Lucy Hutchings - Get Up and Grow: Herb, Vegetable and Fruit Growing Projects for Both Indoors and Outdoors

CONTENTS

Happiness has always been my goal in life and in growing my own food I have felt the ultimate warm fuzzy glow.

Its no secret that growing and living with plants has a positive effect on mental and physical wellbeing. What could be more rewarding than nurturing a baby plant to adulthood and reaping the subsequent fruits of your labour? In a time of plastic-wrapped, intensively farmed, chemically laden produce, to have complete confidence in the provenance and security of your food must be the ultimate modern-day luxury. Nutrient levels in freshly picked food are substantially higher than shop-bought produce so we can say with confidence that growing your own food is good for the mind, the body and the heart.

My journey into the world of horticulture did not take, shall we say, the most well-trodden path. My first career was in fashion and for eight years I ran my own eponymous couture jewellery label. I was incredibly lucky and for many years lived a life that I had thought was my dream. Celebrities such as Cheryl Cole were fans of my work; I made stage outfits for artists like Kylie Minogue; my designs were featured in all the leading glossy magazines and my line was sold in some of the worlds best-known stores. Dream job, right? Well, in theory, but as I came to a crunch point in my career, I faced the choice of taking the label to the next level or walking away. Crazy as it may sound, I had a moment of clarity and realised that I had been caught up in a whirlwind and that I hadnt noticed I was miserable. So, I did the unthinkable: I walked away. Like many creatives, the following years were filled with a diversity of projects, from multiple house renovations to art fairs, oh, and a couple of beautiful little girls came along! However, through it all my years in fashion, getting to grips with motherhood, even my years at art school there was one constant: I grew food. One way or another I always had something edible on the go, from herbs on the windowsill to lemon trees in my living room, from vertical herb gardens, to a windowbox vegetable patch on a fifteenth-floor balcony: growing food made me deeply and uncomplicatedly happy. So, when at the start of 2018 I was going through a deeply stressful life event and needing serious distraction, I turned again to my passion for growing edible plants and I can honestly say I have never looked back.

I started the @shegrowsveg Instagram account to engage with a younger global gardening community, never anticipating that it would gain the following and support that it quickly did. I retrained in horticulture and garden design, with the plan of becoming an edible garden designer. However, by the time I finished my training, the running of @shegrowsveg had become a full-time job and I have ended up with a career in garden media that grew organically. I am now privileged to champion heritage and heirloom vegetable varieties, charities and developers from around the world and am passionate about innovation in high-tech, future-proof food-growing. I am also lucky enough to visit some incredible projects around the world and to raise awareness of what can and is being done. However, I am never happier than when Im in my greenhouse surrounded by a mind-boggling array of rare heirloom tomatoes which are the real stars of my Instagram account and blog.

Perhaps it is because I came in from left-field and because of my background in design, but I perceive there to be a large disconnect between ornamental gardening, houseplant-lovers and grow-your-own enthusiasts and I dont get it! Aesthetics are important to me and I honestly believe you can have both beauty and abundant harvests; you can create the perfect botanical interior and reap a harvest from it too. Lets face it, the space for a designated kitchen garden is a serious luxury these days. Why should apartment dwellers, balcony gardeners or small garden owners be excluded from a taste of the good life just because of the traditional image of how food can and should be grown. It is time for a shake up, no more crops in pots or cabbages in your flower beds, it is my aim with this book to show just what it is possible to create with edible plants. I have turned my designers eye on the world of grow your own and offer you a range of projects for all skill levels and for all spaces. Many of the projects are for indoors. A lack of outside space should not preclude you from enriching your life with home-grown food, plus indoor-growing offers the opportunity to break the rules and cheat the seasons. I will show you how you can grow your food beautifully and do it all year round goodbye shrivelled market vegetables flown in from halfway around the world.

And thats another reason I am so passionate to share this book and hope to ignite a fire for self-sufficiency in you. So much of our food is flown in from other countries, giving it an epic carbon footprint. Youve heard of the concept of food miles, the lower the food miles of your diet, the less impact your diet is having on this amazing planet we live on. The fact is that if we only ate what is seasonally available from our immediate environment the world would be a far healthier place as, almost certainly, would we. I dont pretend that this is a realistic lifestyle for most people, however being conscious of our food miles and how our food is produced will always steer us in a better direction. And what better way to instantly reduce our food miles than to start producing some of it at home?

As you move through this book you can pick and choose projects that will suit your home and your lifestyle. Youll find general guidance on growing, plus detailed care guidelines relevant to each project. You will also find a bit of sciencey stuff. Personally, I have always preferred to understand why I am doing something, not just to be told what I am supposed to do. It is easier to understand why something is done a certain way when you understand the cause and effect of your actions.

By the end of this book I hope you will be bursting with ideas and inspiration to create a truly jaw-droppingly beautiful, edible home to make you happier, healthier and feel like you are taking a step in the right direction for the planet. Whether you copy the projects exactly using the comprehensive list to bring each project off the page and into your reality, or if the projects spark your creativity to take the concept and run with it, it is my honour to share my passion with you.