31 October

Hello again!

Well for a total beginner at gardening I can’t help but feel a little proud of myself. I’d never have believed that my kitchen garden would do so well and that I’d have all that homegrown produce to cook with. I was terrified of things like seeds to begin with and I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes when I got brilliant beetroot, carrots, lettuce and basil – all from seed. I’d encourage anyone to have a go at growing something for themselves – even if they’ve only got a little window box. It’s so rewarding being able to pick something that you’ve grown yourself and then cook with it – not to mention good for the environment too.
I love going down to my garden and just picking a carrot and eating it there and then – maybe washing the earth off first though!

My mate and chef Paul Hollywood came round the other day and between the two of us we almost polished off my tomato crop and had a good go at the celery.
We even ate some lettuce – freshly cut from the garden and of course had a couple of carrots too. It all tasted so good and fresh. I think Paul was really surprised as he had no idea I had such green fingers

Happy gardening!

James

21 September: A quick update...

When I first thought of building myself a kitchen garden I would never have believed that I’d eventually have a stall at a farmer’s market offering my own home grown produce to the public. But that’s what happened! Against all the odds – caterpillars, Fudge and the British weather – I have successfully grown enough fruit and veg to feed myself and offer up the odd tomato to the good folks of Hampshire.

In fact, I was so pleased with my tomatoes I challenged people at a farmer’s market to do a taste test with them. Now I know what you’re thinking – he wouldn’t have done a real test… but you’re wrong! I really wanted to know what people genuinely thought of my tomatoes so I went to the nearest supermarket and bought their ‘so called’ organic tomatoes. Then I got people to blind test a supermarket tomato against one of my home grown ones. And guess which tomato was more or less universally preferred? Mine of course! In the end my tomatoes won 17 to 4, or something like that – but to be honest I was too pleased with people’s reactions to count properly!

As well as all that excitement I’ve also had more visitors to my kitchen garden. Chef Martin Blunos came down the other day and we cooked up a beautiful confit of duck with my tomatoes served on the side. He may have 2 Michelin stars to his name but he still appreciates good home grown veg - indeed he liked it so much he left with half my veg garden in his car!

Happy growing!

James

11 August

Well it’s official - my vegetable garden is a success – Charlie Dimmock said so herself! Well, I did cook her lunch! But seriously, it was great to see her, and once she’d looked around she gave me some top gardening tips. She said I’d let my herb garden go to seed – which means that some of them are past their prime. I knew something bad would happen when I went away!

Worse than that she also told me that I had red mite in my greenhouse. I was devastated, but it did help explain why all the leaves on my cucumber plants had just died!
The cucumbers are ok though thankfully, and in fact are the biggest cucumbers I’ve ever seen!

My carrots are also doing particularly fantastically. I harvested a load before Charlie came round and you wouldn’t believe how good they are – truly organic and all weirdly shaped, just like carrots should be! They tasted great too – cooked in a simple vichy style.

And what can I say about my tomatoes? I always wanted to recreate the smell of my uncle’s greenhouse from when I was little. Now when you walk through the door you’re hit by that wonderful aroma of home grown tomatoes. They take a lot of looking after mind but it’s totally worth it when you taste one. I can’t wait to take some of them along to a farmer’s market and see if people can taste the difference between mine and supermarket ones. I’ll bet they can!

Happy gardening!

James

21 July

I’m happy to report that my vegetable garden is going really well – better than I ever expected actually. It was always going to be a bit trial and error and it hasn’t been without problems. All those lettuce seeds I planted did come up but I’d sown so many seeds that I had so much lettuce crammed together that it started to rot. It had to be thinned out otherwise I’d have lost the whole crop. Bugs are a problem too and I can’t even identify which ones are eating my cauliflowers. I think they’re caterpillars. At least Fudge has been a good boy – he hasn’t wrecked a single plant. Famous last words...

But now that the sun is finally here everything is growing like mad. I’m going to have to harvest my potatoes really soon and the radishes have been ready for some time. I ate one the other day – straight from the earth – like a true gardener. I can’t tell you how good it tasted – better than any radish I’ve had from a supermarket. I’m biased though as I grew it!

I’m out of the country for work for a couple of weeks now so I’m trusting my assistant Pippa to keep an eye on things in the garden for me. I’ll be phoning in regularly and I’ll know if she’s telling porkies about the size of my peppers.

Happy gardening!

James

19 June

Hello there! Since I planted up my vegetable and herb garden, we've had a rainy spell. All that rain played havoc with the building work - which has ground to a halt - but the garden absolutely loved it! The plants have shot up - I’d been busy doing cookery demos at a country food fair and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I got back. But this is what I do gardening for – the little rewards you get every time you go into the garden, I’m gobsmacked.

In fact, the herb bed shot up a bit too much and the coriander had to be replaced. Also, the birds got to my cabbages and ate all the insides from all but one, so now there’s one normal sized cabbage and lots of little ones that I had to replant! Still, you live and learn and as I said before, this vegetable garden based on trial and error!

But I can’t tell you how pleased I am that all my hard work seems to be paying off. There are mini apples on the trees and a few tiny green strawberries have appeared. The potatoes are getting really tall and even the carrots that I was a bit worried about have started to shoot.

In the greenhouse it’s always tropical and I’m over the moon that a tiny row of tomatoes has appeared. They’re only little and green but they’re my babies and anyone who harms them will have me to talk to.

But what’s really funny is that when I sowed the lettuce seed I sort of overdid it with the amount of seeds I put in each row - let’s just say that I’m soon going to have A LOT of lettuce. Salad anyone?

Happy gardening!

James

12 June

Hello!

Well I’ve finally done it. I've finally gone and planted myself a vegetable garden! I’m having loads of work done on my new house and garden, and thought why not!?

Since I was a little boy that smell of tomatoes from my uncle’s greenhouse has stayed with me and I’ve always wanted to give gardening a go. Also as a chef, I know lots about the meat and fish I cook with but hardly anything about where the vegetables come from.

Nothing against supermarkets, but often the fruit and veg they sell has been frozen, flown from the other side of the world or mass produced in some greenhouse in Holland. What has happened to our veg? I want to get back to seasonal vegetables that have been grown locally. I don’t want to be eating strawberries in winter!

Also, if all goes well and the vegetables actually come up, I’ll be reducing those air miles to air feet, as the produce travels from my garden to my kitchen!

Although I’ve had some help designing the layout of the vegetable garden – herb bed here, brassicas over there etc – I’m doing all the rest on my tod. That includes planting up all the seedlings, sowing the seeds and maintaining it as it grows.

Of course I’m away loads for work so I’ve added gardening duties to my assistant Pippa’s job description. She might not like it but the fate of my cabbages rests in her hands. She’s also got to stop Fudge digging it all up!

Keep your fingers crossed that it all grows!

James