Roots and All - Gardening Podcast Episode 314: Nurturing Growth, Inside and Out
Get ready for an inspiring journey as I’m joined by RAF Warrant Officer Pete Welsh—a man whose story spans the adrenaline of military life to the quiet power of the garden. While excelling in a remarkable military career and contributing to an RHS award-winning community garden, Pete has also confronted the profound challenges of mental health. Through the therapeutic calm of gardening and the transformative power of community connections, he’s found resilience and growth. Pete’s journey reveals the extraordinary parallels between cultivating plants and healing ourselves.
Links
Veterans' Growth: A charity focused on providing horticultural therapy to veterans dealing with mental health challenges. You can visit the official site at veteransgrowth.org
Tadpole Garden Village: This community initiative has a focus on gardening and sustainability. You can find more information about their activities and community updates through their dedicated website at tadpolegardenvillage.com
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If you liked this week's episode with Pete Welsh you might also enjoy this one from the archives:
286: Natural Happiness - This episode my guest is Alan Heeks, former corporate world inhabitant, organic farmer, coach and author of the book ‘Natural Happiness’. After his transition into organic farming, Alan realised that “a cultivated organic ecosystem is a profound guide to tending human nature, and that organic growth methods have parallels for people: such as composting your stress, and using crop rotation to avoid burnout.” We explore the idea further…
145: Therapy Gardening - In this episode I’m speaking to horticultural therapist Carol Sales. Carol headed up a therapy garden in a prison, before moving over to lead the Therapy Garden at Headley Court, a rehabilitation centre for injured military veterans. Carol is featured in many books, including Head Gardeners by Ambra Edwards and Sue Stuart-Smith’s The Well Gardened Mind and she was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2019.