Who am I and why am I writing The Illustrated Plant Kitchen?

aka my Hero Post - iykyk

Welcome, welcome! Pull up a chair and let me pour you a cuppa. What sort of milk would you like? I have soy, almond, oat and I think there might be carton of coconut downstairs. Oh, and we do have cow’s milk, too, if that’s your thing.

I am a third-generation vegetarian who would like to eat a lot more plant-based foods and also to cut back a lot on ultra-processed food (though I’m starting from a decent starting point, there, at least). I’m also an illustrator who really really loves drawing food and cooking utensils and kitchens and cups and dishes… I will only be sharing vegan recipes in this newsletter, but I may also talk in general about vegetarian food as well and possibly about sharing a home with a meat-eater.

I do most of my cooking from scratch already, but I still indulge in ice creams, biscuits, crisps and other ‘treats’ of the junk food kind. I think I’m in a good place to kickstart a healthier (for me and the planet) lifestyle and diet.

I was also recently diagnosed as pre-diabetic (have an appointment next month to find out if that’s still the case, having already made a number of adjustments over the past few months), my BMI makes me officially ‘obese’ and I suffer from intermittent diverticular flare-ups. The good news is that a predominantly plant-based whole-food diet will help with all of these health issues, plus it’s something I’m ethically and culturally drawn to.

You can get a little taste (ahem) for my food writing by looking at my old parenting blog where I often shared recipes. These are mostly vegetarian with just a few vegan recipes. Also, you will have to excuse the absolutely awful photography! (You can see why I might prefer to illustrate this newsletter rather than use photographs.)

What’s in the newsletter?

This newsletter will combine sharing my journey on this path to a much healthier diet and lifestyle with a monthly illustrated recipe and another monthly letter which I am calling The Veg Letters (though they will probably also include fruit and fungi and other edible plants). The Veg Letters will include a variety of illustrations of a particular edible plant each month, along with nutritional facts and interesting facts and ideas for snacks or meals that incorporate that particular plant.

The Veg Letters is actually an idea I had for a book that I would like to put together and pitch and I thought I could use this space to test the ideas out and to keep me writing and drawing in an accountable and regular way. I’m hoping it will help me with the pitch and also as a proof of concept to show that people could be interested in such a book. (If you’re a publisher or a literary agent reading this and are interested, please do get in touch – you can DM me here, or visit my website for details and contact info.)

Here’s an A to Z of Fruit and Veg that I created a couple of years ago.

As I am based in the UK, the foods featured here will be ones that I can fairly easily get here. I’m not specifically planning on only featuring seasonal and/or locally grown food, though maybe I might evolve to that further down the road.

What is paywalled and what’s not?

The first month (July 2024) will not be at all paywalled, but after that both the monthly illustrated recipe and The Veg Letters will be paywalled. These both include printables, so you can print out the recipes and the letters and collect them in a folder, hang them on your wall, post one to a friend. They are all only for personal use. Please don’t sell them on in any way. (If you run a shop or other business that would be interested in selling prints or postcards (etc.) of any of these, please do get in touch – you can DM me here, or visit my website for details and contact info.) Note that the printables may also be made available for sale a month or more after they appear here, for more than the cost of a monthly membership. I will also be putting some or all of the individual illustrations created for this newsletter on various stock sites where you would be able to license them to use in your own newsletters or products.

When will the newsletters go out?

I will send out a weekly newsletter on a Wednesday. Two of those each month will be paywalled and the rest will not. So if you’re a free subscriber, you’ll get 2 to 3 newsletters a month and, if you’re a paid subscriber, you’ll get 4 to 5 newsletters a month. The second Wednesday (illustrated recipe) and the fourth Wednesday (The Veg Letters) are the paywalled newsletters.

Super-special printed goodies membership

If you choose the higher-tier membership you will get all of that, plus goodies in the post. Every three months, you’ll get either a print or a set of postcards or cards in the post, featuring illustrations from the newsletters. You will also get an annual printed booklet featuring a collection of the year’s newsletters, along with some extra new pages. Note that I will also be offering these as standalone things to pre-order. The pricing would be £30 for a print or set of 10 postcards and £45 for the annual booklet.

I’m so excited to be sharing lots of foodie writing and illustration with you. If you want to make sure you get the newsletters sent direct to your inbox (or on the app) every week, then do subscribe. All subscriptions are very welcome, but I hope you’ll consider the paid one to get two beautiful, illustrated printables each month - or the super duper special annual membership where you get actual physical post (remember that?) from me!

(You can also find me at Tasha Goddard Ponderings and Pictures - which I incidentally really need to rename to something a bit more catchy!)