I knew nothing about growing fruit and veg until 1996 when my partner (now husband) Steve decided to dig over a bit of our back garden to grow a few vegetables. Two years later we took on an allotment plot and a year later we took over our second allotment plot. In 2004 I published "Hazel's Homegrown - the kitchen gardeners kitchen and garden handbook", a book all about how to grow fruit and vegetables and what to do with the stuff once you have.

I set up Hazel's Homegrown on ebay to sell my now numerous recipe books, plus seeds and other kitchen and gardening items. We still have two allotments which we enjoy with our two daughters, and I also run an after school gardening club once a week at a local school.