Roots and All - Gardening Podcast

This is the first episode in the series and it features Rik Sellwood who along with his business partner Chris Tanner, has launched a company called Harvst. They build greenhouses for home gardeners, which can be controlled via an app. During the episode we talk about Harvst's products of course, but we also talk about managing crops in greenhouses and how technology can be applied in a garden setting to make our lives easier. Listen to the end for the 15% discount code! Shop Harvst Information on the technology App information and to register for the app go to app.harvest.co.uk

Hello. This is a short introduction to a new episode that's being released on Thursday called Roots and All: Dig In. Dig In is a new series which came about because I've been contacted by various companies who would like to come on the podcast and talk about the wonderful products they have to sell. So do drop by on Thursday when I'll be speaking to Rik Sellwood of Harvst about, that amongst other things, a greenhouse you can water and ventilate via an app. Clever stuff!

This week's guest is forest gardener Anni Kelsey. Anni is an experienced grower of edibles and she follows the principles of forest gardening - if you're not sure what that means, all will be revealed. Her latest book The Garden of Equal Delights sets out principles for managing a garden in order to maximise its productive yield but it's much more than that, it's about gardening sustainably and using techniques that many conventional gardeners might find unusual but which work. Dr Ian Bedford's Bug of the Week: Signalling This episode is brought to you by our friends at Natural Grower. Launched in 2019, their award winning liquid fertiliser and plant feed and soil conditioner is made entirely from maize. Naturally rich in nitrogen, potash, phosphate and other trace elements that plants and vegetables love, it is approved by the Soil Association, Vegan Society and Organic Farmers and Growers. Their concentrated natural fertiliser can be poured around the base of plants, whilst the plant feed and soil conditioner can be mixed into the soil or compost and used as a mulch on the surface as a long-term slow-release fertiliser. The fertiliser can be used for all outdoor and indoor plants. As a special offer for listeners, Natural Grower are offering 15% off all of their range. Listen now for details. What we talk about: What is a forest garden? Anni writes in her book "how would I describe or explain what I do in the garden to someone else?". Given her gardening style is very intuitive and site specific, find out how she manages to communicate her principles to others The practice of bringing nothing in and taking nothing out of the garden How Anni brings uncultivated areas into production Dealing with weeds Why she doesn't compost Why all plants are special About Anni Kelsey "Anni Kelsey has been passionate about gardening and the natural world for as long as she can remember. As her concerns about the unsustainability of our present food system grew she began to 'edibilise' her garden aiming to find a way of growing food that required as little time, effort and skill as possible. She based her experiments on forest gardening but adapted this to fit in an average sized back garden. This led her to focus on experimenting with perennial vegetables, obtaining and growing as many as she possibly could. As she gained experience and enthusiasm for this style of gardening she wanted to convey what she had learned to others which in turn led her to write Edible Perennial Gardening or the book she would have liked to have been able to read years ago, if it had already been written! She hopes that it will inspire and enable others to grow perennial vegetables which are little known but tasty and rewarding crops. Anni's garden is in a challenging situation high on a hill facing Wales in one direction and England in the other. When she is not in the garden she loves nothing more than exploring the local countryside and coffee shops" - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anni-Kelsey/e/B00N8XJMPK/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1 Links Anni's Veggies Blog The Garden of Equal Delights by Anni Kelsey - Permanent Publications, 2020

Podcast 101 - GrowVeg with Benedict Vanheems This week I'm talking to Benedict Vanheems, gardener, author, editor and face of the popular GrowVeg.com YouTube channel. If you're thinking about growing veg this year, whether you're an old hand or new to it, you're bound to hear something of value from Benedict, who's innovative approach to growing food takes the hard work out of things. Dr Ian Bedford's Bug of the Week: Black Garden Ants This episode is brought to you by Natural Grower. Launched in 2019, their award winning liquid fertiliser and plant feed and soil conditioner is made entirely from maize. Naturally rich in nitrogen, potash, phosphate and other trace elements that plants and vegetables love, it is approved by the Soil Association, Vegan Society and Organic Farmers and Growers. Their concentrated natural fertiliser can be poured around the base of plants, whilst the plant feed and soil conditioner can be mixed into the soil or compost and used as a mulch on the surface as a long-term slow-release fertiliser. The fertiliser can be used for all outdoor and indoor plants. As a special offer for listeners, Natural Grower are offering 15% off all of their range. Listen to the episode now to access the discount code. What we talk about: Is growing edibles right for everyone? And is it worth it? Tips for getting seeds started in open ground Moving seeds from indoors to outdoors What should we be doing in our veg gardens right now? Upcycling and repurposing household items as containers for growing in Labour intensive jobs in the veg garden and ways to make them easier/quicker Keep things low maintenance Growing mushrooms Sprouting seeds About Benedict Vanheems Benedict Vanheems is a passionate home gardener specialising in delicious, organically grown fruit, vegetables and herbs. No stranger to dirt under his nails, Benedict's fascination with plants started at an early age. As a young boy he could often be found digging holes, experimenting with sowings, or helping his granddad plant leeks or pick climbing beans on his veg patch. As a teenager, Benedict worked during his school holidays at a nursery supplying plants to many of the UK's top garden designers. After completing a degree in Horticulture he went on to edit gardening publications, including Garden Design Journal and Grow it!. He has written for Grow Your Own magazine and is an ongoing contributor to Kitchen Garden, Britain's longest established edible gardening title. In 2014 Benedict joined the team at GrowVeg.com where he has become the face of their YouTube channel, growing it from 20,000 subscribers to more than 280,000. A firm advocate of growing in tune with nature, he continues to produce compelling gardening content for the respected GrowVeg.com website, inspiring both new and seasoned gardeners to get more from their space. Benedict lives in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire and has recently moved house, taking on a third-of-an-acre garden where he is creating two kitchen garden areas to indulge his horticultural hunger. Links growveg.co.uk GrowVeg: The Beginner's Guide to Easy Vegetable Gardening by Benedict Vanheems - Storey Publishing, 2021

Nigel Palmer, an experimental gardener and aerospace engineer, delves into the art of crafting homemade garden amendments. He discusses the impact of local biological materials on plant health and shares insights from his recipe book. Nigel explains the significance of using a refractometer to assess plant quality and the benefits of fermented plant juice as a natural fertilizer. The conversation reveals how aligning gardening practices with nature can enhance soil health and boost resilience, making gardening an enriching experience.

This episode I'm speaking to Professor Jeff Ollerton, author of the brilliant new book 'Pollinators and Pollination', another must-have to add to your ever burgeoning reading pile I'm afraid! I loved the book and as you'll hear during the interview, it threw up all sorts of interesting questions about pollinators, their role in our lives and gardens and how much we need them. Dr Ian Bedford's Bug of the Week: Queen Bumblebees This episode is sponsored by gardencourses.com What we talk about: What is a pollinator? Apart from being nice to look at, why should gardeners want pollinators to visit? How pollinators navigate via linear features in a landscape and what this means for plants situated near these features Would it be fair to say the increase in pollinators since older times has gone hand in hand with that of humans? Did our populations increase in tandem? Now we seem to have the upper hand and are disregarding the pollinators, will we ultimately be damaging ourselves, at least from a food growing point of view? How useful is it to measure the number of species of pollinators that visit a garden? Are species over-represented in gardens due to the garden's value as a food source? Top tips for inviting pollinators into the garden About Jeff Ollerton "During a career spanning more than 30 years, Professor Jeff Ollerton has established himself as one of the world's leading experts on pollinators and pollination. The author of more than 120 articles and book chapters, his highly-cited, ground-breaking research has been used by national and international agencies to support efforts to conserve pollinators and their pollination services. Jeff is also in demand as an advisor and consultant to governments, local authorities, printed and broadcast media, and funding organisations. Although he is based in the UK, Jeff's field work in support of his research and advisory activities has been conducted across Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and Australia. He received his PhD in pollination ecology in 1993 from Oxford Brookes University, and holds Visiting Professor positions at the University of Northampton in the UK and Kunming Institute of Botany in China. Jeff has previously held visiting researcher positions at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil and the University of New South Wales in Australia." - https://jeffollerton.co.uk/about/ Links www.jeffollerton.co.uk Order a copy of Jeff's book and get 30% off with the offer code ROOTS30 Episode 74: Wasps with Richard Jones

This week, I'm speaking to Danielle Draper, Manager of the Cats Protection National Cat Adoption Centre in Surrey and we're talking about that sometimes contentious issue of cats and gardens. Cats are part of gardeners' lives, particularly if you live in an urban area. Love them or hate them, you can't get away from them and Danielle's here to talk about learning to live harmoniously alongside the neighbourhood felines… Dr Ian Bedford's Bug of the Week: Narcissus Bulb Fly This episode is brought to you by our friends at Natural Grower. Launched in 2019, their award winning liquid fertiliser and plant feed and soil conditioner is made entirely from maize. Naturally rich in nitrogen, potash, phosphate and other trace elements that plants and vegetables love, it is approved by the Soil Association, Vegan Society and Organic Farmers and Growers. Their concentrated natural fertiliser can be poured around the base of plants, whilst the plant feed and soil conditioner can be mixed into the soil or compost and used as a mulch on the surface as a long-term slow-release fertiliser. The fertiliser can be used for all outdoor and indoor plants. As a special offer for listeners, Natural Grower are offering 15% off all of their range. Simply go to naturalgrower.co.uk and enter ROOTS15 on checkout. What we talk about: How many cats there are in the UK - is cat ownership growing or declining in popularity? Where do cats factor in the big picture of wildlife decline? Can we exclude the neighbourhood cats from our gardens? Or deter them? Is it myth that cats don't use their own gardens to go to the loo? Can we deter them from doing it? What can we do if all the neighbourhood cats choose to use our garden as a battleground? What can we do if we want to feed the birds but keep them safe from cats? What about if we put food out for foxes, hedgehogs? Ways to avoid wildlife casualties Plants cats particularly like/don't like What benefits can cats bring to a garden? About Cats Protection Cats Protection is the UK's largest feline welfare charity in the UK and helps around 200,000 cats and kittens every year. Formed in 1927, when it was known as the Cats Protection League, Cats Protection (CP) has grown to become the UK's leading feline welfare charity. Its vision is a world where every cat is treated with kindness and an understanding of its need and it has simple and clear objectives to help cats: • Homing - finding good homes for cats in need • Neutering - supporting and encouraging the neutering of cats • Information - improving people's understanding of cats and their care More information about the work of the charity can be found at www.cats.org.uk. To make a donation, please visit https://www.cats.org.uk/donate Advice about cats and gardens: https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/home-and-environment/garden-and-outdoors https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/home-and-environment/keeping-cats-out https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/home-and-environment/dangerous-plants

This week I'm speaking to Harriet Gross, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Lincoln. She was part of a team that won a gold medal for the Digital Capabilities garden at the 2013 Chelsea Flower Show and she is the author of The Psychology of Gardening. Harriet talks about our emotional connection to our gardens, what makes people connected to nature and the environment, why we can be territorial over our gardens and just what it is we get from gardening. Dr Ian Bedford's Bug of the Week: Stridulation This episode is sponsored by the London College of Garden Design Melbourne. Based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne the college brings together unique Australian design and horticultural expertise with the training experience of Europe's leading garden design college. The College delivers professional skills training for those aiming for a career in landscape design and from 2021 will offer a real-time online option for those who want to study from anywhere in Australia or New Zealand. To find out more visit lcgd.com.au What we talk about: What led Harriet to write the book Is the amount of research conducted into the psychology of gardening commensurate with its popularity in the UK? People who are more connected to natured and concerned with the environment and their personality type Personality traits that are generally common to gardeners Why people become so emotionally attached to their gardens Taking refuge in our gardens during the pandemic Emotional attachment to allotments Fractals and their significance in landscapes and to our appreciation of these landscapes About Professor Harriet Gross Harriet Gross is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at University of Lincoln. She was part of a team that won a gold medal for the Digital Capabilities garden at the 2013 Chelsea Flower Show and she is the author of The Psychology of Gardening. Harriet Gross on Twitter @Harriet_Gross Links The Psychology of Gardening by Harriet Gross - Routledge, 2018

This episode is the last one before Valentine's Day. Of course, you may be thinking about buying some flowers to give on Sunday so I thought, what better person to interview than a British flower grower? So I'm talking to Ben Cross of Crosslands Flower Nursery, a family owned and run nursery specialising in cut Alstroemerias. Ben is an expert grower, public speaker, an ambassador for British flowers and founder of the British Flowers Rock Campaign. As you will find out, growing flowers isn't all roses but Ben loves what he does and he starts by giving some background on the nursery and his involvement… Dr Ian Bedford's Bug of the Week: Tobacco Whitefly What we talk about: The history of Crosslands Flower Nursery and how Ben came to be involved Specialising in growing Alstroemerias - why them? The scale of the nursery operations Organic and sustainable flower farming Some of the biggest challenges facing British flower growers The British Flowers Rock campaign About Ben Cross Ben is a 4th generation grower at Crosslands Flower Nursery which was established in 1936 in West Sussex and is one of the last flower nurseries producing cut flowers in a full colour range all year-round. Ben's British Alstroemeria is a very sustainable crop. His flowers are not sprayed with any chemicals after being harvested and go into recyclable, reusable boxes and arrive with customers the next day. No soil cooling techniques are used to force production and some flower beds are over 20 years old, still producing premium quality stems. Under 5% of the crop is replanted a year so sterilizing the soil is kept to a minimum. The British Alstroemeria is known as a 'Cool Crop' and a 'Dry Crop' so doesn't take much heat input or watering. Optimum heat at night through the winter is just 13°C via a biomass boiler and the crop is watered for just 20 minutes once a month in the winter and just 20 minutes once every 10 days in the summer unlike flowers grown in warmer countries that use a lot more water resource. When Ben's flowers have been picked they don't go into big freezers, the cooling storage system at Crosslands is usually turned off between November and March. When the flowers need to be stored in warmer weather they're only chilled at about 6°C instead of 0.5°C like most imported flowers. They are only stored for a couple of days before they are with the customers. They are a lot fresher than flowers that go all around the world. Most importantly all the stems are harvested at a 'ripe' big fat bud stage giving a bigger more vibrant flower unlike the imports that are harvested too tight so more can be transported in boats and planes. Ben also only employs local people and more importantly does apprenticeship schemes with local horticultural colleges and goes into floristry colleges to give his British Flowers Rock Talks. Next to being a full time grower, Ben is an avid campaigner for British Flowers and takes any opportunity he can to spread the word that British Flowers Rock! Ben won the Grower Award in 2019 and won the Gold Sussex Environmental award in 2020. Links Crosslands Flower Nursery Barnham Lane Walberton Nr Arundel West Sussex BN18 0AX M: 07712332241 Email: crosslandsflowernursery@gmail.com Follow on Twitter @AlstroemeriaBen Follow on Instagram @AlstroemeriaBen Find Us on Facebook at Crosslands Flower Nursery

In this week's episode I'm speaking to Fiona Edmond of Green Island Gardens about one of the stars of the winter garden, the Hamamelis aka witch-hazel. Fiona is the holder of the National Collection of Hamamelis and she talks about their cultivation and goes through some of the fool-proof and some of the choicer varieties. I dare you not to buy one after listening! Dr Ian Bedford's Bug of the Week: Fig Wasps This episode is sponsored by gardencourses.com What we talk about: Fiona's background and that of Green Island Gardens How Fiona came to have the National Collection of Hamamelis Their preferred soil and aspect and their hardiness Pruning Propagation Potential pests and diseases (hint: this is short answer!) What can they be underplanted with? Do they look particularly good in one sport of setting/against a certain type of plant as a background? The flower colour spectrum Easy to grow cultivars and Fiona's favourites About Green Island Gardens Green Island Gardens are private gardens, open for the public. Professionally designed by its owner Fiona Edmond, they are laid out as a series of structured gardens displaying a huge range of unusual trees, shrubs, perennials, and bulbs - 'A Plantsman's Paradise'. Surely one of the best gardens open to visit in Essex. Recommended in Great British Gardens 2019 and Essex Days Out. 20 acres of Water Gardens, Seaside Garden, Japanese Garden, Gravel Garden, Woodland Gardens, Island beds and stunning colour everywhere. There is a tearoom serving light lunches, home-made teas and cream teas. The nursery offers plants all seen growing in the gardens. We now offer mail order service for the nursery during the lockdown period. We also run different courses and special events. Visitors will be able to enjoy flat and easy walking throughout the gardens. Links Green Island Gardens Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuTfQ6Aq6evRmBZ0fjfqwdA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenislandgardens Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/greenislandgardensuk/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/greenislandgdn