A life of plants, food and foraging
Anna Valentine and The Veggie Tree Cook School
By Asha Andersen
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Plant-based chef, cookbook author, teacher, forager and passionate gardener Anna Valentine has spent much of her life discovering and sharing the goodness, flavour and inspiration that can be found in the plant kingdom.
She shares some of her knowledge, wisdom and passion for plants and delicious food with Soil & Health and is collaborating on a new series of short shows about foraging, cooking and the benefits of plants and seasonal eating.
The Veggie Tree Cook School
Based in the small village of Kaeo in Northland, Anna runs The Veggie Tree, where she holds regular cook schools and workshops from her beautiful home kitchen, as well as providing plant-based catering and consultation. Her work is grounded in a simple idea that good food can be delicious, nourishing, affordable and connected to the seasons and the natural world.
Iโve been to a few of Annaโs cooking classes over the years and asked her to cater a couple of our local events, and I am in awe of her passion for cooking food that everybody enjoys. Food thatโs not just simple and healthy, but is full of surprisingly bold flavours and fresh whole ingredients. I love that she doesnโt just teach people how to cook great food, she teaches them how to see plants differently and get excited by what plants have to offer us.
Anna has authored, photographed and self-published two wonderful seasonal plant-based cookbooks (Autumn & Winter, Spring & Summer), followed by her third book, Abundance, which was published in 2023. All are fantastic cookbooks that show how varied and delicious plant-based food can be. Sheโs also been a regular contributor to Vegetarian Living NZ magazine, offering recipes and tips for plant-based cooking.
Eating seasonally
A seasonal approach is central to Annaโs cooking. Rather than relying on the same ingredients throughout the year, seasonal eating encourages us to notice what is growing around us and make the most of it. That can mean eating abundant summer vegetables fresh from the garden, preserving when there is more produce than can be eaten, and turning winter vegetables and stored foods into nourishing meals.
It is also about making the most of what we have. Anna believes eating organically and sustainably doesnโt have to mean spending more money. Learning to use ingredients efficiently, cooking from scratch, preserving food and reducing waste can all make a huge difference.
A garden full of possibilities
Annaโs garden is another important part of her work. Her wild organic garden supports her family while also providing an educational setting where plants are encouraged to grow naturally and complete their life cycles. She is fascinated by the relationships between plants, soil, biodiversity, food and human health, and weaves this through her teaching.
This has led Anna well beyond conventional vegetable gardening and into the world of foraging, edible weeds, natural medicine, herbalism and working with wild foods. She is an avid forager and advocate for edible weeds โ encouraging people to look at plants that are often dismissed as unwanted, and discover their potential instead.
A plant growing spontaneously in the garden or roadside may not simply be a weed. It may be food, medicine, habitat or part of a much larger ecological relationship. Understanding plants in this way changes our relationship with the landscape around us.
Annaโs interest in plants extends deeply into nutrition and wellbeing. She extensively researches food, ingredients, nutrition, naturopathy, herbalism, biodiversity, permaculture and organics.
Her message is not about complicated diets or expensive ingredients. Itโs about learning how to eat more real, whole foods and discovering how enjoyable plant-based cooking can be.
This is particularly important to Anna when working with children. She wants young people to experience food as something they can participate in โ something they can grow, touch, prepare and enjoy. Her classes encourage children to get into the kitchen, make a mess, try something new and discover that vegetables and other plant foods can be exciting.
Upcoming cooking classes
For those wanting to take the next step, Anna runs group in-person and online cook schools and workshops from her home in Kaeo, sharing the knowledge she has accumulated over decades of cooking and working with plants. Her classes offer an opportunity to learn practical skills while discovering new ingredients, recipes, and ways of thinking about food.
Whether it is learning how to cook more plant-based meals, making better use of seasonal produce, discovering edible plants growing around us, or simply becoming more confident in the kitchen, Anna’s approach is about empowerment.
You can check out her cookbooks and all upcoming classes on The Veggie Tree website.
Classes coming up in October and November include the Asian Banquet with Onion Weed, Eat a Rainbow โ Kids Foraging and Feast, Seaweed Forage and Feast, and Wild Mediterranean Mezze. While these classes are in Annaโs home kitchen in Kaeo, there is also a new offering for people to join online classes too.
The online Plant Based 101 happening in late November offers the opportunity to people all over the country to join from the comfort of their own home or kitchen, and work with Anna to cook up some sure-to-be favourites. โThe online class might feel a bit weird and daunting, but let me assure you once we get ourselves set up it really is like being here with me at The Veggie Tree HQ but in the comfort of your own kitchen,โ says Anna.
โWe will be making a Deluxe Buddha Bowl, which is the perfect prep-your-lunch-in-advance dish. An enhanced Chia Pudding with Cacao Crisp, which can be savoured at any time of the day, guilt-free and nutrient-dense.
โWe go through things step by step and thereโs plenty of time for questions and answers, on-the-spot guidance and troubleshooting, plus you get to eat everything you make!โ
If you are starting your plant-based journey, or if you are looking to upskill or simply add more healthy plant-based recipes to your diet, the Plant Based 101 could be for you.
Videos in collaboration with Soil & Health
A few months ago I asked Anna if she would be interested in creating a few short videos with Soil & Health for our new YouTube channel, exploring foraging, seasonal eating, plant-based cooking and the many ways plants can nourish both people and planet. She was keen to team up, so we got together at her place in Kaeo and filmed some videos of her foraging in the garden, sharing the benefits of wild edible plants and helpful tips on identifying them.
After foraging around 10 different herby weedy edible greens, we headed into the kitchen where Anna whipped up her Green Goddess Dressing for a divine pasta lunch which we both got to enjoy.
Shows premiere this week
The first episodes will be released on the Soil & Health channel this week, with
- Episode 1 Foraging in the Garden Part 1 & 2 premieres on Monday 28 September 2026 at 7pm
- Episode 2 Green Goddess Dressing in the Kitchen premieres on Saturday 3 October 2026 at 7pm.
After they premiere, the shows will be up on the Soil & Health channel for you to watch anytime.
If you enjoy them, please support the channel with a like, subscribe and share and head on over to Annaโs own channel where she has lots of other great plant-based recipes to share.
Soil & Health YouTube channel
- Anna Valentine โ Episode 1: Foraging in the Garden, part 1 (16 mins)
- Anna Valentine โ Episode 2: Foraging in the Garden, part 2 (12 minย
- Anna Valentine โ Episode 2: Green Goddess Sauce & Dressing (16 mins)
Anna Valentineโs YouTube Channel
The Veggie Tree website where you can find seasonal cookbooks, workshops, cook school classes, and more.
Author bio
Asha Andersen is a Soil & Health National Council member and has led work on developing Soil &ย Healthโs YouTube channel, including online events for Organic Week 2026.ย
