Stephanie's Garden Blog

In July, we were lucky enough to be involved with the inspiring ‘Get Up and Grow’ garden designed Lucy Hutchings and Instagram Star 'She Grows Veg' at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. Inspired by her new book, Get up and Grow – the garden was a dream come true for Lucy.

Hardy, durable and not particularly fussy, beetroot is ideal for both first-time and experienced gardeners. Traditionally a deep purple root, this versatile veggie actually comes in a variety of colours, all bringing intense earthy flavours when slow roasted or added to soups and salads. Plus, with its underlying sweetness beetroot lends well to cakes and desserts too.

It has been so long since we had been to an RHS Flower Show that to finally be able to attend the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival in July was a real treat!

I’ve been using many products in the Kitchen Garden over the last few weeks, but I've managed to narrow down my top 3 picks for August.

You could sense the excitement from the buzz around the crowd that the long-awaited project was finally open for the world to see. The glorious weather helped to bathe the Wellbeing Garden in all its glory and the stage was set perfectly for the ribbon to be cut by Sir Nicholas Bacon, Baronet OBE (Deputy Lieutenant).

Nothing comes close to home-grown peas for their tenderness and taste. What’s more, peas thrive in cooler climes, so are perfectly suited to growing outdoors in the UK.

June started with a bit of a heatwave and ended with much more unsettled weather, but everything in the kitchen garden has continued to flourish, including the weeds!

One of our oldest cultivated foods, lettuce is the quintessential salad crop that dresses up a garden with its ruffly leaves.

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.