Tanya Anderson of Lovely Greens
Tanya Anderson is a sustainable gardener, natural soapmaker, author, and content creator based on the Isle of Man. She is best known for her platform Lovely Greens, which offers practical advice on organic gardening, natural skincare, and eco-friendly living.
Tanya shares a wealth of resources, including gardening tutorials, soapmaking guides, and DIY projects. Her work emphasizes the connection between gardening and natural living, encouraging others to utilize their harvests for both nourishment and homemade products
Gardening, Soapmaking, Natural Living
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Hello and welcome. I’m Tanya, and I love sharing my passion for gardening, making handmade soap and skincare, and eating seasonally. You can make your best life with just a few simple skills! That’s why my ethos is to live simply, grow your own, and make natural things.
Growing and making your own can also build resilience, help cut costs, and help you connect with nature. When you have the knowledge to be more self-reliant, you can create a life that will nourish you both inside and out.
Organic Gardening & Natural Soapmaking
Though you’ll find many ideas on Lovely Greens, the two most popular topics are organic gardening and how to make natural soap. There’s a strong connection between the two because many plants you grow can be used to make plant-based beauty products.
However, all the ideas here will show you either how to grow your own food or ways to create a natural, handmade home. There’s a lot of material to discover, and you can use the navigation at the top of the page to discover creative ideas, useful recipes, and how-tos.
A Woman’s Garden
My book, A Woman’s Garden: Grow Beautiful Plants and Make Useful Things, is a beautifully photographed and illustrated physical book. It focuses on inspiring you to grow plants for a homemade lifestyle and is filled with recipes, DIY projects, and gardening ideas.
It’s called A Woman’s Garden because it introduces gardening through the eyes of eight women, including myself. You’ll meet them, see their gardens, and get incredible ideas for using edible flowers, skincare plants, natural dyeing, artwork, and self-sufficient living.
About Tanya Anderson
Though I used to garden on an allotment, I now focus on gardening in our half-acre garden on the Isle of Man. I grow a wide range of plants, from food crops and ornamentals to herbs I can use in handmade skincare and soapmaking. I also have two colonies of honeybees, a German shepherd, three cats, and a fantastic partner, Josh, who supports and helps me.
I’m also self-taught, though I grew up in a family that was a little old-fashioned. I’m so thankful for that early experience and influence, and I have built on it to create the lifestyle that we have now. Here at Lovely Greens, I share what I know so you can grow a natural home, too. Maybe even sharing these ideas with your loved ones and community.
Thanks for Visiting Lovely Greens
I hope you enjoy exploring all that Lovely Greens has to offer. If you’d like to connect, you can find me at the socials below. When I’m not in the garden, writing, or making videos, I’m giving soap-making lessons and making products for lovelygreens.co.uk.
I’m also a proud member of the Garden Media Guild, a professional organization for garden writers in Britain. Guild members are professional members of garden media and include authors, journalists, photographers, editors, broadcasters, lecturers, and artists.
Awards & Honors
- UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man Winner 2022 — Enjoyment & Engagement Category
- Shortlisted for the GMG Practical Book of the Year Award 2021 for A Woman’s Garden
- 2017 YouTube Next Up Winner — London
- Finalist for the 2018 UK Blog Awards — Green & Eco category
Featured in
- HGTV
- BBC’s Gardeners’ World
- Grow Your Own Magazine
- The Telegraph
- The Simple Things
- Kitchen Garden Magazine
- Grow Your Own Magazine
- Permaculture Magazine
- Flybe’s Flight Time Magazine
- Yogalife
- Country Homes & Interiors
- Willow & Sage Magazine
- Vegetarian Living Magazine
- MTTV — Isle of Man TV
- Manx Radio’s Women Today
- Manx Radio’s Late Lunch Show
- The Manx Independent
- The Isle of Man Examiner
- Manx Plants & Gardens Journal