Rooted in Joy: How Its Laura Kate Started Our Garden

There was no big plan behind our garden. It began with a few herb pots on the patio and one tomato plant that outgrew every expectation I had. The first bite of a sun-warmed tomato, picked just minutes before it reached my plate, was enough – I was completely hooked.

Once I started seeing food as a way to look after my health with PCOS, growing some of it myself felt like the obvious next step. I wanted to know precisely where our food came from, and to feel a closer connection to whatever landed on our plates.

How Its Laura Kate Grew a Garden from Scratch

If you’re thinking about starting your own vegetable patch, this is how we went about it – mistakes included.

Start small

We made two raised beds out of untreated timber and put them in the sunniest spot in the garden. Raised beds warm up fast in spring, drain nicely and are much simpler to manage than digging up an entire lawn.

Feed the soil

The beds were filled with a blend of topsoil and compost we’d made ourselves. Good soil grows good plants, so we set up a compost bin right away for kitchen scraps, grass clippings and cardboard.

Choose easy first crops

• Salad leaves and radishes – fast growers and perfect if you’re impatient.
• Courgettes – just one or two plants will keep a family fed all summer.
• Runner and French beans – attractive, generous croppers and simple to harvest.
• Herbs – parsley, mint, chives and basil lift the flavour of any meal.
• Tomatoes – the crop that began the whole adventure.

Grow from seed

All you really need is a bright windowsill and a few seed trays. Seeing seeds come up never loses its magic, and it costs far less than buying ready-grown plants.

Growing your own food has a way of slowing you down – and that’s a very good thing.

Why it matters to me

Gardening hands me fresh seasonal produce, gentle exercise and hours outside – all things that support my wellbeing. Above all, though, it brings joy: the thrill of waiting for that first harvest, the satisfaction of a full basket, and the hope that our children grow up understanding where their food truly comes from.

The garden turned out to be just the start. It wasn’t long before I’d put my name down for an allotment – and that’s an entirely different adventure.