If you are a keen cook or baker, you will most likely have heard of Irish chef, Clodagh McKenna. We first met Clodagh at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2023, when she was drawn to our stand after seeing our RHS 23 Fabric Collection. After chatting about all things interiors, Clodagh told us all about her sustainable farm, Broadspear, where she lives and works with her husband Harry, beloved dogs Alfie & Nolly and their 10 hens, 3 ducks, 3 pigs and 5 Aberdeen Angus cattle.
Over the past four years, Clodagh and Harry have restored a one-acre, eighteenth-century walled vegetable and fruit garden, set up five working beehives, an orchard, a pickling and fermenting shed, cutting gardens and wildflower meadows. We don’t know about you, but this sounds like the perfect home to us. When she isn’t working at Broadspear, you might see Clodagh on ITV’s This Morning, where she is resident chef, or writing for her food column in the Sunday Times Magazine.
Clodagh visited us at RHS Chelsea Flower Show again this year, and we were delighted to have some time to chat to her about her home, our new RHS Botanicals collection and her favourite thing to cook.
Whereabouts in your home do you feel most relaxed?
I feel most relaxed in our living room. Both my armchair and sofa are from Sofas & Stuff, and they make the room. The sofa is so comfortable, it’s my place to snuggle up in and have a nap. I love sitting in our new armchair for reading, as it’s so comfortable but it keeps my posture upright, I adore the palm pattern and terracotta colour; it brings the outside in.
You often pick your own flowers to decorate your home, is there a particular flower that especially lifts your mood, or makes you feel a certain way?
We started a cutting garden during lockdown, it was originally a very negative space with a dishevelled asbestos building. It is now one of the most beautiful spaces in our farm with seasonal flowers blooming every few weeks. At the moment the peonies are taking centre stage with their bouncy lush heads.
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You visited us at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, what do you think of our new RHS Botanicals collection?
The newly launched RHS Botanicals collection is so beautiful! It was such a joy to come and see all the gorgeous botanical prints on fabric when I visited the Chelsea Flower Show a few weeks ago. I love the stories behind the prints too, it brings a deeper meaning to the fabrics.
You’re renowned for your delicious cooking, what is your favourite dish to cook and why?
Oh that’s a hard question! At the moment we have the wonderful courgette flowers in our walled vegetable garden. I love to fill them with whipped ricotta, lemon and mint from the garden. Then fried in a light batter and served with a drizzle of our honey from the farm. Yum!
What made you choose the Palm Leaf Terracotta fabric for your new Snape chair?
The palm leaves remind me of all the lush ferns that grow in the woods on our property, and the terracotta colour is so warming and calm.
See how Clodagh has styled her Snape chair in RHS Botanicals Palm Leaf Terracotta below:
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You can find out more about our RHS Botanicals collection here.