Aaron Bertelsen first worked at Great Dixter – the historic house and garden located on the borders of Kent and Sussex – in 1996 and became the vegetable gardener and cook there in 2007. His love of gardening dates back to his childhood, when he would work with his grandfather in his vegetable garden back home in New Zealand. He studied Social Anthropology at the University of Otago before coming to England in 1996 to volunteer in the garden at Great Dixter, the historic house and garden located on the borders of Kent and Sussex. He subsequently studied for a Diploma in Horticulture at Kew Gardens, England, and spent two years at Jerusalem Botanical Gardens in Israel, where he is still a trustee. Bertelsen returned to Great Dixter in 2005 becoming the vegetable gardener and cook in 2007, working alongside head gardener Fergus Garrett, and he has been there ever since. Bertelsen is the author of The Great Dixter Cookbook: Recipes from an English Garden published by Phaidon.
