Make the most of your kitchen garden

Getting out into the garden in winter, even for short spells, keeps things ticking over, especially fruit and veg crops, as Adam Frost explains

- Adam Frost

If I can't get out in the garden as often over the winter, then much of my time will instead be spent cooking. So getting the most out of my kitchen garden is really important to me – it's where I go and play, experiment and lose myself.

I get a huge amount of joy from being able to wander out into the kitchen garden and pick a few bits for the Sunday roast. I'm still cutting herbs, chard, kale and kalettes – a hybrid between kale and Brussels sprouts that I tried last year. Plus, I have garlic and onions stored. It's also great to spend time now planning how the space is going to look this year.

“Just a few hours a week in the garden this month can make all the difference”

I do think February is a funny old month. the shortest and often tiring but perhaps the most important in my gardening year. Not just to get ahead for the season to come, but on a more personal level, just a few hours a week in the garden, staying engaged with what I'm growing, can make all the difference to how I feel.

I’ve also set up my front garden as an ornamental kitchen garden, interplanting ornamentals with fruit, vegetables and herbs, which is ideal if you haven’t got room for a dedicated veg garden. It amazes me that we don’t do this more, as I've noted fewer problems with pests and have used less water than I did when I had traditional veg beds, and it looks great too!