Fall in love with mud and get 'green-fingered' with our brand New ‛Mini Gardener' feature. A joint effort by our very own MumKnowsBest Nutritionist Rachael Anne Hill and Gardening Expert Nigel Snow.

Children are naturally inquisitive and love to learn so one of the very best ways to inspire them to want to eat healthy, nutritious food is to involve them in some way, no matter how small, in growing, producing and cooking their own. That's why, we're delighted to announce the launch of a brand new expert page on MumKnowsBest - ‛The Mini Gardener'.

Over the coming months you'll not only find lots of great ideas for ways in which you and your children can ‛grow your own' no matter how little time or space you may have but Nigel Snow, our new expert gardener will be sharing all sorts of hints and tips on interesting, practical, easily achievable, fun ways you and your family can get your hands dirty and re-connect with the seasons.

We have also set our expert nutritionist, Rachael Anne Hill - a self confessed fruit and vegetable growing novice who, in her own words "has the ability to kill a house plant dead within 24 hours of bringing it home."

The challenge - (under the expert guidance of Nigel) to take a small, bare patch of land on her smallholding in Cheshire (Heald Farm) and transform it, within a year, into a flourishing, productive and organic kitchen garden capable of feeding at least a family of four!

Over the coming months we'll be following their progress (pictures and all) so if you've always fancied the idea of creating your own productive kitchen garden but simply didn't know where to start why not take advantage of the free expert guidance on hand and come along for the ride! Just be sure to send us your pictures and let us know how you get on! So here goes...

The Mini Gardener - March

Rachael - down at Heald Farm ......
As a nutritionist I am all too well aware of the massive health benefits associated with eating seasonal, naturally produced, local fruit and vegetables and consequently, have always longed for my own productive (dare I say flourishing?) fruit and vegetable garden. However, with a knowledge of gardening so small you could write it on a postage stamp I had some what pushed this long held ambition to the back of my mind. Now however, with the promise of as much help and guidance as I might need from gardening expert Nigel Snow I have decided to accept MumKnowsBest's challenge to create my long awaited fruit and vegetable plot. Here's how we've set about doing it ..........

Choosing the Location
I started by deciding on an area within my garden that I'd like to make into an established vegetable plot. Several factors had to be taken into account ...

Soil Quality
Although starting with a good quality soil is a real blessing Nigel explained that even if the soil quality was poor it could be improved. Too much clay can be improved by adding bulky organic material like, garden compost or strawy farmyard manure something to open it up, and poor soil or even no soil can be rectified by importing good quality top soil and well rotted manure.

Orientation and light
One major stipulation was that the site needed to be in full sun at least for the afternoons, when the sun is at its highest and brightest. Light is all important, try to ensure the plot isn't overshadowed by tall trees, hedges or buildings.

Wind
The strength and direction of the wind is another factor to be taken into consideration but again, action can be taken to make growing conditions more favourable by erecting timber windbreaks, planting hedges, growing living screens out of willow for example or even espaliered fruit trees (fruit trees that have their branches trained along wires to grow out in straight lines).

Luckily, Nigel advised me that the area I had chosen - a 12 m x 14m west facing plot passed the location test with flying colours. Now for the hard work to begin!

Designing the Space
Well - the term ‛design' may be a little grand here. Nigel explained that there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to the layout of a kitchen garden so you can be as creative (or in my case, as non-creative as you like). However, he did suggest we use raised beds to grow in rather than planting straight into the ground. These are preferable for a number of reasons. ...

No digging required.

• No bad backs as the beds are raised top a more manageable height.
• Raised beds often look neater
• The raising of the beds improves drainage, allowing the soil to warm up quicker, therefore you will be able to sow earlier and crop longer.

We decided on a row or four raised beds with a gap of approximately one metre in between (large enough to easily accommodate a wheel barrow). This was partly because four beds of this size and spacing fitted the allocated area perfectly and also because four separate beds will easily accommodate a ‛rotation system'. This is a system of planting that enhances soil quality and limits the spread of diseases. The basis of the idea is that some vegetables don`t like freshly applied manure (e.g. carrots), but some do such as potatoes, so you can already see the first year you manure and grow potatoes, the second year you don`t manure and you grow great carrots. One other reason is disease, usually the culprits here are onions so we rotate these in as many different places as practical, and this helps control a residual build up of problems. Pests can also be duped in this way too, so we move the cabbage as well,.... it'll all become clear when we do it.

We also decided to build an additional, narrower bed (approximately half a metre wide) for asparagus. This is because asparagus plants, once planted have to stay there. They also take two to three years of growing before you can harvest any of the stems however, I have so often heard that because the sugars in asparagus begin to deteriorate the minute it is picked the best (and apparently once tried, the only) way to eat fresh asparagus is when it has been picked within a few minutes of hitting the kitchen. Consequently, I now have this breakfast ambition to be able to nip out of the back door, pick some fresh asparagus spears, steam them, wrap them in lightly cooked bacon and dip them in a freshly boiled egg (from one of our obliging chickens!) - hence the reason for the asparagus bed! (More about planting asparagus next month).

Making the Raised Beds
Raised beds can be made out of all sorts of materials - old fencing rails, bricks, breeze blocks even old tractor tyres. Just avoid using treated sleepers as toxins in the creosote they are often coated in can leek into the soil.

We used old scaffolding planks for our beds simply because I picked them up from our local agricultural auction very cheaply. They have, however, turned out to be ideal as they are strong, non-treated and the right width to ensure the beds are 25-30 cms high. Each raised bed should be wide enough so you can reach their centre easily (no more than 1m is ideal - particularly if you plan to get the children actively involved in growing) and the length of the beds will be dependant on how much space you have and how much you want to grow. However, if you plan to make them any longer than four metres you will need a bridge (a plank placed across the beds will do) to step on to get across to the other side. Stepping on the soil is a no-no as it compacts the ground reducing it's ability to breathe and impeding it's ability to drain freely.

To build the beds we bought two foot 2"x2" timber steaks from the local builder's merchants. Drove them into the ground and nailed the timber planks to them.

Preparing the Beds
Once the beds were built we filled the base of the beds with approximately four inches of well rotted compost (from the compost bins we had made the previous year) and manure (kindly delivered by our local farmer in exchange for a home-made apple crumble and a four pack of beer!). WE then buried the manure with another four inches or so of good quality top soil. This was ordered from a local supplier and delivered loose which meant is was cheaper than buying in 25kg bags or one ton bags. Of course, for a smaller space the bags can be a very good, easier option.

Time to Get Sowing
With the beds prepared we are finally ready to start sowing. Choosing what to plant is an art form in itself however Nigel (very practically) advises growing what you know you'll eat so I decided to make a list of all the vegetables we routinely eat on a weekly basis. We will then use this list as a basis for a sowing plan with perhaps one or two additions such as broad beans (which we don't currently eat much of but Nigel advises are great to plant with children as they grow so rapidly and produce fabulous flowers).

Tune in next month to find out what we decide to have a go at growing at Heald Farm!

Mini Growers for March - Potatoes