20-07-2025
Chef Gaz Oakley: ‘I think of my garden as my emotional support system'
Gaz Oakley, 32, went from working in a Welsh hotel kitchen at 15 to becoming a YouTube cookery superstar at 24 under the pseudonym The Avant-Garde Vegan. He now has more than 1.79 million subscribers. His life took another major turn five years ago, during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when he was living in London and decided to move back to Wales and find a plot of land so that he could grow his own food. He has just published his fourth book and is soon to open a shop in Abergavenny.
Where do you live?
I was born and raised in north Cardiff, and, having spent a few years in a small flat in south London, I'm now back in Wales living with my partner Teigan in a rural part of Monmouthshire. Like me, she has a cooking background, but we actually met on a gardening course. I bought this place online during lockdown and my main criteria was a piece of land where I could grow food. Eventually, I found it: a converted town hall on a hill with about an acre. I confess, I didn't think about the soil or the challenges of growing on a hill, but it was south facing with views of rolling hills, fields and sunsets.
What was the first thing you did in the garden?
I'd never actually grown anything in my life when I got this land, but in the months before moving in, I devoured gardening books and YouTube channels, and, with the help of my dad, I built my first raised bed as soon as I arrived. Of course, I made the mistake of planting too many seeds in it, but I can still remember the first time I pulled something out of the ground. There was only one thing that survived, but that one thing changed my life. It was a warm spring morning, and I pulled out this juicy radish. I wiped off the dirt and took a bite. I'll never forget it… it made me realise that with a bit of practice, I could grow practically anything.
How did you finish laying out the garden?
Within a few months of that first bed, I'd made another one, then another one and another one. Looking back, I should have mapped the whole area out first, but everything was so new to me, I had to do it one step at a time. I was also learning so much from all the incredible gardening people out there who share their knowledge, such as Charles Dowding, who champions the no-dig philosophy and gave me the confidence to sow directly into the ground. I soon got a polytunnel up, created curved terraced beds on the hillside and began composting.
What are you growing this year?
I have my 10 'star foods' – potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, carrots, courgettes, beetroot, chillies, onions, apples and pumpkins, and of those, I'll always try new varieties of each. I'm also trying to grow grains such as millet, quinoa and amran, and as many beans as possible because I eat them all the time, including Rhondda Blacks and Greek Gigantes. Once picked, they'll keep for a good year, but in late summer, we get such an abundance of fruit and veg that I ferment a lot of it. It not only preserves things for the colder months, but it enhances so many flavours. I probably now have a fermented item with every meal, whether it's a hot chilli sauce or a tomato kimchi. In December, we're going to open a small store in Abergavenny where we'll sell our food, plus many of the other things we make off the land, so that will be another exciting part of this whole journey.
Where did your passion for food start?
At school, one of the very few subjects I was interested in was cooking. I'd also sit with my parents watching all the chefs on TV – Rick Stein, Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and my hero, Marco Pierre White. At 15, I got a part-time job in a hotel restaurant and at 16, I left school to do it full time. Kitchen life was hard, but I soon began sharing my recipes on social media and at 24, I gave it up to set up my own YouTube cookery show. The response was huge, so I moved to London. Then, out of the blue, an agent asked me if I wanted to do a cookbook, and by the age of 26, I had my first book published. When lockdown happened, I was in London and couldn't bear being confined. It made me question how I was living and where my food was coming from. That's when I knew I had to have my own land and grow my own food.
Do you grow herbs?
Loads of them. Many hang drying from the ceiling of our open-plan kitchen, but I also have a cabinet full of herb jars. There are two things I love about them: first, many have flowers, so they're great pollinators; secondly, they're both culinary and medicinal. So, I have all the culinary ones, such as rosemary, thyme and bay, and the medicinal ones, like chamomile, calendula, feverfew and lemongrass. I use them to make teas, tinctures and remedies. One of my favourites is yarrow – it's nature's plaster. If I cut myself, I crush its leaf between my fingers and put it on the cut. A compound in it acts as a coagulant, helping to stop the blood. Its Latin name is achillea, after the Greek god Achilles, who would use it to heal his wounded soldiers in battle.
How has growing food put you in touch with the natural world?
I love going back in time to see how our ancestors lived off the land. It's one reason why I love foraging, whether it's elderflower growing along the roadside, carpets of wild garlic in the woodlands or finding all the mushrooms you can eat. One I particularly enjoy is Chicken-of-the-Woods. The story goes that the forest gods took pity on people when food was scarce and gifted them this mushroom, which has the taste, texture and colour of chicken. Like farmers today, our ancestors were also so much more in tune with the weather, the seasons, the stars and, of course, the moon, so sowing seeds with the moon's waning and waxing phases is something I'm leaning towards more and more. In my early twenties, the only time I'd look up at the moon was when I was falling out of a nightclub. Now I look at it every night.
How does your life now contrast with when you were growing up?
When I moved to London, I look back and realise I was constantly searching for a real purpose in life, thinking I would be more fulfilled if I bought the latest pair of trainers or went to the coolest gym to get fit. If I go back to my childhood, it was about having the latest PlayStation or looking up to footballers and pop stars. Don't get me wrong, I had a great childhood, my parents were wonderful, but I had no real connection to nature at home or school. My younger sister Charlotte and I used our garden for playing with bikes and balls, and the only time I got mud on my clothes at school was playing rugby.
Do you believe gardening is good for you on a deeper level?
I think of my garden as an emotional support system and it's there for me all the time. It's also my entertainment… it brings me joy and excitement; it often blows me away and always gives me a sense of achievement. I don't need the cinema or a football match. Everything I need is right here. Teigan and I are expecting our first child in September, a little girl, and I can't wait to share it all with her. We're already thinking about the wonderful organic purees and soft foods we'll be able to make for her. That will be a whole new chapter.
