Mark Diacono, award-winning food and garden writer, is lucky enough to spend most of his time eating, growing, writing and talking about food—and we’re thrilled to be welcoming him to Toby’s Garden Festival this year, where he will be speaking and compèring.
Known for growing everything from Szechuan pepper to pecans and Asian pears, Mark’s refreshing approach to growing and eating has inspired a new generation to grow some of what they eat.
He was involved in the early days of River Cottage, appearing in the TV series and writing four accompanying books. Mark is also a columnist for The Sunday Times, Guardian Food Quarterly, and Country Life, hosts Café Murano and Limewood book clubs with Angela Hartnett, is an RHS Gardens advisor, and writes to a global audience through his best-selling Substack, Mark Diacono’s Abundance.
🌿 In Conversation with Mark Diacono
Ahead of his appearance at Toby’s Garden Festival this May, we caught up with Mark to talk about adventurous edibles, seasonal living, and the joy of growing your own.
For beginners, what’s one ‘unexpected’ crop that’s easy to grow but feels exciting?
Szechuan pepper is a great place to start. It’s easy to grow in a container or in the ground, and as well as having wonderfully aromatic, punchy leaves, you’ll get your own homegrown pepper from summer into autumn.
Do you think British gardens are becoming more adventurous when it comes to edible plants?
They certainly are. The shift towards more perennial edibles and mixing edibles in with ornamentals has been building over the last 15 years, and it’s now reaching a much wider audience of gardeners.
If someone wanted to transform their meals through what they grow, where should they start?
Half a dozen containers of easy-to-grow perennial herbs can completely change the way you eat. Start with variations on the familiar—ginger rosemary, lemon thyme, Vietnamese coriander—and don’t forget lemon verbena.
Do you think writing about food and gardening helps people reconnect with nature?
Absolutely. Sharing the pleasure and rewards of growing and eating your own produce can really inspire people to give it a go. For me, it was Monty Don’s early writing and Sarah Raven’s first Kitchen Garden Cookbook, among others, that sparked the idea and helped me imagine how I might begin.
What do you enjoy most about speaking at events like Toby’s Garden Festival?
Being surrounded by people who are interested in food and growing is always inspiring. The rewards of growing what you eat are much easier to share when you have the plants—and something to taste. Even if people know and love something like lemon verbena, they might not know how to use it, and events are the perfect place to share ideas and let people try a few tasters.
What are you hoping visitors take away from your talks this year?
I hope people leave with a few new ideas to try in their gardens and kitchens, a sense of how many wonderful flavours lie beyond the familiar, and that they’ve had a great time in the process.
Why are festivals like this so important for inspiring new growers?
Festivals bring together a wide range of experts who can have a real impact in a short space of time. You might pick up useful tips, discover ideas you hadn’t considered, or connect with people and networks that are completely new to you.
What continues to inspire you after so many years of growing and writing?
There are always new plants to discover, new approaches, and people doing things differently. Festivals like Toby’s are often where you stumble across those ideas. And platforms like Substack—a global network of writers and readers—are a brilliant way to connect with gardeners around the world and open yourself up to fresh perspectives.
If you could persuade everyone to grow just one thing differently this year, what would it be—and why?
Grow big flavours rather than big volume. A handful of something like orange thyme, Japanese pepper or Vietnamese coriander can transform your meals and bring huge pleasure without taking much space, time or effort.
In Abundance, you explore a year of growing and eating in an immersive way—what did that experience teach you about living more seasonally?
It taught me more than I expected. Prioritising time in your garden or local environment—observing as much as doing—puts your mind into a different rhythm, and the rewards can be unexpected. By paying closer attention, I started noticing small details that added real depth to my life. For example, I realised it wasn’t just “blackbirds” singing at 5am, but a particular blackbird that had returned. That curiosity led me to learn more—when and why they sing—and, just as importantly, how to make my garden a place that supports them.