When Kathy was forced to quit her high-flying career in London, she was a wreck – burnt out, anxious, consumed by depression. But she found solace in an unlikely place – the veg patch. She put her hands in the soil and found a way to grow, to sow some small seeds of hope.

In Rough Patch, Kathy draws us into the world of the kitchen garden to reflect on the lessons she learnt from the soil, along with sharing recipes inspired by the land. Weaving together her own story of recovery with the year she spent growing and cooking her harvests, Kathy realises that the two are tightly bound together and that reconnecting with the earth could restore her hope and renew her life. Along the way there are tales of marauding pigs, transformative insights from planting leeks, recipes for an unchecked courgette glut and the discovery of why a radish seed is worth staying alive for. The result is a candid, hopeful and sometimes funny story about the healing powers of nature; a quiet manifesto for a more connected life.

Author Biography

Kathy Slack is a food writer, stylist, photographer and kitchen gardener who previously worked at Daylesford Organic Farm, before becoming a full-time writer and recipe developer, teaching cookery demonstrations with harvests from her garden, as well as food styling, developing recipes and hosting events for brands and publications.

Kathy’s first book, From the Veg Patch, was named one of the Top 25 cookbooks in 2021 by Delicious magazine and was shortlisted for The Guild of Food Writers Award for Best Cookbook 2022. She was a columnist for Delicious magazine and now writes for various magazines as well as her own bestselling Substack newsletter, Tales from the Veg Patch.

Kathy is Fortnum and Mason’s vegetable expert, hosting events and talks about growing food at the Food and Drink Studio. She also gives talks and demonstrations at various festivals, including the RHS Festival of Flavours, Big Feastival, Rock Oyster and Wilderness, all with a focus on growing and cooking your own food.

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