Jessica "Jekka" McVicar is an English organic gardening expert, author and broadcaster, particularly on the cultivation and use of herbs.
She was brought up in Chew Magna, Somerset, and learned about the use of herbs from her grandmother, the writer Ruth Lowinsky,[1] and her mother.[2] At the age of 17, after leaving Cranbourne Chase School in Wiltshire, she joined the progressive rock band Marsupilami as a singer and flautist under the name Jessica Stanley Clarke. The band released two albums, appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival and the first Glastonbury Festival, and toured in Europe.[3]
After working for a time at the drama department of the BBC, she began working at a herb nursery in Somerset. She married Mac McVicar, and in 1987 they established a herb farm - now known as Jekka's Herb Farm - at Alveston near Bristol. It now has the largest collection of herbs in the UK, with more than 600 different varieties.[3] She has been awarded 62 Royal Horticultural Society Gold Medals for her organic herb displays, including 14 at the Chelsea Flower Show, and Best Floral Exhibit at Hampton Court in 2007 and 2008. She received publicity in 2009 when her garden gnome, Borage, was banned from her display at the Chelsea Flower Show.[4]
She has published several successful books, notably Jekka’s Complete Herb Book and Seeds, which have been reprinted in association with the Royal Horticultural Society. She is also well known for her appearances on TV and radio, on gardening and cookery. She is President of the West of England Herb Group and is a member of the Council of the RHS and its Fruit, Vegetable and Herb Committee.
Jekka's first major cookbook, Jekka's Herb Cookbook, will be published by Ebury Press in June 2010.[5]