Rooted in Joy: How Its Laura Kate Started Our Garden

Our garden didn’t start with a grand plan. It started with a handful of herb pots on the patio and a tomato plant that grew far bigger than I expected. That first taste of a sun-warm tomato, picked minutes before eating, was all it took – I was hooked.

When I began looking at food as a way to support my health with PCOS, growing it myself felt like a natural next step. I wanted to know exactly where our food came from and to feel more connected to what ended up on our plates.

How Its Laura Kate Grew a Garden from Scratch

If you’re thinking about starting your own vegetable patch, here’s how we did it – mistakes and all.

Start small

We built two raised beds from untreated timber in the sunniest corner of the garden. Raised beds warm up quickly in spring, drain well and are far easier to keep on top of than digging up a whole lawn.

Feed the soil

We filled the beds with a mix of topsoil and homemade compost. Healthy soil grows healthy plants, so we started a compost bin straight away for kitchen scraps, grass cuttings and cardboard.

Choose easy first crops

• Salad leaves and radishes – quick to grow and great for impatient gardeners.
• Courgettes – one or two plants will feed a family all summer.
• Runner and French beans – pretty, productive and easy to pick.
• Herbs – parsley, mint, chives and basil make every meal taste better.
• Tomatoes – the crop that started it all.

Grow from seed

A sunny windowsill and a few seed trays are all you need. Watching seeds sprout never gets old, and it’s much cheaper than buying plants.

There’s something about growing your own food that slows you down, in the very best way.

Why it matters to me

Gardening gives me fresh, seasonal produce, gentle exercise and time outdoors – all of which support my wellbeing. Most of all it brings joy: the anticipation of the first harvest, the satisfaction of a full basket, and the hope that our children will grow up knowing where food really comes from.

The garden was only the beginning. Before long I had my name down for an allotment, and that’s a whole other adventure.