East End Paradise: Kitchen Garden Cooking in the City

Those of us living in towns and cities might think that the pleasures of growing our own food, watching the seasons pass with the changing produce and getting our hands stuck in to the soil are beyond our reach. But a growing number of urban dwellers are realising that there are ways of connecting with the land, and enjoying the sheer pleasure of watching something grow. Jojo Tulloh takes us to her inner-city allotment and guides us through a year of cooking, inspired by the food that has sprung from her surprisingly fertile patch of East London waste-ground. Making good, fresh, seasonally-inspired meals doesn't have to be the preserve of those with ten acres and a walled garden; even the most hardened urbanites among us can grow herbs on a window ledge. It is possible to live a life connected to the earth without giving up the joys of the city - even if you don't have an allotment or vegetable garden, our cities offer up simple, delicious, authentic food. As Jojo Tulloh shows us, there has never been a better time to engage with food, get back to the land and relish the delights of eating food fresh from the ground.

Jojo Tulloh is a freelance editor and script developer. She was food editor of the current affairs magazine, The Week for several years. She now divides her time between her family, her garden and her work. She lives in London.