Modern heroes of horticulture - Kathy Slack
Kathy Slack’s story is one of inspiration to anyone caught in a career trajectory spiralling out of control. Trapped in the corporate world of advertising, her journey from burnout and a bout of debilitating depression, to award winning food writer really demonstrates the power that food and gardening can have when we hit rock bottom. Now with two books, magazine columns, and a passionate commitment to seasonal, vegetable-inspired cooking, she has emerged as a leading voice in the world of food writing.
Growing up in suburban England with a back garden and memories of climbing trees and playing outdoors, Kathy’s first job after university was front of house theatre work. It wasn’t long though before she thought “I really need to knuckle down and get ‘a proper job’.” After some searching she found herself being accepted onto a graduate recruitment scheme in advertising. All went well but twelve years working in this incredibly high pressure industry led Kathy into a slump of depression. At the time, she was living in the Cotswolds and commuting four hours a day. “It was pretty full on at the best of times.” she says “So unsurprisingly, my body and my brain gave out eventually. But I knew the countryside and gardening was solace of some sort for me.”
Recovering in the Cotswolds, the garden became more and more important as a form of therapy and at this point Kathy realised the world of advertising wasn’t for her. “The answer was to make this my life instead. The garden had taught me all these life lessons that 35 years of life at the time could not teach me."
To gain experience in the world of food and gardening she took placements at Thyme cookery school in Southrop, Gloucestershire before moving to Daylesford in the north Cotswolds. A full time position in the cookery school became available and Kathy jumped at the opportunity. “I'm definitely a cook who grows food. I'm not a gardener that happens to cook” she says. It suited her perfectly. She was in the cookery school for a number of years before starting private chefing and cookery classes.
By now Kathy had developed a style focused on seasonal, locally-inspired vegetables. "I knew it had to be about food that was inspired by the land, the seasons, and nature, because my style is definitely very rustic. I want you to feel like it's just come out of the vegetable patch."
Passion, authenticity, determination, and creativity are virtues that rarely go unnoticed and, with publishers always hunting for writers with these traits, it wasn’t long before Kathy was spotted. She now has a life to inspire anyone with doubts about making changes to their life or career path.
Her month now comprises writing and cookery demonstrations with a monthly column ‘In my Veg Patch’ for ‘Delicious’ magazine and contributions to BBC Gardener’s World as their food writer.
She is still drawn to the big smoke from time to time, though under rather more enjoyable conditions where she works with Fortnum & Mason as their vegetable expert, hosting lunch events and demonstrations.
Kathy’s first book 'From the Veg Patch' was published in 2021 during the covid pandemic and is a year-long vegetable journey featuring ten easy-to-grow favourites with beautiful photography and seasonal recipes making vegetables the star of the show. One thing it taught Kathy is that, in the current publishing world, "you have to be a one-stop shop" and "gone are the days" when you'd have separate professionals for photography, styling, and writing”. This keeps Kathy in control of her photography and as a visual thinker she wants to make her content "enticing in a very particular way" especially when trying to inspire people to grow their own food or cook more seasonally. Her photography skills are self-taught, starting in her university photography club days with dark rooms and trays of chemicals.
Kathy’s second book 'Rough Patch’ followed in February of 2025 and is a personal narrative, following her journey from advertising to cooking and gardening. It focuses on her experience with depression, burnout, and anxiety and reveals how reconnecting with soil, growing food, and cooking, restored hope and gave her a new life.
Kathy’s writing hasn’t gone unnoticed. She was shortlisted for ‘Best Cookbook’ at the Fortnum & Mason Awards in 2019 and Delicious magazine included it in their top 25 cookery books for 2021.
Online, Kathy has an account on SubStack called ‘Tales from the Veg Patch’ with weekly recipes and live cooking classes. These are held in her ‘greenhouse kitchen’, a unique location where she does her monthly live demonstrations, setting up her phone camera to broadcast. She humorously recalls one particularly challenging day when the temperature in the greenhouse reached 34 degrees, making cooking quite uncomfortable. Despite the challenges, she sees the greenhouse as a perfect and distinctive location for her cooking, adding a personal and rustic touch to her online classes.
As a successful author Kathy does frequent book tours and festival appearances to promote her books. To discover more subscribe to her newsletter at www.kathyslack.com. kathyslack.substack.com/ or on instagram at gluts_gluttony.
