Kathy Slack on going from advertising burnout to vegetable evangelism

“I really thought I was living the life, but I was completely miserable,” she recalls. “It was the dissonance for me between what I now realise were my values and the values that I was being asked to promote in advertising.”

Kathy describes the onset of her depression as a slow unravelling, rather than a dramatic collapse. “At first you start kind of not sleeping very well… then you start worrying about literally everything… and then it becomes this weird, like weight on your chest of fear, proper visceral, fizzing fear for no reason every day, all the time.” Eventually, even basic tasks became impossible. “I couldn’t remember what day it was… how to start the car.”

Despite commuting from the Cotswolds to London for years, the shift to rural life wasn’t initially a conscious escape. “We’d moved to the Cotswolds a few years before in this quest for greenery and peace… I should have seen that that was the start of it really. That was the start of maybe you don’t fit London life in the way you think you do.”

“It gave me calm”

Kathy’s recovery started in the most unexpected of places – her overgrown vegetable patch. At her lowest point, unable to function and needing round-the-clock care from her partner and mother, she was coaxed into the garden.

“I sat in the veg patch with this cup of tea that Mum had made me… and somehow… I put my hands on the soil… and… all that chatter in my brain just got turned down a bit. And all those fight or flight adrenaline sensors… just cooled a little bit.”

What began as a small moment of peace soon became a lifeline. “I chucked a couple of seeds in the soil… they germinated… and within weeks you’ve got lunch. And it was just extraordinary to me.”

That sense of wonder, of creating something from nothing, was deeply restorative. “It gave me a sense of perspective. It gave me calm… and I thought I was completely useless, nothing but a burden to everyone. And I just fed myself… and I was hooked then.”

“It’s been such a release”

The story of how Kathy came to write Rough Patch is as organic as the vegetables she grows. Initially pitching a cookbook to an agent, she found herself sharing her personal story. “She said, ‘Well, that’s the book, isn’t it?’ And it had never occurred to me before that that might be something to do.”

Although she initially resisted the idea of writing a memoir – “as soon as you say memoir, I just go, oh, I mean, who do I think I am?” – the idea stayed with her. After publishing her first cookbook, she returned to the memoir manuscript with fresh eyes and a new perspective.

Kathy’s honesty has struck a chord with readers and listeners alike, not least because of how rarely such conversations were had when she first experienced her breakdown. “Back then… we didn’t know what a mental health advocate was at all… at a corporate level, it wasn’t something we talked about.”

“Radishes are my kind of gateway drug”

Now firmly rooted in her life as a food writer and gardener, Kathy is on a mission to get people growing and eating more vegetables. As Fortnum & Mason’s veg expert, she runs seasonal cookery sessions and champions simple, joyful growing.

Her top tip for beginners? “Start simple and small and then once you’ve had some wins, start to try some harder things… which is sort of a lesson for life as well.”

She recommends radishes and courgettes as ideal starting points. “With a radish, six weeks and you’re done and you’ve got a meal… and they’re quite straightforward to grow.” Herbs, too, are a great way to begin. “Even just on your windowsill, inside by the sink will do.”

Kathy’s approach to gardening is refreshingly relaxed. “I like that there’s a part of my life that can be joyful and productive, but also often quite messy and a bit of a failure… particularly when you harbour perfectionist tendencies.”

Her passion for vegetables shines through in everything she does – from her marrow jam tartlets to her parsnip and ginger ice cream. “I’m not veggie… but secretly I just want to convert everyone to making vegetables the centre of their plate.”

Ultimately, Kathy’s story is one of resilience, rediscovery, and the quiet power of the natural world. “I just want nature… beautifully presented… because that’s joy as far as I’m concerned.”