerge this year. Snowdrops are a good month later than we would normally expect to see them in flower and the daffodils are only just beginning to peek through the soil. In the Kitchen Garden overwintering crops are surviving under their cloches and fleece covers, but showing no sign of new growth.

To increase the success of your garden and vegetable growing it is important to protect your plants from adverse weather and wildlife.

Practising crop rotation can be of great benefit to your allotment or kitchen garden helping to reduce disease and increase yields.

Crop rotation has been practiced in both agriculture and horticulture for centuries, but it doesn't hold the same importance in Raised Planters as it does in open soil beds,

Cucumbers are rewarding to grow because the baby cucumbers grow really quickly into full size specimens and can be grown by inexperienced gardeners.

December has seen the garden emerge from the debris of autumn to the bare beauty of winter. The hard work of clearing fallen leaves and old summer crops is complete and the skeleton of the garden is now tidy and clear.

Spring has finally sprung in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. As I write this the sun is shining and the sowing season has begun in earnest. Whilst frosty weather still threatens, the days are getting longer and the darkest days of winter seem to be behind us.

Our fruit trees and bushes have all but shed their leaves and are entering the dormant stage of the growing year. Now is the time for us to give them some care and attention to prepare them for a productive season next year. This week we will be removing the old glue bands and replacing them with new ones and apply a winter tree wash.

Believe it or not, if you’re an advent gardener, frogs may be more beneficial for you than you would have ever believed...

Which Garden Netting do you need? Some advice on the best netting to protect your plants...

One of the great pleasures of gardening is to grow your own plants from seed. Unfortunately the exhilaration of planting out can quickly be followed by the anguish of seeing plants nibbled by wildlife or blasted by unseasonal weather if not covered with garden netting or plant protection.

It can be difficult to find a long lasting, permanent support for climbing plants such as clematis for garden walls, but we think we have a solution that will help...

The Met Office, one of the world's leading authorities on weather and environmental issues, have published their forecast for spring in the UK - and it looks like we're in for warm and wet weather, writes Martin Fiddes.

My first experience with raised beds was also my first time growing veg, some twenty years ago. At the time I lived in Hertfordshire and the soil in my garden comprised a charming mixture of clay, lumps of sandstone, iron ore and more clay. In short, it was rubbish.

August can be one of the hottest months of the year, this makes watering an essential task! If water butts are running flow, grey water can be used wherever possible. If August is holiday time for you, plans may be needed to enlist the help if friends and family to look after the garden when you are away!

A favourite crop in the Harrod Kitchen Garden, Garlic is easy to grow and occupies the ground during the quiet months over the Winter. The health benefits of this crop make it an essential vegetable to include in any garden. It is a great crop to grow in pots or raised beds if your space is limited.

Everyone's favourite cloche is back in stock and we're giving you the chance to win 1 of 5 this week!

What will you require? To gain the full benefit of a greenhouse, a source of heat (other than the sun) is essential. This level of heat varies greatly, from the bare necessity of preventing frost damage, to the expense of providing high temperatures for exotic plants.

We used one of our two-tier, 173cm greenhouse staging units and loaded it up with bags of compost. Two bags per module became three, then the lower tier came into play until finally...we ran out of compost! But thats not before we calculated that each module was supporting a heavyweight 77kg of compost, far in excess of any normal greenhouse load.

Two bags per module (the 173cm long unit consists of three modules) became three, then the lower tier came into play until finally...we ran out of compost! But that's not before we calculated that each module of staging was supporting a heavyweight 77kg of compost, far in excess of any normal greenhouse load.

A great many gardeners and allotment holders grow cabbages or other members of the brassica family each year, so will no doubt be familiar with a common garden pest – the mealy cabbage aphid.

Growing in raised planters is a real boom area in gardening right now and it's little wonder when you realise just how easy it can be and how many delicious vegetables you can cram into such a small space. Let's take a look at how one of our attractive Manger Raised Planters - all 8ft of it - can transform a barren patio into a vegetable oasis.

Growing in vegetable planters you'll be surprised how many delicious vegetables you can cram into a small space and an attractive Manger Vegetable Planter can transform a barren patio into a vegetable oasis.

Growing Indoors gives you complete control of the environment, from the temperature to the amount of water a plant receives which can yield great results. Although suited to some plants more than others, it can be a great way to grow fruit and vegetables. If space is at a premium even growing salad leaves on a window sill can be a simple way of getting more of your home grown produce to the plate for healthier meal times.

Despite the harvest and growing season being still in full swing, it is time to turn our thoughts to next year's crops so this week in the Kitchen Garden we will be ordering our seed garlic and autumn planting onion sets.

This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we are harvesting the sweet potatoes. This is one of our favourite crops as it always looks so good. We like to grow them in a raised bed and train them up an obelisk to provide a real focal point.

They’re a great help in the garden, are both endearing and lovable, they’ve been mentioned in works of Shakespeare and far too many perish under the wheels of a car – all good reasons why we should be helping the hedgehog this winter.

Yet another set of famous horticultural initials, the HDRA carries the working name of Garden Organic. The organisation is a registered charity, and Europe's largest organic membership association.

Attaching the netting to a fruit cage is a simple task when using Harrod quick release net ties and net clips.

Every gardener has been there, after spending countless hours tending, watering, feeding your plants a pest invades or some extreme weather damages your plants and wipes out all your hard work...

There are a few key considerations to bear in mind when storing apples...

It never ceases to amaze me just how much and how quickly the kitchen garden changes at this time of year. Crops seem to grow at an incredible rate, whilst we gardeners are too busy with the many little jobs that need to doing, to notice. It's not until the occasional lull in activity that I stand, coffee in hand, and marvel at the wonders that nature provides.

August can be one of the hottest months of the year, this makes watering essential. If water butts are running low, grey water can be used wherever possible. If August is holiday time for you, plans may be needed to enlist the help of friends and family to look after the garden when you are away.

July has certainly been a hot one and a great time to enjoy your garden but make sure you keep any new plants well watered and hoe off the weeds that will thrive in the sunshine.

July in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden is when the main harvest begins. I have just spent a pleasant summer morning picking blackcurrants with only the birds and a radio for company. A back breaking job, but one of huge satisfaction gained from harvesting a bumper crop of fat juicy currants that will soon adorn my larder shelves in the form of jam. On the darkest of winter days the taste will transport me back to the hot sunny day when they were picked.

Fifteen years ago our garden was a very large grassy area with the soil full of flint and clay. I had little knowledge of gardening at the time, but had been told that if I wanted to grow a healthy and happy garden I should pay very special attention to the soil.

A lot of tidying in the Kitchen Garden this week, lots of leaves thanks to the high winds, a Greenhouse to clean and lots of tools that need some cleaning.

This week in Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden we have been pruning our asparagus plants down to the ground. The fronds have begun turning yellow and dying off so it is the perfect time to tidy up.

This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be taking time out to sit and complete our seed and potato order for next year. We have had successes and failures this year, as always, and now is an ideal time to sit back and review this years crops whilst they are still in the ground.

This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be turning on the heater in the greenhouse. We have had some cold nights forecast and our pepper and aubergines are currently bearing lots of ripening fruits. A cold night could set them back and jeopardise the harvest. Our heater is on a thermostat that we will set at 15 degrees. This will keep our crops comfortable for the remainder of the growing season.

Every year we spend a lot of time deciding on the planting plan for the Kitchen Garden and this year we have brought this to life with colourful illustrations of how we hope the garden will look when everything is in full growth.

Every year we spend a lot of time deciding on the planting plan for Stephanie's Kitchen Garden and this year we have brought it to life with colourful illustrations of how we hope the garden will look when everything is in full growth.

There's no escaping the fact that in the garden, a large part of the autumn is spent clearing up fallen leaves, but there's an upside to all your hard work - leaf mould.

There is no green vegetable more loathed than the humble Brussels sprout, but these misunderstood miniature cabbages deserve a second chance. Often given a bad rep because of their infamous pungent aroma when overcooked, when properly prepared this nutrient-packed veggie is pleasantly crisp with a slightly sweet, complex flavour profile.

These hardy and vibrant red morsels are incredibly easy to maintain and should be featured in every home grower’s plot. These fast-growing veggies take up very little space and can be planted in amongst the rows of other plants.

May has been a busy month in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. Lots of sowing and planting out has been done and the garden has gradually transformed from brown to green as the month has gone on. We are still waiting for the hot sunny days of spring to arrive in our part of East Anglia and the cold nights have caused us some problems, but our crops look healthy and the new harvesting year has begun.

We have been busy preparing for a photoshoot this week and everything is now looking lovely with the hedges trimmed into shape and lots of weeding and tidying done. It is very satisfying to look round the garden and see what has been achieved with all our hard work.

The past two weeks of glorious sunshine has been a wonderful relief from the excessive rain and gale-force winds that battered the gardens throughout May.

May is always one of the busiest months of the year in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden and this year has been no exception.

May is always the busiest month in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, and sometimes I have to force myself to stop and just look at how beautiful it looks. The apple blossom on the espaliers is here for such a brief time, that it's easy to miss it when you are focussed on the many jobs that need to be done. May, for me, is when the Kitchen Garden is at its most beautiful - full of lush green growth, blossom and the promise of what is to come.

National Nest Box Week February 14th is intrinsically linked to love and romance, and here is a bit of a different slant on Valentines Day this year, show some love to your garden birds!

Have you been watching Alan Titchmarsh's latest offering on BBC TV - 'The Nature of Britain'?

November is probably my least favourite month of the gardening year. No matter what your efforts, the garden always seems to look untidy; littered with fallen leaves and the skeletons of old crops. Spring and summer suddenly seem like a lifetime away and the short days seem to plunge us into constant darkness. It would be so easy to retire to the house and emerge again in the springtime. This, of course, never happens.

We have just had one of the driest Aprils I can remember in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. At one of the busiest months of the growing calendar, the dry spell has added to our workload with many hours spent watering our crops.

Whether it's a small vegetable plot in your back garden or your own allotment, growing on open ground can be challenging and also very rewarding.

A quick rummage around a typical gardener's shed will uncover various forms of derris, the well-known organic insecticide - but all that is set to change next year with the proposed outlawing of the product. Martin Fiddes explains more...

Update Cast your mind back all of 2 days to my article regarding organic fruit and veg and the benefits of eating food grown in this fashion.

One of the most pleasurable things of early summer is picking and eating sweet, tender peas straight from the veggie patch. They are a valuable source of protein either raw or cooked.

A taste of the mediterranean in your greenhouse, peppers an attractive addition to any vegetable plot. They look amazing, taste great and need very little attention. A must grow!

November has been a beautiful month, with sharp frosts and blue skies creating some stunning autumn scenes all around the garden.

Our NEW, highly innovative Slot & Lock Cloche System can be used throughout the season with a choice of protection covers. There's the ultra thick and UV stabilised PVC cover to start growing earlier or extend the growing season; the 7mm long lasting soft knitted mesh netting to keep out all birds and the Cabbage White Butterfly

To get you started with your own Cloche system, we have a SPECIAL OFFER on our 1m Extra Value Starter Kit which this includes all 3 cover options for a 1m length and is just ?63.95 which is a SAVING OF 15% on buying the items separately.

This week we are bracing ourselves for the Beast from the East weather system that is expected to hit us in the next few days. As we are situated just a few miles from the East coast, the biting winds will hit us hard and peg back the temperatures.

Raised beds have had a boom in popularity recently and are a great way for gardeners at all levels to successfully grow their own fruit and vegetables in otherwise unsuitable soil or locations. Also popular as stylish flower planters, raised beds really can make gardening eaiser being at a more user friendly height and are less prone to soil borne diseases and pests.

The seasonality of gardening and understanding what needs to be done throughout the seasons is key to a successful garden.

September has seen the garden transform from the lush green opulence of summer to the soft golden decay of autumn. It never ceases to amaze me how the seasons change in a blink of an eye. One day we are experiencing gloriously hot sunny days and the next we are reaching for jumpers and wellingtons and reaching for cloches and fleece.

As the garden prepares to burst into life, you can be sure that the local pest population is slowly stretching, stirring and sleepily emerging from winter hibernation too with rumbling stomachs and big plans on how to fill them - all involving your plants

We've been busy during the autumn developing and testing our new Harrod Slot and Lock? range of connectors, low level strawberry cages and rock-solid vegetable cages. The new innovative Slot and Lock fixings spell the end of costly cage collapses when the tubing slips out of the connector - they do exactly what their name implies! Read all about how the Slot and Lock connectors ccan improve your gardening experience, the cage permutations we offer and plenty more in our Slot and Lock press release...

Slugs and snails consistently feature in the top three of the Royal Horticultural Society's annual Garden Pest List, cementing their position as one of the gardener's arch-enemies.

In a recent survey, an incredible 88% of gardeners confessed to loathing slugs – and their partners in crime, snails – more than any other garden pest.

And now, the Biggest Pest of All...! In a recent survey, an incredible 88% of gardeners confessed to loathing slugs – and their partners in crime, snails – more than any other garden pest.

There are many reasons why you need to be aware of your soils acid/alkaline balance. The solubility of minerals can be compromised if there is an imbalanced pH. Minerals become locked-up in the soil making them unavailable for your plants to absorb.

Knowing your soil type and pH is the key to successfully growing your own. Improving and managing your soil and choosing the right plants for the conditions will help you achieve bigger harvests of healthier vegetables.

October really marks the changing of the gardener's year, this is the month where we finish the main harvesting and start preparing for next year. Soon the frosts will come and finish off crops like runner beans so, depending on the local weather patterns, it's time to clear them.

Happy New Year everyone! Here's what we'll be using in the Kitchen Garden now that January has arrived!

July has certainly been a hot one and a great time to sit out and enjoy your garden. Here are my top product picks to keep your garden looking healthy this month!

It never rains but it pours! The word drought conjours up images of parched land and wilting crops but that's far from the case - and although the coldest, wettest April for decades delayed many of our Kitchen Garden planting plans, at least it topped up our numerous water butts. Find out how we've been coping with the 165% above average monthly rainfall and much more in our April edition of Stephanie's Kitchen Garden Diary...

A fierce battle rages in the Garden - but who is winning?

Climatic experts have long been insisting that global warming is inevitable, and in the next few years we are likely to see changes in our weather

Finally, some sun on our backs! Another busy month in the garden - find out about our new lodgers, how the potatoes are getting on, our slug-busting ideas and much more!

Mid April and finally the sun has cut through the misty grey East Anglian sea haze which can hang so close it feels like I am wearing a cold and damp blanket across my shoulders.

At last things are warming up in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden - but the improved weather brings new problems to solve. Meet my new assistant and discover my plans for the Chelsea Flower Show...

A Stephanie's KItchen Garden update with a difference this month - we've commisioned our company photographer Martin Fiddes to produce a pictorial record of April in the garden!

Continuing our resume of the produce on the kitchen table this month..

The endless, hot sunny days of July were soon washed away by the regular deluges of August, but although I was half-drowned most of the time, the plants loved it!

A bi-monthly offering from Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this time around but with good reason! We've had a film crew on site producing more informative video clips for our website, the unseasonable summer weather to contend with and all the associated problems this brings so the keyboard's been gathering dust! Read on to find out what summer 2011 has brought us...

Christmas hullaballo doesn't mean the garden grinds to a halt. There's leeks to harvest, bushes to prune and leaves to collect - all before the weather turns really nasty...

The legume bed has proved extremely popular

As we are well into the New Year, garden thoughts have turned to the spring and summer and what will be growing in the Kitchen Garden. If ever a plan was required, it's now

Finally, the worst winter for 30 years draws to a close. We celebrate with news from the greenhouse, our plans for peas this year and how to chit your potatoes...

February in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden can be likened to a ticking time bomb - everything is primed and ready to go for the March seed sowing and growing explosion!

A look back at the early days of the Kitchen Garden, a welcome delivery of manure and what's likely to be growing in 2008...

Just because it's snowing doesn't mean the garden stops! We've got horse manure to spread and a greenhouse to clean - and how's that rhubarb coming on...?

January quiet in the garden? I don't think so! Read what trainee horticulturist Courtney has been up to this past month, including results of her Christmas crops

The start of a new year is an exciting time and that's very much the case in the Kitchen Garden. We've got big plans for 2012 and although we're busy making improvements to the garden during January, it won't be long before the seed sowing season is here. Find out more about how tree surgeons are improving the light levels in our garden, how our sweet peas and spuds are progressing and what we intend to do in February - it's all here

July is a month of plenty; green tomatoes turn a welcome rosy red (or yellow, or stripy, or green, or even purple if you choose), soft fruits drip from canes or hang like jewel clusters from bushes...

Phew! What with a Customer Focus Group meeting, a Press Day event and all the preparation both these days entail, it's been a busy July in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. We've also been harvesting blackcurrants (and putting them to good use!), avoiding snakes but catching mice and lamenting the sad demise of our bees...

Now the Chelsea Show is over I can get back to tending the garden - can anyone remind me how to get there?

The Harrod Horticultural Kitchen Garden is usually a hectic place to be, but this last month has really taken the frantic biscuit

June sees the garden looking it's finest, and we've got hedgehog tales; a broad bean update; Sharon's new carrot growing idea and some Teepees give a Wild West flavour...

A bi-monthly update this time around as I'm out and about, hunting down new products - but that hasn't stopped me developing a solution to mice, raising my vegetable cage and creating a support frame for my Stephanie's Kitchen Garden tomatoes ...

The Kitchen Garden is now Rabbit proof - or is it?

There's been a seed sowing frenzy in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this month as our horticultural trainee Courtney gets set for the season. She's taken a break from her seed trays, propagator and vermiculite to plant out potatoes and set some horseradish roots

As usual, May has been a very busy time in the garden. I've been at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, we have new raised beds to build and Kate's got hedges to trim

This month, I've got the feedback from Chelsea and another RHS show date for your diary; aphids are proving a pest and I'll tell you why my runner beans are sure to be a success this year - all in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden Diary ...

Arguably the busiest month of the gardening year, May in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden is no exception. Dropped in at the vegetable growing deep end is Lynn, our new horticultural advisor and you can read about what she's been up to in her first couple of weeks at the helm! And with aubergine-keen slugs and snails to battle with and the preparations for the RHS Chelsea Show, there's never a dull moment...

'Four Seasons in One Day' sang 80's-90's Antipodean pop stars Crowded House and that's not a bad way to describe May 2012! A start to the month which seemed more akin to February was in complete contrast to a scorching finale which saw our Kitchen Garden plants - and the weeds - go mad! The weather aside, it's been a great month with the culmination an RHS Chelsea Flower Show award double! Find out more below...

With even more products appearing in the horticultural marketplace, it's been decided to boost the staff numbers in the Kitchen Garden too

Time for Courtney to make her literary bow as my Kitchen Garden trainee takes you through the final two months of the year.

As it's Halloween, we concentrate on the nasties in the greenhouse and how to get rid of them

A bit like Romeo and Juliet, or perhaps oil and water. Fire and ice even. And to that list you can add gardening and a broken ankle!

October sees the Kitchen Garden - and me - recovering after a frantic summer, so it's back to a monthly report. There's still loads going on; I'm harvesting the last of the summer fruit, planting garlic and cleaning down the greenhouse - and that's just for starters...

The arrival of a film crew, a lowdown on our glut of tomatoes and how to grow carrots of the highest quality - as usual, it's been an eventful month in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden...

You can certainly feel the chill of the autumnal air now and the leaves on the trees are starting to change colour and fall, you could begin to think that there is not much to do in the kitchen now but don't be fooled by the change of season as September was a busy month in the garden with a flurry of seed sowing, harvesting and general jobs to do before the chilly weather sets in. Read on to see what Lynn has been up to this month in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden.

At last Spring has arrived here in the Kitchen Garden. The sunshine has arrived in force and, despite some chilly nights lingering on, everything is starting to grow. With the first half of April being so cold, the Kitchen Garden is behind on where we would normally expect our vegetables to be at this time of year, but the recent warm weather has given us the chance to start growing in earnest.

As I write this, the sun is beating down on yet another hot and sunny day. August has been a month of beautiful summer weather, but dare I say we are praying for some rain in the Harrod Kitchen Garden. The crops are revelling in the lovely warm conditions, but our water butts are now empty and we are using mains water for all our watering. A good rainfall would soon have the water butts full again...

August has been a month of extremes, beginning with hot sunny weather and ending with chilly autumn nights and plenty of rain. This has brought its share of challenges and kept us on our toes. It's been a month of successes and failures.

December in the Kitchen Garden is all about planning for the New Year ahead. As the garden is cleared of last season's crops and prepared for the coming year, it is a good time to look back on our successes and failures of the past year. I have been drawing up my plan of the garden for 2014 and placing my seed orders. My next rainy day task is to peruse the latest Harrod brochure. There are some new Harrod Wire Obelisks that will look lovely with sweet peas growing up them...

December has been a very productive month in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. The weather has been very cold, but also dry allowing us to crack on with lots of structural and maintenance jobs. It's an ideal time of year to make changes to the garden whilst most of it is in its winter dormancy and less likely to be damaged or disturbed.

It has felt more like Easter than Christmas this month, as the weather has been incredibly mild. Unfortunately the sun has been conspicuous by its absence and we have lots of grey days and plenty of rain. No sign of a white Christmas in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this year.

Spring has well and truly sprung in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this month. We've been enjoying some mild temperatures and the sun has come out at last. We've had very few frosts and the garden is beginning to awaken from its winter sleep. The birds have been enjoying the new feeding stations and, on sunny days, they are showing their appreciation by filling the air with birdsong. We've even seen our first bee!

It is hard to believe that this time last year the Kitchen Garden was covered with a thick blanket of snow. The weather has certainly been milder this winter and it shows. The overwintering crops are enjoying the conditions and are well forward on last year. However, as all kitchen gardeners know only too well, the weather can change in a heartbeat, so the fleece and cloches are on hand just in case....

Phew! What a scorcher July has been. Here in the Kitchen Garden temperatures have been soaring. Our crops have been thriving with so much sun and warmth and we have been harvesting aplenty. With the all watering, feeding and harvesting, it's been busy, busy, busy!

We are now well into the main harvesting season in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this month with trugs full of beautiful fruit and vegetables being delivered to the kitchen on a regular basis. The weather has been a healthy combination of hot, sunny and showers providing perfect growing conditions for all our crops.

Typical - we develop a water saving irrigation plan for Stephanie's Kitchen Garden and it finally pours with rain! In this month's update you can find out from new Kitchen Gardener Lynn how the extensive new watering system will benefit the garden; there's a pest update and you can find out what we're picking too! All in all, another busy month in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden...

At last the harvest has begun in earnest in the Kitchen Garden. It feels like it's been a long time coming as we are obviously delayed this year due to the weather. This month we have been harvesting kale, sprouting broccoli, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, salad leaves, spring onions, rocket, rhubarb and new potatoes. Picking lots of delicious organic produce is so satisfying and the very best part of kitchen gardening.

The growing season is in full swing here in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. The garden and greenhouse are packed with crops and we have been harvesting lots of lovely fruit and vegetables all month. June is one of the busiest months of the growing year and I sometimes have to remind myself to stop for a moment and take some time to simply admire how lovely the garden is looking. These moments don't last for long, however, as the urge to grab a spade or secateurs is often too much for me to resist!

What a difference a year makes. Last year in March we still had snow and freezing temperatures and spring was nowhere in sight. This year, the garden is enjoying warm, sunny days and the crops are much further forward. We are harvesting broccoli, rhubarb, chard, spinach and kale and our broad beans are flowering and covered in bees. Our parsnip seedlings are already appearing through the soil.

November has been a cold and miserable month in the Kitchen Garden. The sun has put in a few brief appearances, but on the whole it has been damp and grey. However, whatever the weather, there is always plenty of work to be done. When the rain is pouring down, I head into the greenhouse and shed to catch up with the Big Winter Tidy Up.

The harvest has been gathered and stored and the big tidy up has begun in earnest in the Kitchen Garden this month.

The harvest is in and our larder is now well stocked with squashes, potatoes and sweet potatoes. The freezer is full of French beans, runner beans, raspberries and blackberries. They should keep us going through the long winter ahead, along with the sprouts, leeks, celeriac, parsnips and broccoli still to be harvested.

September has been a busy month with the harvest in full swing in the Kitchen Garden. We've also had a taste of Winter weather which was quite a shock after the long hot summer. But at last some rain, so our waterbutts are full again and the garden is looking refreshed.

We've been enjoying an Indian summer in the Kitchen Garden this month. We have seen the longest dry spell of the summer and the irrigation all around the garden has been working hard to keep our crops happy. The warm temperatures have meant that many summer crops are still being harvested well into the autumn. It's certainly been a bumper harvest this year.

September has seen Autumn sneak slowly in to Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. The days have still been warm and sunny, but the nights have turned cold and the effects are being shown all around the garden. Leaves are beginning to change colour and it won't be long before the Great British Rake Off begins!

Spring bulbs will be fading now and the flower borders growing in leaps and bounds, summer is on it’s way.

During the past week, summer has begun to make way for autumn in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. The night-time temperatures have dipped and the weather has become squally with the strong wind and rain setting in.

September has been hot in Stephanie's Kitchen Gardenas and for most of the month the heatwave continued, with temperatures only returning to normal within the last week.

Options to get involved in gardening really are endless from tending to large gardens or smaller urban spaces, even balconies, windowsills and indoors with houseplants. Often, no matter what size your space is, containers and raised beds are often part of a garden and can be a useful, convenient way to grow your own flowers and vegetables.

The big summer harvest has reached a crescendo in the kitchen garden this month, with large trugs full of produce making their way to the kitchen. We have been picking huge bowls full of blueberries, raspberries and, in the last few days, blackberries. French and runner beans and courgettes have also been providing a bumper crop with much more to come. The greenhouse is producing more cucumbers and tomatoes than we can eat and the aubergine harvest has been the best we have had in recent years.

The Royal Horticultural Society Quite possibly three of the most well known letters in horticulture.

We've finally treated to some significant rainfall in our part of the world. This was a big relief for us gardeners, giving us some respite from the watering can; albeit for only a few days. The garden seemed to sigh with relief too and plants in every part of the garden seemed to shoot up overnight after their welcome drink.

Tomatoes produce abundant delicious fruits in many different colours, shapes and sizes. They are easily grown in gardens, greenhouses or containers and are loved by children and adults alike. A must grow for any budding fruit & vegetable grower.

We have been supplying netting since 1954 so we think we know a thing or two about it! Our Top 10 of Garden Netting Tips will help you choose the right netting and protect your plants throughout the year.

If August is holiday time for you, plans may be needed soon to enlist the help of friends and family to look after the garden when you are away. August can be one of the hottest months of the year and this makes watering essential.

Versatile is certainly a word which applies to the tub trug, a real gardener's ally.

Can you remember those early days of vegetable growing when you couldn't tell a spade from a shovel, a cucumber from a courgette and thought a propagator was a kind of crocodile? Martin Fiddes looks back...

August has been a month of successes and struggles in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. It has certainly been a busy month for the watering cans as the weather has been really kind to us and we have enjoyed hot sunny conditions for most of the month.

Despite meteorological spring being only days away, we are still very much in the throes of winter in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. As I write, heavy snow is falling and the temperature is -1C. A blast of arctic weather is keeping the garden chilled and covered in snow. It has been a long winter in the garden and it's not over yet.

This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be continuing with our regular feeding regime. We have been feeding established crops and newly planted vegetables with fish, blood and bone or poultry manure. These need to be reapplied every six weeks during the growing season.

Here at Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden this week we will be treating our fruit trees to a bit of TLC. Earlier in the month we replaced the glue bands on all our fruit trees and our job this week is to give them a winter wash.

It's late in the year for ground frosts in our part of the UK and the cold nights are really holding us up in our planting out. Our greenhouse and cold frame are bursting with plants that we would normally have planted out by now.

Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be awaiting the delivery of our vegetable plants. Having harvested our onions, shallots and garlic has we have some space for more crops in the Kitchen Garden.

Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be harvesting the pears from our pear arch. After they have been picked the pears will be put through a fruit press to be turned into delicious organic pear juice. A real treat!

Here at Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden this week keeping our wild birds well fed through the worst of the winter weather. Whilst some birds are unwelcome in the kitchen garden, others are helpful when it comes to pest control.

This week In Stephanie's Kitchen Garden we will be planting out our leeks. It's a little later than we would normally like to plant them, but they always follow our new potatoes into the ground and these are a little late being harvested due to the cold spring. The leeks are good size plants though, so should have plenty of time to get to a good size before the winter.

Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be pricking out some of our new little seedlings in the greenhouse. The heated propagator is a hive of activity and some of the tomatoes, aubergines and peppers are ready to be transferred to small pots.

Here at Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden this week we will be setting up our irrigation ready for the coming season. We are currently experiencing a dry spell in East Anglia and haven?t had significant rainfall for a couple of weeks. Pots and beds are looking dry and we have already had to water our onion and garlic crops to try and prevent rust setting in later on.

Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden this week we will be sowing spinach and chard into our mangers for overwintering. Our summer salad leaves are almost finished as they are beginning to succumb to the cold autumn nights. We will be clearing these and replacing them with winter crops. The mangers will then have their covers put on to give the seeds a snug environment to germinate in, as well as added protection over the winter.

Raised beds are becoming ever more popular, and it is easy to see why: wooden raised beds are a great way to grow plants, vegetables and fruit right on your patio. They look great and allow you to create a simple, yet wonderful growing area - without the hassle of digging up plots in your garden.

To celebrate the launch of our new Harrod Longrow Cloche, we're giving you the chance to win 1 of 5 this week!

The espalier apple trees and trained pear trees have at last shed all their leaves in the Kitchen Garden, which means that it's now the perfect time to give them a bit of attention.

Wireworms, and their potential to devastate potato crops and many other garden vegetables and plants, were in the forefront of one of our customer's minds recently - and here's the advice our horticulturist Martin Fiddes gave him...