The Organic Gardening Podcast

Latest Episodes:

S3 Ep1: January - Even garden pests deserve a meal! How to grow with nature, not against it. Jan 09, 2023

Show notes

“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.

S2 Ep49: December - Trials, triumphs and the power of produce preservation Dec 02, 2022

Show notes

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.

S2 Ep48: November - taking a worm's eye view of autumn Nov 02, 2022

Show notes

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.

S2 Ep47: October - rampant squashes, late colour and bumper chilli harvests; autumn has definitely arrived. Oct 01, 2022

Show notes

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.

S2 Ep46: Organic September - How to plan, plant and nurture your garden after the heatwave Sep 02, 2022

Show notes

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.

S2 Ep45: August - Organic Allotment Special with Rekha Mistry Aug 01, 2022

Show notes

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.

S2 Ep44: July - time to take it easy? Jul 01, 2022

Show notes

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

S2 Ep43: June – can we convince you to love your slugs…?! Jun 01, 2022

Show notes

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:

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.

S2 Ep42: May – Marvellous May has finally arrived! May 01, 2022

Show notes

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.

S2 Ep41: April - it's that exciting time again. Join us as we get outside for Springtime growing. Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

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.

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