If there’s one thing I love in life, I mean really, passionately adore, it’s vegetables. Sure, I love my dog and my parents and all that too. But what stirs in me genuine awe-filled wonder, what I worship with all the zeal of a fanatic, are plants.
Hello you lovely lot.
I’m Kathy. I’m a food writer, cook, veg grower and London ratrace escapee (more on that in a mo’). I’ve written two books - From the Veg Patch (a cookbook) and Rough Patch (a memoir with recipes).
My plan here is twofold:
…to share simple, seasonal recipes made for people who aren’t necessarily vegetarian but want to eat less meat.
And:
…to reconnect with the land by inviting you into my garden with uplifting stories about growing my own food and the healing powers of nature.
More about that below. But first:
Why?
Well. Are you veggie? No. Me neither. But I do LOVE vegetables. And growing them. I want to put veg at the centre of your plate (maybe your life too, as they are in mine).
Whenever I chat to people at events, they almost always say they aren’t vegetarian, but they want to eat less meat. I couldn’t agree more. Many of us are now mostly veggie. So let’s cook that way. We don’t have to cook meals that are either vegetarian or meaty. We don’t have to pick a side. It’s dinner, not Brexit. In fact, sometimes the odd anchovy can make our hero harvest sing even more sweetly.
And it’s harvests I’m obsessed with – all my recipes are inspired by my back garden veg patch and the Cotswolds (UK) landscape where I live which give me endless ways to cook beautiful, simple, convivial food that get’s you closer to the land that grew it.
Because I believe food can help us reconnect with nature and nature is a healer.
Maybe it’s everyday niggles or maybe you, like me, have cowered under the duvet as you felt the world fall down around your ears – either way, I have found nature, and especially growing food, to be restorative and comforting in a way I never imagined during my days in the London ratrace. So, if you need of a dose of nature for better mental health, then my garden gate is open in the form of tales from the patch and the fields beyond.
And you are…?
I’m a cook, author, veg grower and sometimes photographer who worked in advertising agencies in London for more than a decade before burnout and depression took hold and I escaped to the Oxfordshire countryside, finding solace, and a new career, in the veg patch. Full, grizzly details in my latest book, Rough Patch:
And here too:
Once I was well enough to work again, I abandoned adland and got a job at Daylesford Organic Farm before becoming a full-time writer and presenter.
My first cookbook, From the Veg Patch was named one of the Top 25 cookbooks in 2021 by Delicious magazine.
My second book, Rough Patch, came out in 2025.
I wrote a regular recipe column in Delicious magazine and also write for BBC Gardeners’ World.
I am Fortnum & Mason’s Veg Expert, hosting cookery classes in store.
I’ve won some awards, but failed to win more so forgive me if I brag about the wins briefly:
Guild Food Writers Best Cookbook 2022, finalist
Garden Media Guild Awards Best Audio Broadcast 2022, finalist
Guild Food Writers Best Online Food Writer 2019 and 2021
BOOM Soil Association Awards Best Blog 2019
Young British Foodies Vegetable winner 2019
Ok. It’s all getting a bit LinkedIn, so let’s move on.
What’s included in a subscription?
An invitation to come with me into my kitchen and veg patch. To cook along live in my greenhouse kitchen, follow the seasons together and join my mission to get closer to nature through food.
I think of ‘Tales from the Veg Patch’ as a virtual delivery of seasonal veg from my patch to your inbox. Recipes, stories & live cooking classes that will inspire, restore & reconnect you with nature.
If you’d like to come through the garden gate, a subscription gets you:
Your seat at my kitchen table in a monthly collection of tales, recipe inspo, goings on in the patch.
A season ticket to my greenhouse kitchen. Cook with me live in my greenhouse kitchen classes; veg growing masterclasses and community chats with fellow growers and cooks.
A new recipe on your table every Wednesday. With whatever the garden gives us. Mud included. (And a handy PDF recipe card to print out and collect like in the olden days.)
Come geek out every fortnight in Hero Harvest where one vegetable gets the full main character treatment — recipes, growing guides, BTS videos and tips on capturing its beauty in food and photos.
200+ seasonal recipes at your fingertips, whenever you need them in the archive.
I’ve even made a fancy powerpoint slide that explains exactly What’s Included and When You’ll Get It. (Yes, really. Would you expect anything less form an ex-advertising exec?):
I think that covers it. I hope you’ll find ideas, inspiration and a collection of like minds here in my little corner of nature. Thank you for joining me.
