Things to do, places to come for a chat, recipes to cook in June
FREE TO READ: Round up of June events, garden jobs (spoiler: the main job is to chill out) and seasonal mostly-veggie recipes. Plus, a Hay Festival debrief and a little tease...
Welcome to my monthly newsletter - a round-up of news, recipes and life in the veg patch - which is free to all subscribers. If you’ve made it here without subscribing, that’s easily rectified:
Before we tuck in, a request: I bloomin’ love doing this Substack. It takes a lot of time. Joyful time. But time. I try to keep some content free, but paid subscribers go a long way to help covering the costs. If you’d like to consider upgrading to a paid subscription, it costs less than a fancy packet of heritage seeds per month and you’ll receive an invitation to a LIVE cookery class each month (like these), a weekly recipe (like this) and plenty more (see here).
This direct support from readers is huge because it means I don’t spend my days making butter board recipes (or whatever nonsense is trending on TikTok) in order to get my work seen whilst also paying my bills. And, more importantly, you have something better than avocado toast recipes to inspire your cooking.
Whichever subscription you pick, I’m just grateful you’re here. Otherwise it’d just be me and the slugs. So thank you.
Hello you lovely lot
What happened to May? It flew by in a heat haze of Rough Patch events, watering and sunshine didn’t it?
I’ve never know such a warm May. I planted my tender veg out a full fortnight earlier than usual and the rocket went to seed almost as soon as it germinated. Busy times for the watering can.
Anyway, lots to update you on, plenty to cook (including crispy Jersey Royal croutons, yes, you’re welcome) and news of some very exciting events coming up (not least a shameless tease about a glorious and very exclusive collaboration event coming at the end of June).
But before we start, let me hang my A-frame over my shoulders and muster my loudest greengrocer voice to tell you that the unfathomable Amazon algorithm has decided to discount Rough Patch by 40% at the moment.
So buy it quick, before Jeff realises he’s a few quid down and turns it off…
Right, kettle’s on. Pull up a chair…
(TECHNICAL NOTE: There are a LOT of recipes here and they might not all fit in your email. If so, just hit VIEW ENTIRE MESSAGE at the end of the email, or head to the app or online version.)
Hay Festival
I spoke at Hay Festival last week and I have to tell you it was a proper pinch me moment. A career high. I met some amazing fellow food writers, bought a LOT of books, saw some terrific speakers, and ate some fabulous food (most notably Chapters).
I was on stage with Poppy Okotcha, author of A Wilder Way, being interviewed the excellent Tamsin Westhrope and if you’d like to watch a replay (and experience my preoccupation with radishes) you can do that via Hay Anytime. Magic.
Plus, if you missed me showing you around the green room on Substack live, you can rewatch here:
And here’s a debrief in super quick Instagram time:
You won’t be surprised to hear that I needed a long sit down after all that.
Come for a Chat
But it’s no time for sitting down, because there are MANY more events to come.
Look, I know it sounds naff, but the absolutely BEST bit of writing books is those snatched little exchanges you have with people who come to an event. Especially with a book as personal as Rough Patch. Those small moments of connection, a shared sympathy about a similar experience, a tale of how gardening helped a loved one out of a hole, a piece of growing advice, a scribbled down recipe for tarragon vinegar (true)… that’s the juice for me, and it means the world to me.
So I hope you can join me of a chat at one of these events over the summer:
10th June - Good Housekeeping VIP Book Club: I’ll be discussing How to Successfully Pivot Your Life with a panel of writers (6pm, membership required - which is just the click of a button)
14th June - Buckingham Literary Festival: a chat about Rough Patch over a drink and some nibbles, then signing. (1:30pm. £10 including veggie nibbles)
19th-23rd June - Manoir Mouret: my Delicious series collaborator, Kirstie Young, and I will be hosting a 4-day food and photography trip at a beautiful farmhouse where we’ll show you how to let the landscape and potager inspire your cooking and photography. (E1650 inc. food and accommodation).
Here’s a preview:
26th June - London - 🌟 SPECIAL SURPRISE EVENT 🌟: brace yourselves for a super-exciting-mega-special collaboration event you are going to LOVE. Details coming soon. Just be ready for a big dose of self-care.
8th July - Warwick Books: for a chat, some tasters from the book and a seed sowing demo (6:30pm. £18.99 inc book)
11th July - ALSO festival: a chat and cookery demo of recipes from Rough Patch at this glorious festival of ideas, food and music (there’s even a swimming lake).
13th July - Fortnum & Mason Seasonal Sundays: cookery class during which I share my seasonal picks, demonstrate what to do with them and turn them into a delicious lunch. (12-2pm. £45) SOLD OUT. But there’s room on the 14th Sept one.
30th July - Sheffield Library - book chat in the city where I was born. More info soon.
After that, I’m taking a break and then it’s basically Christmas…
Garden Jobs for June
Nothing. Guys. It’s time to enjoy the garden. Yes, I will allow a bit of weeding and watering. And at most you can think about planting out brassicas for the winter. Maybe tie in the runner beans. Pick the crops as they come - I’ve got baby runner and red gooseberries, pictured above. But besides that, I want you to pour a glass of something lovely, and sit. Just sit. You’re welcome.
What to eat in June
The broad beans are on their way, and in the meantime there’s radishes, rocket, endless lettuce and more herbs than I know what to do with. The beetroot is ready too (recipes coming soon). Here’s what to cook with the harvest:
This month in my Delicious magazine column, you’ll find charred lettuce with serrano ham, manchego and crispy Jersey Royals. Plus, white bean, Jersey Royal and sorrel salad (pictured above). Pick up the June issue to get the recipes and you’ll find the archive of all my Delicious column recipes here.
Also on my June menu is:
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