Hunter’s Guide to the Weekend: THE PIG, Brockenhurst.

With the Field Collection from Hunter lining the hallways of THE PIGs across the South, Hunter visited us on a weekend away to get the inside knowledge on Kitchen Gardening from our Group Head Kitchen Gardener, Ollie Hutson.  

From field to fork, the beating heart of each PIG is the Kitchen Garden, providing zero mile fresh ingredients straight to the plate, and what a mammoth task this is for Ollie and the foragers.

Hunter took a deep dive into Kitchen Gardening 101, learning about the practicality of the garden lay-out, proper planning with a 16-month rigorous growth schedule as well as getting some Top Hutson Tips – hands up if you own a dibber? Ollie swears by them.

Like with everything we do at THE PIG, each detail has been meticulously considered, whether it’s companion planting tomatoes and basil, or planting in blocks of crop instead of the traditional rows to make watering and harvesting more efficient – we call this THE PIG method.

Hutson's Top Tips for Gardeners

• Own a dibber – it's one the best tools you can have.

• In a very hot summer, you can plant vegetables closer together. The shades of the leaves reduce evaporation of the soil, reducing the need for watering and weeding because you will find that the vegetables start to out-compete the weeds for light and nutrients, stealing resources for the weeds to grow.

• If it's a very wet summer, combat problems with mildew and mouldy, fungus-based pest diseases by spreading the spacing of the plants, allowing a bit more air flow around them.

• If frost is forecast, stick a bit of fleece or glass mixing bowl over the top to protect it. "Don’t forget about it, though; plants do need air and water to survive," he stresses.

Click here to read the full Hunter It’s The Weekend: THE PIG, Brockenhurst post, and have a little browse through ‘What to pack to THE PIG’. All photography and image credit to Hunter Boots.