The Organic Gardening Podcast

Our gardens and growing spaces have never been more important as biodiversity declines. Listen to our fascinating conversation with wildlife gardening pioneer Chris Baines as he discusses the “wildlife revolution” in our gardens and the sea-change in attitudes towards incorporating nature-friendly habitats and techniques. “Gardens made a big, positive difference [to wildlife] once people started to see them as a place where they could enjoy and encourage wildlife, rather than a place that they needed to keep wildlife out,” says Chris, who suggests creating ‘service stations’ in your garden to influence bird and insect survival. “The past 60-70 years have been a disaster for wildlife. The one saving grace in the UK has been gardens. Gardens have got better for wildlife, while the wider countryside has got worse. There’s a real growing up of the idea that we can’t just stand back and watch everything disappear, we have to intervene.”

In this Cut Flower Special of The Organic Gardening Podcast, Sarah Brown chats with Jo Wright from Flowers from the Farm and Debbie Scott, from East Lothian Flower Farm, as they share their experience of growing cut flowers organically, offering valuable insights into the benefits of supporting local flower growers. “Growing organic flowers made complete sense as we think about what we do very carefully," says Jo. "Cut flowers are a luxury, and we think the onus is much greater on the growers of a luxury crop, to protect the environment. We cannot be wasting resources on something that is primarily decorative." Our CEO Fiona Taylor catches up with our Head of Horticulture, Chris Collins, and shares top tips for ensuring seedlings thrive and flourish. They also discuss getting the most out of your local garden centre, so you can make more informed choices.  “You do need to be wise about what you’re buying. It’s a question of walking around and seeing what’s native and getting the best out of your shop, getting your money’s worth and supporting biodiversity,” says Chris.

The first day of spring is here and we’re starting to sow the seeds of the gardening year. Chris Collins pays a visit to Richard Wilford at Kew Gardens where he talks about tackling pests and reducing digging. “Our tolerance of pests has changed,” says Richard. “You’ve just got to accept the fact you’re going getting some aphids sometimes, and not get your sprayer out every time you see one. Allow the garden ecosystem to do what it needs to do…and then you won’t need to worry about pest outbreaks because they’re naturally controlled.” He talks about his plans for a new Carbon Garden at Kew that will demonstrate which plants can cope with climate change and offset it, and what you can do in your own garden. “The soil is the most important thing in a garden…and the health of the plants is so much better when you’re not disturbing the soil. It acts as a great big carbon sink,” Richard adds. Chris also catches up with Garden Organic’s head gardener Emma O’Neill about what she’s doing in our organic demonstration garden this month. They discuss successional sowing - and how important a sowing timetable is for planning vegetables all year round, and share details of their favourite flowers. “Growing organically is not just about food production but also about incorporating ornamentals,” says Emma. “The more diversity you’ve got in your garden, the more beneficial stuff you’re going to get in including more pollinators.”

Spring is just around the corner and our Organic Gardening Podcast team are sharing their excitement at the gardening year ahead. Our head of horticulture Chris Collins chats to Fiona about his love of hardy annual flowers. He discusses how to prepare ahead and get the ground ready, and what to sow for a fabulous display in the summer. At his allotment, he’s making new plants from old by lifting and dividing herbaceous perennials. And Sarah Brown chats to Jack Wallington about his move from London to an exposed hillside smallholding in Yorkshire. The ecological grower, garden designer and author of A Greener Life, shares the challenges and joys of gardening in a new location. The focus of his new garden follows the same sustainable principles of his London garden and allotment, with nature at its heart. “We’re not here to control the garden, it’s the other way around – we’re here to help everything else thrive,” he says. “But you can do something really good for the world by producing a home for insects or growing your own food, so you reduce transport miles and packaging. Organic gardening is core to all of that – better for you and the planet.”

“Everyone deserves a meal” is one of the mottos of organic gardener Sarah Mead as she tackles garden pests – and is the thread running through this month’s podcast. Fiona takes a tour of Sarah’s beautiful, Soil Association-certified organic garden at Yeo Valley dairy farm in Blagdon, and find out how she works alongside wildlife rather than trying to eradicate pests. “It’s critical to leave things alone so you don’t break the food chain because once you’ve done that you’ve lost the battle,” says Sarah, who uses sacrificial plants, companion planting and copper tape to help manage whitefly, slugs and other challenges in the six-and-a-half-acre garden. “Organic gardening is all about being hands off. It’s less work in the long run: less digging, less mowing, less spraying. It can be done on a large scale or a small one. Just start by apply one principle and keep going.”  To mark Veganuary, Fiona and Chris also discuss veganic gardening, and moving away from animal-based ingredients in the garden. They touch on the value of plant-based diets that encourage us to grow and eat more vegetables, which are great for our health and for biodiversity. And they also share their love of feeding the birds in winter - and look forward to Big Garden Birdwatch at the end of this month.

Preservation of produce, soil and seeds are some of the topics covered in this month’s podcast. Chris Collins and Fiona Taylor share their experience of storing vegetables such as cabbage and beans over winter, and using up fallen apples.  And our lead horticulturalist for the Heritage Seed Library, Marcin Salnikow, helps answer your postbag questions. This month we look at how and when to prune a wildlife-friendly native hedge and share advice on plants for pond edges. Fiona also meets chef and passionate organic advocate Sophie Grigson. Having written more than 20 cookbooks, Sophie has always been a vegetable enthusiast and now she lives in Italy, she’s discovering new and interesting varieties. This includes a tasty broccoli called Cimi di Rapa and 60 local varieties of cherry tomato. You can try out two of her delicious recipes below. Thanks to our sponsors The Organic Gardening Catalogue, visit www.organiccatalogue.com/POD9 to take advantage of their Autumn Bliss raspberry offer.

We get up close to our soil in this month’s Organic Gardening Podcast with a fascinating discussion about protecting soil over winter, warming up wormeries and creating veganic compost.  Fiona joins Chris Collins to share details of her trip to a new compost demonstration site in Cumbria. And discusses how she looks after her wormery in winter to protect her worms and make the most of her vermicompost. And we learn how ‘spraing’ can affect potato tubers. Dr Anton Rosenfeld pays a visit to Becca Stevenson, head grower at the certified organic Five Acres Community Farm, in Ryton, to find out what’s involved in a community supported agricultural (CSA) farm. Becca shows Anton how CSA farms allow communities to buy shares in what they produce to get local produce on to local plates, cut down on food waste and increase community engagement with food growing. She talks about the challenges of pests and diseases and getting through the hungry gap with bundles of stored and preserved produce. Thanks to our sponsors The Organic Gardening Catalogue, visit www.organiccatalogue.com/POD8 to take advantage of their Autumn Bliss raspberry offer.

Chris and Fiona discuss the highlights of the season, and what’s keeping them busy on the plot, including planting bulbs, looking after dahlias and sowing microgreens for indoor crops. Fiona shares her tips for making and using chilli oil, including a rather strange combination of peanut butter and chilli oil on toast – if you’ve tried it let us know your verdict!  Chris chats to Stephanie Slater, Founder and CEO of charity School Food Matters. We hear Stephanie’s inspiration behind setting up the charity, the fantastic outcomes they’ve already achieved, and what they plan for the future to connect school children to the food they eat. “I have the easiest Chief Exec job around, I go to people and I say: Is it a good idea to serve children fabulous tasty nutritious food, yes or no? Is it a good idea that we expose children to the joys of outdoor learning and learning to grow their own food and become skilled individuals and skilled adults? There aren't many people who are going to say no." Finally, Anton and Chris answer listener questions, including splitting tomatoes, green manures for No Dig growers and organic options for playing field maintenance. Thanks to our sponsors The Organic Gardening Catalogue, visit www.organiccatalogue.com/POD7 to take advantage of their listener offer of a heated propagator for just £11.99.

Shoes filled with dust, salads shrivelling, and a bad case of watering can elbow - it’s certainly been one of the most challenging summers for gardeners!  In this month’s Organic Gardening Podcast, Garden Organic Chief Executive Fiona Taylor is joined by Head of Organic Horticulture Chris Collins and Head Gardener Emma O’Neill as they look ahead to spring and ­share tips for weatherproofing your garden.  The takeaway messages are: embrace the imperfect, don’t be put off if things fail – and just give it a go! The team talk about the importance of learning about your local conditions, rather than relying on what it says on the seed packet. And building resilience from the ground up by nurturing the soil and choosing a diverse range of plants. The team will show you how to plan ahead with tips for seed collecting and bulb planting. Including Chris’s ‘bulb trifle’ method! And to mark Organic September, you can find out why the team chose to go into organic horticulture. And learn what they wished they’d know before they started – all the while busting the myth that organic gardening takes more effort and money.

This month sees the return of the National Allotment Week, an initiative let by the National Allotment Society, so we’ve got an allotment special for you. Chris updates Fiona on how his Mediterranean veg are growing down on his allotment – turns out his gamble on hot weather has paid off! The runner beans are not doing so well unfortunately. Chris also shares his experience as an allotment holder, balancing the demands of his London allotment with his busy work life. And of course no discussion on his allotment would be the same without mention of his nemesis – horsetail! Fiona is treated to a tour around the allotment of Rekha Mistry - garden journalist, passionate organic grower, seed saver and volunteer Seed Guardian for our Heritage Seed Library.  Rekha’s inspirational allotment is bursting with life and produce, including Texas Wild tomato, pea bean, Cyprus climbing French bean and Mother’s Six Week been from the Heritage Seed Library collection. Rekha explains how she cultivates such a biodiverse haven on her allotment and shares her solution to overcoming flooding, which happens regularly on her plot/. Finally, Chris and Anton answer listeners’ questions on how to deal with a new allotment that may have been treated with pesticides, where to start with a new plot that has no water supply and what to sow in August.

July is here and it's time to take your foot of the gas a little. But not too much - there's still plenty to do! Chris updates Fiona on his allotment and shares his approach to planting, influenced by years of working in parks. They also touch on the different summer growing conditions in Chris’s London home compared to his training days in Scotland. As Chris and Fiona both pack their bags for a holiday, they discuss essential preparation to keep everything, including houseplants, ticking over for their return. Sarah returns to talk to Garden Organic’s Director of Horticultural Science, Dr. Bruce Pearce. Bruce tells us about organic growing in the wider sense, focusing on what organic means and why organic farming is so essential for a healthy future. Sarah and Bruce discuss the challenges of buying organic food when household budgets are stretched and share some useful tips on how to prioritise at the checkout. Lastly Anton and Chris answer a question from someone struggling with peat-free compost, and share their experiences of growing perennial brassicas. We're delighted to have The Organic Gardening Catalogue as our official podcast sponsor for 2022. Whether you’re looking for information, ready to take your first step into organic gardening, or planning your next veg plot or flower bed The Organic Gardening Catalogue is the right place for you! They offer a complete range of organic gardening products, including seeds and plants, pest deterrents, feeds, compost, equipment plus much more. Garden Organic members can also take advantage of a 10% discount with any purchase from the catalogue. For this month's special offer on an amazing range of pots and plants go to organiccatalogue.com/POD5

It’s June – time to start seeing the fruits of our labour as all those seedlings get planted-out. Chris and Fiona compare notes on their most challenging weed – horsetail for Chris, bindweed for Fiona – and share tips to keep on top of them without reaching for weedkiller. We’re also joined by slug expert Imogen Cavadino, who shares her passion for these less-than-popular gastropods with Sarah. Finally we answer questions on durable lawns, what to do with excessive grass clippings and planning to grow throughout autumn and winter. Here are links to more information on some of the topics covered: Growing Winter Veg workshopTasks for JuneOrganic weed managementMaking your own plant feedsOrganic slug and snail controlsLawn careThe Organic Gardening Catalogue If you want to join Garden Organic for more advice please click here, or donate to support our work and help us carry on with projects like our podcast here.

Join new presenter, Garden Organic CEO Fiona Taylor, as she shares her love of May with Chris. Plus Chris takes a trip to the beautiful Mumbles on the Gower Peninsula to meet Gardeners World presenter and long-time Garden Organic member, Sue Kent, who shows him round her inspirational tiered organic garden.

We discuss success with seedlings, growing salads on a patio, and should we call slugs pests?  Plus a visit to a very special healing garden.

Have you always wanted to tell your blackbird from your thrush? Join Sarah as she listens and learns how to identify our favourite garden bird song.

It's ready, get set, but not quite 'grow'.  Here's how to get started in the race towards spring.  Plus Sarah discovers the magic behind our songster garden birds.

Chris visits the private garden of Prince Charles' former Head Gardener, Debs Goodenough.

Step by step to successful seed sowing. And we hear from former Head Gardener and organic grower, Debs Goodenough.

We look at the wildlife in your soil.  How much do you know about earthworms and moles?

Discover what makes good soil. It's the secret of successful growing!