Joanne – the heart and hands behind The Fleur Kitchen

Hello, I’m Joanne—the dreamer, note-scribbler, and accidental gardener behind The Fleur Kitchen.

I’m not a professional grower by any means. I have a “normal” job, and our time in the garden is usually squeezed in between the rainclouds (or spent hiding from them in the shed with a flask of tea). But when the sun peeks out and the soil calls, that’s where you’ll find me.

I’ve always adored gardening—especially flowers. Truth be told, I never planned to grow food. I live in a little Victorian terrace, and outdoor space is more of a luxury than a given. Our front garden is a small courtyard, now lush and full of life, though I’ll sheepishly admit it once held artificial plants.

Our back yard is paved, so everything there grows in pots. Over time, we’ve added evergreen trees, bee-friendly blooms, ivy (yes, it’s maintained, I promise), and even a wildflower window box that runs the full length of our front windows. There’s also an apricot tree that’s gifted us exactly one apricot so far—and a pair of apple trees in old whisky barrels that surprise us each year with a generous harvest.

Cooking has always been a big part of my life. When I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, I had to step away from ultra-processed foods—no e-numbers, no preservatives, no artificial this or that. Once I wrapped my head around it, the most natural next step was to start making more from scratch. So, I applied for an allotment in our village.

Four years later, we got the call and we were presented with this......

We took on the plot in November, when the ground was cold and the trees were bare. I had no clue about growing food in the ground (pots were my comfort zone), no knowledge of soil beyond what came in a bag, and absolutely no idea what companion planting even meant. Thankfully, that first Christmas was full of gardening books—and our plot neighbours, kind as they are, gifted us free plants, advice, and buckets of encouragement.

Having an allotment is so much more than growing your own food. It’s a community, an escape, a rhythm to move with—and a reminder that we’re capable of more than we think.

A few years on, I seem to have found my stride. Turns out, I can grow food—and if I can do it, honestly, so can you.

At The Fleur Kitchen, my role is to find a use for nearly everything we grow. While we do keep a few ornamental bits just for beauty’s sake, most of our plot is edible. This has led me to preserving, fermenting, drying, baking—you name it. The joy is in the challenge of wasting as little as possible.

And so here we are—learning, growing, and sharing as we go.