Soil to Table

Bridget Elworthy and Henrietta Courtauld established The Land Gardeners to research soil and plant health through growing, cutting and designing. They are globally renowned for their Constance Spry inspired arrangements of loose, blousy homegrown flowers and stunning organic gardens all founded on healthy soil.

In Soil to Table, Elworthy and Courtauld explore the many ways that gentle, honest food can bring people together. As climate warriors, they have extended their research on soils and compost to farmers and growers offering a regenerative solutions for soil health. They are passionate about healing the soil to enable it to sequester carbon as a solution for climate change and to grow healthy, nutrient-dense food. This book is a natural progression of their expertise, connecting recipes for healthy soils and food.

The Land Gardeners share their love of soil with information on how make your own compost cake, how to prepare your garden beds in spring, testing methods to determine the quality of your soil, and finding the right composting method and ingredients for your garden. Discover how eating food grown in healthy soil can infuse classic and inspiring recipes, from breakfast to Sunday night supper, to desserts, staple sauces and stocks.

With recipes from chef Lulu Cox and paintings by Nancy Cadogan, Soil to Table: Recipes for Healthy Soil and Food is a celebration of the garden and all it can produce.

About the Author

Bridget Elworthy and Henrietta Courtauld both trained and worked as lawyers before studying garden design. Courtauld went on to work with landscape and garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith and then started her own garden design business. Elworthy went on to study horticulture in London before spending three years back in her native New Zealand, where she grew peonies on the family farm, Craigmore, before moving to Wardington Manor. As The Land Gardeners, both Courtauld and Elworthy now specialise in the design of productive gardens - particularly walled gardens. They have combined forces to research soil health and its importance as the source of plant, animal, human, and ultimately, planetary health.

They launched the Farm Project to make high-quality, microbially rich compost on a large scale, with the goal of empowering growers and farmers to do the same. In 2022 they launched their own compost brand, Climate Compost inoculum - a home-made, fertile, life-enhancing compost available by the bag. Their books include Clive Nichols: English Gardens (The Land Gardeners Press, 2014) and The Land Gardeners: Cut Flowers (Thames & Hudson, 2020). Their short film Climate Compost, about the wonder and complexity of soil systems, premiered at the Venice Biennale in 2021.