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This week we have given the greenhouse a good clean and tidy so it's ready for the less hardy plants to be overwintered and for some autumn seed sowing.

Despite the imminent onset of winter, we are still growing vegetables in the Kitchen Garden. Our overwintering broad bean plants have just been planted out alongside the onions, garlic, spring cabbage, broccoli, and turnips and we will be sowing carrots and peas in the greenhouse this week.

You might recall the visit of Splash Broadcast to Stephanie's Kitchen Garden last August and the footage of the garden and Harrod Horticultural products they shot back then has been helping our customers understand and assemble the more technical items we supply ever since, thanks to the video clips located on the product pages of our main site.

Great excitement on the Harrod Horticultural stand at the Edible Garden Show last week as we received a Royal Visit from HRH Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall

The weekly harvest is becoming more bountiful as temperatures increase and overwintering crops begin to grow. We are currently harvesting rhubarb, kale, spinach, rocket and the last of the leeks.

Like many gardeners at this time of year, I am taking a much-needed holiday which will mean a week away from the garden. August is the perfect time for a holiday but the worst time to leave the garden as it is such a busy part of the growing year; the greenhouse needs watering daily, plants in pots need watering at least every other day in sunny weather and crops need harvesting to keep them productive.

At the beginning of October, we were still experiencing very dry conditions in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden and hoping for a little rain to dampen the dusty ground. We should have been more careful what we wished for. Now it feels as though it has been raining forever and the cold north east winds are making it uncomfortably cold for both gardeners and crops alike. The sun has a little warmth, but the biting winds are pegging back the temperatures dramatically.

Most of the month has been grey, windy and wet with only the occasional sunny crisp day to lift the mood. It would be so easy to hibernate indoors and leave the gardening jobs until fairer weather, but work done around the garden now will pay us back later in the year when spare time is more precious

Having just spent an enjoyable morning in shirt sleeves digging over the potato bed, it is hard to believe the weather warnings for sub-zero temperatures and snow that are forecast for our part of the UK over the coming weekend. The sun is watery today but it's providing some warmth and combined with the birdsong is giving the day a distinctively spring-like feel.

June has certainly lived up to its 'flaming' reputation this year and has thrown many challenges at us with its extreme heat, wall-to-wall sunshine and three-week drought. The garden and the gardeners have wilted at times, but we have survived and, as I write this, we have at last had some much-needed rainfall.

Despite the beautiful spring weather we have been enjoying recently, the forecast is still for cold nights ahead. We always keeping a close eye on the weather forecast ready to apply fleece or cloches to vulnerable crops, such as salads.

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 will be preparing the garden for a week long absence as Jo takes her summer holidays. It's always a nervous time for gardeners going on holiday during the hot summer months, but with careful planning, it can be managed with minimal stress.

We have veered from extreme arctic weather and deep snow to gardening in our shirtsleeves in the sunshine. Gardeners and garden have both been exposed to some interesting conditions for the time of year - and survived!

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