OUR PLOTTER OF THE MONTH

Last year we officially launched a competition to find 12 readers and their plots that would feature in Kitchen Garden magazine throughout 2022. Here we feature our latest winner

LAURA TWEEDALE FROM EAST CHESHIRE

This month we meet Laura who is an author, blogger and passionate about living sustainably and growing healthy food for her family.

Do you have an allotment or veg patch in your garden?

We have a small, west-facing garden, measuring 8x12m (26x39ft), in a suburban town in East Cheshire. In a cottage garden style, we grow our edibles cheek-by-jowl alongside our perennials and cut flowers, the chickens and the children, filling every space in the hope of providing a garden that is both beautiful and productive.

How long have you been growing veg?

I’ve been growing organically here for the past eight years, but I was raised by a family of passionate gardeners, so gardening has been a part of my entire life in some guise. My late grandfather was an allotmenteer and urban beekeeper, and my mother has taught me more than any book. She is my gardening hero.

Why did you start growing your own veg?

I hadn’t taken growing our own food very seriously until, in 2018, I suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum – severe nausea and vomiting in pregnancy – while I was expecting our son. I was sick for almost 30 weeks and found I could no longer tolerate any form of synthetic fragrances. It revolutionised our life. Suddenly, I was reading the lists of ingredients on the back of everything we wanted to bring into our home, and my eyes were opened to how much we bring into our home, without questioning what’s in it. As we started our journey towards zero waste living, we started taking growing our own edibles more seriously.

Do you share your plot with other people?