Roots and All - Gardening Podcast

This week I’m speaking to horticultural expert Guy Deakins who amongst other things is a garden designer, historic gardens expert, consultant and author of the new book Gardener’s Guide to Protected Growing: Creating a successful, sustainable and health micro-climate in the garden. I wanted to find out a bit more about creating protected environments for plants, and about the positives and negatives and Guy’s book provides comprehensive answers all rooted in scientific research. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Fleas in the garden What we cover What is protected growing?  When thinking about protecting crops, should we look to install a windbreak first of all? How do we know we’re not going to create a frost pocket or channel winds in an unfavourable way? Does growing on a protected site mean you are usually dealing with an artificial growing medium? If you want to automate the watering, some good alternatives to hand watering Avoiding too much light for plants growing in a protected space Moderating temperatures Good examples of growing in protected spaces About Guy Deakins Since starting his business in 1999, Guy has gained experience in many differing environments from small courtyards and roof gardens in the heart of the city, fen gardens in rural Norfolk, windswept beach-side formal gardens, and country estates designed by twentieth century cognoscente – with just about every beautiful variation in between. With the coming of the global climate crisis, the focus of the company is always to encourage biodiversity whilst maintaining a good design aesthetic. To this end, Guy studied neuroscience at degree level, so that he could fully understand the brain’s aesthetic pathways when looking at shapes, structures and colours. Links Gardener’s Guide to Protected Growing: Creating a successful, sustainable and health micro-climate in the garden by Guy Deakins - Crowood Press, 2022 www.guydeakinsgardening.com Patreon Membership

This week I’m speaking to gardener and writer Lulah Ellender about her book Grounding: Finding Home in a Garden. Lulah’s book is about tuning into the unceasing rhythms of nature in order to live with uncertainty and how they can help us become more connected to the places in which we live. We talk about how gardens can root us in time and place, even when those roots seem tenuous and liable to break. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Sentient bugs What we cover The premise behind the book and the circumstances in which Lulah came to write it How Lulah gardened differently when she thought she might lose her garden Why the potential loss of her garden seemed such a wrench Custodianship of gardens  Advantages to being a temporary, more tenuous occupier of a space How do gardens help us cope with our emotions? How do they help us make sense of cycles of life, death, birth, aging? About Lulah Ellender Lulah lives in Lewes, East Sussex, with her husband, four children and assorted animals. She has written for the Guardian, the Mail on Sunday’s YOU magazine, and Sussex Life among others. She was recently writer in residence at Charleston’s Festival of the Garden. Her first book Elisabeth’s Lists was published in 2018.  Links Grounding: Finding Home in a Garden by Lulah Ellender - Granta Books, April 2022 Patreon Membership

Hello and welcome to this week’s episode where I’m speaking to Marion Whitehead from the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden in New South Wales, Australia, part of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. I talk with Marion about one of her areas of speciality; the intersection of plants and human feelings, particularly in the context of 3 books as recommended by Marion; Enid Blyton’s ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s ‘The Secret Garden’ and ‘The Overstory’ by Richard Powers. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Venom What we cover Enid Blyton’s ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’: the tree is the central character, but actually seems pretty inanimate. How does the magic faraway tree provoke emotion? Is there a suggestion in Blyton’s book that wild plants are more emotionally provocative than cultivated plants? ‘The Secret Garden’: the garden heals but it seems to be healing physically as much as emotionally, is this the case? Is the garden responding to individuals’ needs?  Do people instinctively find or seek out what they need, emotionally, in a garden? Do we have the language to describe our relationship to plants?  Richard Powers’ ‘The Overstory’: are plants losing their power to connect with us emotionally, or vice versa, given our detachment from nature?  About Marion Whitehead Marion is Senior Horticulturalist at the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden. She has an extensive background in cool climate plant species, with a specific interest in ephemeral and heathland plants. Marion has many horticultural topics of interest from Australian plant history, to managing plant nurseries, to the emotional connection between human and fellow flowers. Links www.bluemountainsbotanicgarden.com The Overstory by Richard Powers  The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett  Patreon Membership

This week’s guests are Kenton Seth and Paul Spriggs, co-authors of a book that’s just been released called ‘The Crevice Garden: How to Make the Perfect Home for Plants from Rocky Places.’ This book is immensely detailed and if you’ve ever had an interest in crevice aka rock gardens, or indeed have not but are curious, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the types of plants suited to growing in this style of garden (there are many), the different looks you can create, how to build and maintain them, famous and successful examples and why they are good from an environmental perspective. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Flower Crab Spiders What we cover What is a crevice garden? Advantages to putting plants in crevices The sort of plants suited to growing in crevices Installing a crevice garden Sourcing stone you might need? Planting into a crevice garden Are they a purely aesthetic addition to a garden or can they be useable too? Maintenance About Kenton & Paul Kenton J. Seth began his career in public horticulture and the nursery trade and is now a garden designer who specializes in crevice gardens, drought-tolerant natives, and meadows. He writes for a variety of local, national and international magazines and lectures to rock garden clubs at home in Colorado and overseas.  Paul Spriggs has been rock gardening for 23 years and building crevice gardens for the last 16. He is a professional gardener and landscaper, and an avid plant explorer. He has a passion for all wild plants, especially miniatures, collecting and cultivating them at home in Victoria, British Columbia. Links The Crevice Garden: How to Make the Perfect Home for Plants from Rocky Places by Kenton Seth & Paul Spriggs - Filbert Press, April 2022 Huw on YouTube Huw on Facebook Huw on Instagram  Patreon Membership

This week’s guest is veg growing expert Huw Richards. Huw grows a vast range of plants in his garden in mid-West Wales and is always trialling and experimenting with new ways of growing. He has an enormously popular YouTube channel and has authored a number of books, the latest of which is ‘The Vegetable Grower’s Handbook’ which draws on his experience as very much a thoughtful and philosophical gardener. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Flower Crab Spiders What we cover Gardening with a mission statement Being organised in the garden; keeping checklists, batching jobs, planning Some of the most surprising things Huw’s discovered on his gardening journey Poly culture  Intercropping Having an odds and ends bed Harvesting water in the garden  The method of multisowing New veg Huw’s trialling in 2022 On being a philosophical gardener Links The Veg Grower’s Handbook by Huw Richards - Dorling Kindersley Ltd, March 2022 Huw on YouTube Huw on Facebook Huw on Instagram  Patreon Membership

This week’s guest is Clare Keller, a fashion designer and stylist who’s previously work at Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Pringle, Chloe and Givenchy. Clare is currently a Trustee and spokesperson for the British Iris Society, a society dedicated to promoting and preserving UK irises and providing resources to iris growers. We talk about these picturesque, perpetually popular flowers. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Organic recyclers What we cover How Clare became involved with the British Iris Society and interested in irises Species of iris Ideal iris growing conditions Iris hardiness Propagation of irises Easy irises to grow Links The British Iris Society On Facebook Patreon Membership

Hello and welcome to this episode of the podcast where I’m speaking to journalist and host of the Climate Cuisine podcast, Clarissa Wei. On her podcast, Clarissa shares the stories of the crops grown sustainably around the world. The goal is to highlight climate-centric conversations about crops and the food we eat as they become increasingly important to the resiliency and survival of our food systems. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Bumbling bees What we cover Clarissa's background and the idea behind her Climate Cuisine podcast What’s wrong with the way we currently farm and consume our food? How individuals can join the growing revolution The importance of growing food that is specific to your climate region How this can change the way we grow and use food How regional food independence helps local communities Government support (or not!) The future of the Climate Cuisine podcast About Clarissa Wei Clarissa Wei is an American Taiwanese freelance journalist and video producer based in Taipei. Bylines include the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, VICE, among others. She is currently working on her first cookbook, Made In Taiwan (Simon Element). Links Climate Cuisine Trailer Patreon Membership

This week I’m speaking to Bonsai expert John Hanby. John has decades of experience studying and creating bonsai trees and has just released an incredibly comprehensive guide called the Practical Art of Bonsai. We talk about selecting a plant, how to train it, and artistic methods and we finish with John’s thoughts on how bonsai techniques relate to and inform wider gardening practices. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Large bulb flies What we cover What is a bonsai tree? What can you bonsai? Indoor and outdoor trees Overall aims of bonsai Starting a tree from seed or a cutting Wiring and directional pruning Dead wood as an artistic addition to a tree Watering bonsai trees Specialist bonsai equipment About John Hanby John has been teaching bonsai for over thirty years and is owner of one of the biggest bonsai schools in Europe. He’s a long-serving member of the Yorkshire Bonsai Association committee and has previously been the secretary of the Federation of British Bonsai Societies, in addition to being a member of the Belgian Kawabe School. He gives talks and demonstrations in the UK and internationally, and has won multiple awards for his fabulous trees. He provides advice, articles and photographs for podcasts, books and magazines, and has produced a successful DVD. Links Practical Art of Bonsai by John Hanby - The Crowood Press, 2022 www.johnhanbybonsai.co.uk Patreon Membership

This week’s guest is Frank Hyman, a certified mushroom forager who teaches mushroom identification to chefs, arborists, organic farmers and the general public. Frank’s latest book is called ‘How to Forage for Mushrooms Without Dying’ and contains guidance on mushroom identification, on your suitability for becoming a mushroom forager on which subject he writes “if you have a reputation among your friends and family for exercising poor judgement…you may not be a very good candidate”, about the sniffy attitude of the English to mushrooms versus that of mainland Europeans and a whole host of other myco-related topics that should help you in your quest to survive foraging. Despite dealing with a potentially lethal topic, both book and author are laugh out loud funny and I was delighted that Frank agreed to an interview. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Viruses What we cover Can you take a mushroom guide from one country or continent and use it in another? Frank’s three different types of mushrooms Mycophobia Should you be careful of the soil mushrooms are growing in? Nutritional and medicinal values Cleaning and cooking mushrooms About Frank Hyman Frank is a certified mushroom forager who teaches mushroom identification to chefs, arborists, organic farmers and the general public. His writing on foraging has appeared in Forbes, Paleo Magazine and Hobby Farms. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.  Links How to Forage for Mushrooms Without Dying: An Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Identifying 29 Wild, Edible Mushrooms by Frank Hyman Other episodes you might like: Edible Mushrooms with Geoff Dann In Search of Mycotopia with Doug Bierend Patreon Membership