The Sodshow, Garden Podcast - Sod Show

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339: Stephanie Mahon, Editor, Garden Design Journal, Part 1 Oct 19, 2017

Show notes

Stephanie Mahon started out as a journalist in Ireland before moving to Italy, where she discovered a passion for horticulture. She worked on The English Garden magazine for seven years, and now edits the Garden Design Journal, and works freelance as a garden writer for newspapers, magazines and websites across the UK. In 2012, she won the Garden Media Guild Journalist of the Year Award.

Together Peter Donegan and Stephanie talk were it all started way back when when she was leaving school, working her way up to becoming Editor with The English Garden magazine to where she is now as Editor of The Garden Design Journal a part of The Society of Garden Designers.

We go a stage further and chat Chelsea, The RHS, pitching your articles to magazines, controversy in gardening and The M and G Garden at RHS Chelsea 2017 by James Basson, gardening trends and changes in garden shows and so much more.

The Sodshow is available every Friday in iTunes, all good podcast stores and The Sodshow website.

Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow

If you have a mo, a rate / review in iTunes would be fan-tastic. Much cheers for listening. And thank you. Xx

twitter: @hortihack web: www.gardendesignjournal.com

338: Live, Salt Lake City: Ann Torrence, Robert Marc, Stray Arrow Ranch. Thyme and Place Oct 12, 2017

Show notes

Peter Donegan chats with Ann Torrence and Robert Marc of Stray Arrow Ranch, Live from Salt Lake City Utah.

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Live from Salt Lake City Utah, brought to you by Thyme and Place, this is the first show from the first night of The Sodshow Live. Peter Donegan was there for a little over one week were 6 guests in total, over 2 nights either side of St Patricks Day 2017 were interviewed in front of a live audience.

That story is most probably better told by The Salt Lake Tribune. Stray Arrow Ranch is a 6 acre farm that grows 500 apple trees and has become Utahs first Orchard based cider making operation. The wonderful people behind this are Robert Marc and Ann Torrence.

Very much more to the reason why I admire them more, neither Ann nor Robert hold any formal horticultural training. Ann is in fact a former travelling photographer and author; and Robert a university scientist.

Of interest to you based in the UK and Ireland side of the globe, Stray Arrow Ranch gets about 12 inches of water per annum and because of the rights to water - they are allowed 12 hours of water per approximate 10 days - making, horticulture in mind, the growing of plants just that little more challenging.

We get into this, grafting of trees, Ann's book, how Robert and Ann actually met and just how they managed to settle in Utah and why they left their jobs to set up what is now Stray Arrow Ranch.

Further info:

web: Stray Arrow Ranch twitter: @StrayArrowRanch facebook: StrayArrowCiderApples More images: The Sodshow Live, Salt Lake City

The Sodshow Live Show Team: Event Organiser: Melinda Meservy Brought to you by: Thyme and Place Location: The Mandate Press, Salt Lake City The Sodshow Live Team:

The Sodshow Live Host: Peter Donegan Photography: Nick Sokoloff Sound: Greg and Clay, Pale Horse Sound Studios MC: Chris Hollifield You: Thanks you - you were as you are so very beautiful. In House Live Bands:

Rusted Reel - night 1 Homo Leviticus - night 2 Thyme and Place, The Sodshow Live Sponsors:

Bare Bones Living Hibernian Society of Utah 90.9 KRCL Wasatch Community Gardens and not forgetting The Kings English - Book Shop

337: Live, Dublin Castle: Space Engagers, Sara Venn, Bloom Fringe 2017 Oct 05, 2017

Show notes

Peter Donegan hosts The Sodshow Live from Dublin Castle, as part of Bloom Fringe 2017.

Thoughts or comments ? @sodshow on twitter or facebook The Sodshow. And If you have a minute, you might leave a rate and review in iTunes. This series from Bloom Fringe 2017 is with very much thanks to The Church Bar and Restaurant Dublin - thanks lads.

Voice you will hear: Philip Crowe, CEO and Co-Founder Space Engagers.

Originally from Belfast, Philip's background is in architecture, urban planning, urban resilience and carbon management.

Space Engagers is a social enterprise founded in 2016, emerging from research on the EU TURAS project in UCD , which explored what urban resilience, or how cities can adapt to change, means in practice. Their research concluded that to address local social and environmental issues effectively we need the whole community to get involved, we need better data at the local scale, and we need new ways of doing things.

Sara Venn, Incredible Edible Bristol

Sara Venn is a former guest of The Sodshow - an episode more than worth going back and taking a listen to. On this occasion however Sara talks in depth about making change, how Incredible Bristol began and more the change for the better that it has had on not only the spaces there, but also the people who interact with them.

Q and A

This session with Philip and Sara is followed by a Q and A session with our guests from the first Sodshow Live show from Dublin Castle, another episode more than well worth a listen and you can find that and the entire back catalogue in iTunes, all good podcast stores and www.sodshow.com

The Sodshow Garden Podcast releases every Friday and is available in iTunes, all good podcast stores and via The Sodshow website.

@sodshow on twitter facebook The Sodshow instagram: sodshow

336: Michael McGarr, Warnes McGarr Sep 28, 2017

Show notes

At RHS Tatton 2017 Warnes McGarr were awarded not just a Gold medal, but also the award for Best Construction in Show and Best Future Spaces garden for their Cactus Direct #2101 garden.

The Sodshow is available every Friday in iTunes, all good podcast stores and The Sodshow website.

Together Peter Donegan and Michael talk, music, a love for you do, a journey into horticulture and the passion that fuels it as well as turning what it is you love doing into a business and being the favourite son.

They speak about the build at Tatton, how things may appear to the outside, what one really has to do to get there and the realities of really working in an industry were you may be considered unique and the pros and cons of that.

If you have a mo, a rate / review in iTunes would be fan-tastic. Much cheers for listening Xx

If you have a love of show gardens, are thinking about getting into the business or very simply wanna know what it like to be able to consider walking that walk, you're gonna love this one.

Part of the 2017 Tatton garden launch included a much loved set by Wigan based band Deep Shade who play out the interview between Michael and Peter.

My thanks also to Carolyn Hughes of Breathe PR for being wonderful and also the ladies and gentlemen of the Royal Horticultural Society Press Office - thank you so much.

Further info: web: warnes-mcgarr.co.uk / twitter: @warnesmcgarr All the details in the show notes at www.sodshow.com or - Twitter: @sodshow / facebook: The Sodshow

335: Lara Behr Sep 20, 2017

Show notes

Just one year in business under her own name Lara Behr designed the Macmillan Legacy Garden at The Royal Horticultural Society RHS Tatton Park 2017 show were she won Gold Medal and The People's Choice Award.

The Sodshow is available every Friday in iTunes, all good podcast stores and The Sodshow website.

Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow Together Peter Donegan and Lara chat studying law pre horticulture with Andrew Fisher Tomlin at the London College of Garden Design; Being raised in Zimbabwe, a career that would never be offered to an academic and the change to a more creative career were, the rewards are different, if I might call them that.

Design briefs, clients, influence and the challenges of show gardening in this case for MacMillan Cancer Support; we also talk what the future holds, what Lara hoped for the garden and everything in between.

334: Styal Prison, RHS Tatton 2017 Sep 13, 2017

Show notes

Peter Donegan talks with Eddie Tarry, Community Engagement Manager at HMP Styal Prison and Horticulture Instructor Audra Bickerdyke.

Of note, there's a bit of noise tapping in the background, entirely down to inclement weather and the fact that this was recorded in the speakers marquee / tent at Tatton Park.

The team and ladies of Styal Prison designed and built the Stop Think Change garden at RHS Tatton 2017.

The Sodshow is available in iTunes, all good podcast stores and The Sodshow website. Twitter: @sodshow - facebook: The Sodshow

From dealing with self harm, well-being and mental health, we talk about the benefits of horticulture within and post leaving the prison; the journey through designing and building a garden at RHS Tatton and bringing women back into the community.

We chat why HMP Styal chose to take on the size of garden they did and at such a prestigious show, the differences between any other garden designer putting together a garden at a RHS show, their sponsors Novus Foundations for Change, what it means to those who were part of creating a RHS Silver medal garden and what it means to their future.

Much congrats to sponsors Novus Foundations for Change, HMP Altcourse, HMP Garth, Four Oaks Nursery, Briggs Equipment and Spectrum and my thanks to all of the ladies who I met at the garden over my 2 days at RHS Tatton.

My thanks also to the team at RHS Tatton Flower Show and The Royal Horticultural Society.

333: Live, Dublin Castle: Laura Russo TCD, Aarhus Denmark, Bloom Fringe 2017 Sep 06, 2017

Show notes

Peter Donegan hosts The Sodshow Live from Dublin Castle, as part of Bloom Fringe 2017.

With much thanks to The Church Bar and Restaurant Dublin and the entire team for their fantastic support. And of course you for listening.

Thoughts or comments ? @sodshow on twitter. Facebook, The Sodshow. If you have a minute a rate and review in iTunes would be grand.

The voices you will hear are:

Laura Russo - scientist at Trinity College Dublin. Laura talks about bees, pollinators and what we do and can do. Lara talks the decline of bees, extinctions and others that also pollinate. Lara also refers to the All Ireland Pollinator Plan and the Campus Pollinator Plan at Trinity.

Esther Gerrard, Marion Keogh and Rosin de Buitlear Esther talks about Bloom Fringe, why and what they do. Marion refers to the work that they have seen abroad and how that interacts with the changes they are trying to make in Dublin and Roisin chats about those she met and chatted with and on a very personal level the differences change not only a place but a person.

Ulla Maria Aude - Aarhus Denmark Aarhus European City of Culture - Active citizenship in Aarhus. Ulla talks about changing spaces from cars to people, making the city more cultural, the Institute for X, a place for music and art. A neighbourhood for creative activity, community gardens and testing things before you plan the park and making then making those things permanent.

Marie Overgaard Nielsen - Taste Aarhus & the Green Embassy Marie chats about putting the Green Embassy right in the heart of the green area; a space that is accessible, open and lit up round the clock for all to see to encourage them to come in. She also chats Taste Aarhus, a wild taste festival of ant eating with mohitos and toasted worms - but essentially, they encourage people to try - allowing them to fail and encouraging them to try again. It is also about gardens wild - but getting the people to the nature; urban community gardens for socialising and hanging out.

332: Live, Salt Lake City: Dr Paul Twigg, University of Nebraska Kearney. Thyme and Place Aug 30, 2017

Show notes

On This Weeks Garden Podcast:

Peter Donegan chats with Dr Paul Twigg, Professor at the University of Nebraska Kearney, Live from Salt Lake City Utah.

We talk Paul about how he grew up and into the world of biology and plants, how he originally wanted to become a chemist, his work at the University of Nebraska where he teaches and has over 25 years mentored 160 undergraduate projects and 40 graduate projects. and just

@sodshow on twitter - facebook The Sodshow

Live from Salt Lake City Utah, brought to you by Thyme and Place, this is from the second night of The Sodshow Live. Peter Donegan was there for a little over one week were 6 guests in total, over 2 nights either side of St Patricks Day 2017 were interviewed in front of a live audience.

That story is most probably better told by The Salt Lake Tribune. Further info:

twitter: @UNKBiol106 University of Nebraska, Paul Twigg More images: The Sodshow Live, Salt Lake City

Event Organiser: Melinda Meservy Brought to you by: Thyme and Place Location: The Mandate Press, Salt Lake City The Sodshow Live Team:

Rusted Reel - night 1 Homo Leviticus - night 2 Thyme and Place, The Sodshow Live Sponsors:

Bare Bones Living Hibernian Society of Utah 90.9 KRCL Wasatch Community Gardens and not forgetting The Kings English - Book Shop

331: Mark Gregory Aug 24, 2017

Show notes

Peter Donegan talks with Mark Gregory, the most medalled RHS builder, and designer, of gardens. In fact Mark has never not won a RHS Chelsea medal.

In total, he holds over 90 RHS Chelsea medals, in excess of 35 of them are Gold, 3 personal Gold's as a designer and 1 silver-gilt on Main Avenue and 150 Gardens for The Royal Horticultural Society over 28 years - which roughly equates to 3 years of his working life on that one site.

The Sodshow is available in iTunes, all good podcast stores and The Sodshow website.

Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow

At Chelsea 2017 he built 4 gardens. 2 on Main Avenue and 2 Artisan Gardens. They included the RHS Greening Grey Britain garden for Nigel Dunett, the Yorkshire Forward garden for Tracey Foster; the Seedlip Garden for former guest of The Sodshow Catherine Mac Donald and The Poetry Lovers Garden for Fiona Cadwallader.

Mark also has a teaching college with (also) former guest of The Sodshow and Chelsea Gold medal winner Andrew Wilson. He is RHS and Kew trained.

We talk inspiring the next generation of horts, inspiring the "younger generation", horticulture in the media and what needs to change and a fixation on ageism. We chat getting old, Marks future in garden building, getting it wrong and just how he started in the industry and a work ethic that stays with him to this day.

Show Links:

web: www.landformconsultants.co.uk facebook: Landform Twitter: LandformUK

330: Paul Cook, Cooks Garden Centre, RHS Tatton Aug 16, 2017

Show notes

Peter Donegan chats with Paul Cook of Cooks Garden Centre.

Better known as Cookie or Cookie Boy, Peter and Paul met in the Floral Pavillion at RHS Tatton after former guest of The Sodhow Rob Hardy suggested we'd be a good partnership. He was not wrong.

Over the course of the next 30 minutes the two plant lovers chat Cookies garden centre - one I should add that survives surprisingly so in this day and age; on plant sales. We chat Cookie who is very famed for his plant breeding specialising in hydrangeas and his wife who runs the floristry side of the business.

We also talk getting your wife to arrange her own flowers and then (wait for it) deliver them to herself and a business that evolved from bedding plants to dwarf conifers and now is famed for hydrangea.

We also talk plant failures, damping off, spider man pyjamas, bamboo, trends and changesm the great personalities of yesteryear and so much more.

Peter and Paul met up at RHS Tatton Flower Show and my thanks to The Royal Horticultural Society for being absolutely brilliant.

The Sodshow is available in iTunes, all good podcast stores and The Sodshow website. Thoughts or comments ?

Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow Show Links:

web: www.cooks-garden-centre.co.uk facebook: cooksgardencentre