HOMES AND GARDENS
IN THE GARDEN
One to one with Lainston House kitchen gardener Stef Bradfield
Stef Bradfield , the smiley head of five-star Lainston House ’ s kitchen garden , knows a lot about growing things . But what makes Stef remarkable is that her encyclopedic knowledge of all things gardening is entirely self-taught .
“ When I was little I ’ d help my grandma , who was an amazing gardener ,” she says . “ My mum bought me a turtle-shaped propagator and I started growing lettuce for my tortoise . From then on I was hooked .”
Fast-forward 20 years and Stef and her partner Jamie – an arborist – took on an allotment . With lots of gleaned family knowledge , the gardening duo were soon generating so much produce they were regularly asked for advice .
“ Although I had no formal qualifications I started gardening professionally for Age UK , helping older people maintain their gardens ,” Stef says . “ When lockdown hit , by which time we had two girls , we spent more and more time on the allotment .”
An application for a head kitchen gardener at Lainston House followed . “ I never thought I ’ d get the job ,” Stef says . “ But I spent hours working on plans for how I felt the kitchen garden should look and coming up with ways to work creatively .”
Her vision for the garden ’ s future paid off : she ’ s now responsible for year-round planning , maintenance and development and works closely with the Wellhouse restaurant , where there ’ s a focus on pickling , smoking and preserving her seasonal produce . It ’ s part of a broader hotel-wide aim to waste as little as possible .
“ Everything is grown organically ,” she says , “ so we do a lot of companion planting , which makes the garden look pretty too . Summer produce includes berries , salad leaves , heritage tomatoes , broccoli , peppers , chillis . beans , peas , cucumbers and sweetcorn .
Last Summer , I grew the first Lainston House melons . One was ceremoniously cut in the kitchen , so we all got a taste , and the rest was frozen and used in cocktails .”
With just a few hours ’ extra help a week , Stef maintains the garden almost single-handedly . “ I love it here ,” she says . “ We offer garden tours now , where I get asked lots of questions about my work . We ’ re hoping to run plant sales this Summer .”
Her proudest moment besides growing the estate ’ s first melons ? “ When Gordon Ramsay came to do some filming he told me he ’ d been looking forward to meeting me as he ’ d heard so much about the garden ,” she says . “ I was chuffed to bits – not for me so much as for the kitchen garden itself .”
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