Jekka McVicar

Jessica "Jekka" McVicar (born 1951) is an English organic gardening expert, author, and broadcaster, particularly on the cultivation and use of herbs.

Biography Born Jessica Stanley Clarke, she was brought up in Chew Magna, Somerset, and learned about the use of herbs from her grandmother, writer Ruth Lowinsky, and her mother. At the age of seventeen, after leaving Cranborne Chase School in Wiltshire, Clarke joined the progressive rock band Marsupilami as a singer and flautist. The band released two albums, appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival and the first Glastonbury Festival, and toured in Europe. In 1973, Clarke played the role of Jessie, a flautist, in the Doctor Who serial The Green Death.

After working for a time at the drama department of the BBC, Clarke found employment at a herb nursery in Somerset. She married Ian "Mac" McVicar in 1976, and in 1987, they established a herb farm—now known as Jekka's Herb Farm—at Alveston, near Bristol. They have the largest collection of culinary herbs in the UK, with more than 500 different varieties. She is also an RHS Ambassador for Health & Wellbeing.

Awards

1993: RHS Gold medal, RHS Hampton Court Flower Show

1994: RHS Gold medal, RHS Chelsea Flower Show

2017: Victoria Medal of Honour

2024: Prince Edward Award for Excellence in Horticultural Career Development