Vicki Cooke

Vicki Cooke explores the virtues of The king of herbs – basil and offers some expert advice regarding taste and flavour

Broad beans are an easy vegetable to grow and much more robust than French or runner beans. Why not give them a go in your garden this year?

Get adventurous with your onions this year and try growing some unusual varieties from seed. Vicki Cooke, the former Royal Kitchen Garden Keeper at Hampton Court Palace, shows you how.

One of the easiest fruit you can grow in your garden is rhubarb. Vicki Cooke raises the humble rhubarb to gourmet status.

Royal Kitchen Garden Keeper at Hampton Court Palace Vicki Cooke explores the history and uses of the fascinating quince

Get ideas for preserving fruit in alcohol and make your own fruit brandy and liqueurs.

If there’s one fruit that’s suited to our inclement weather, it’s the apple, says former Royal Kitchen Garden Keeper at Hampton Court Palace, Vicki Cooke.

Former Hampton Court Palace Kitchen Garden Keeper, Vicki Cooke, explains the benefits of hedges and what to grow to create an edible hedge.

Vicki Cooke unravels some of the mysteries and historical facts about growing figs in Britain

Here’s some top tips on preserving vegetables by pickling them. This is good for onions, cucumbers and beetroot to name a few veg.

Vicki Cooke explores a few historical plants that have been enjoyed in the garden and as edible flowers, including courgettes, marigolds and nasturtiums.

There’s more to radishes than a just a quick filler crop or something for the children’s garden. Vicki Cooke extolls the virtues of the humble radish.

Take a closer look at the underrated cabbage, says former Hampton Court Kitchen Garden Keeper Vicki Cooke

Is your festive offering fit for a King or Queen? Just what was on the Christmas table fresh from the garden three hundred years ago?

Some of the historical techniques that were employed by gardeners decades ago are just as relevant today, especially when it comes to crop rotations.

As the seasons start to turn and the garden harvest wanes a little, plan ahead and sow some corn salad, it’s undemanding and a great choice.

Are all salads created equal? Not when it comes to the matter of nutrition. Vicki Cooke explores vitamin-rich salads.

Grow your own courgettes this year in your vegetable garden and you won’t need to worry about the weather in Spain causing a courgette crisis!

Garlic is one of the easiest vegetable crops to grow in the garden. Read our advice and tips on planting, choosing varieties and growing.

Vicki Cooke Kitchen Garden Keeper at Hampton Court Palace, offers timely advice on sowing and growing from seed.

What’s red in tooth and paw? Vicki Cooke unearths and explores the myth and magic of mulberries

Grow salad all year round with these tips from the gardeners of yesteryear. Plant and sow now for delicious and nutritious winter ingredients.

Vicki Cooke explores and unravels the beautiful flat flowerheads of the carrot or umbellifer family

Have you ever wondered about growing foxgloves in your garden? Vicki Cooke unravels some of the myths and magic of these wonderful plants

It is perfectly possible to grow peppers and chillies in the UK, indoors or a hot spot outside. Vicki Cooke gives growing advice, tips and her fav varieties.

Tips and advice on growing melons from Hampton Court’s Kitchen Garden keeper, Vicki Cooke.

Vicki Cooke, kitchen garden keeper at the Royal Hampton Court Palace, reveals some historical tricks of the trade to force plants into growth out of season

Vicki Cooke extols the virtues of the humble blackberry.

Vicki Cooke, Kitchen Garden Keeper at Hampton Court Palace explores the sweet and the sharp of gooseberries