The Family Kitchen Garden

Why we saved an old kitchen garden, The Times, 17 April 2010

Between 2005 and 2009 we ran a charity in the old kitchen garden at Chiswick House in West London. We restored the old walled gardens, ran educational sessions for local schools, drop-in sessions for everyone, and fought off threats to build a retail outlet, then a corporate car park within the historic area that had been a garden for over three hundred years. By the time we handed the garden back to the authorities, who had finally seen reason, along with 3 years' funding, we had created a beautiful sustainable and productive garden with 'the largest collection of historic fruit and vegetable plants in London' (Guardian, 15 June 2010). For more information, see:

www.kitchengarden.org.uk

The lessons we learnt from working and gardening, growing vegetables in the garden, with so many children over the years have been gathered together into a book, The Family Kitchen Garden. It’s a guide to how you can create your own productive garden, grow your own food and involve your family. It gives clear instructions on growing vegetables, fruit, herbs and cutting flowers. It notes 'child-friendly' vegetables and gives tips on approaching gardening activities with children with month-by-month advice. There are also recipes using homegrown fruit and veg that kids will want to make and eat and children's activities, projects accessible to the whole family, such as building a ladybird nesting house and weaving a willow wigwam. Kitchen gardening beautifully explained.