37 episodes

A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing. With Andrew O'Brien.

Gardens, weeds and words Andrew O'Brien: gardener, blogger, podcaster

    • Leisure
    • 4.7 • 117 Ratings

A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing. With Andrew O'Brien.

    Rosemary for remembrance. With Maya Thomas

    Rosemary for remembrance. With Maya Thomas

    Gardens, weeds and words podcast, S03E10 show notes A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing.
    These notes may contain affiliate links. 
    Garden soundtrack
    February; the natural world waking up; the bossiness of raised beds
    2:00 Reading from I was right all along, on my Substack, Bramble & Briar
    3:41 the resilience of the purple sage
     
    4:45 Interview with Maya Thomas
    Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Diploma in Herbology
    Ballymaloe Cookery School at Ballymaloe House in Cork, Ireland
    Elisabeth Luard, author, journalist and broadcaster
    Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Kandy, Sri Lanka, where Maya’s great uncle used to work
    Rewilding the Kitchen, Toast 2021, Maya Thomas
    Returning to the Urban Wilderness, Toast 2021, Maya Thomas
    Grow Easy: Organic crops for pots and small plots, Anna Greeland, Mitchell Beazley 2021
     
    57:01 To Stand and Stare turns one year old
    ***
    Thank you to Maya Thomas for joining me on this episode of the Gardens, Weeds & Words podcast.
    You can find Maya on Instagram, and also on the web at The Modern Herbal
    My own book, To Stand and Stare; how to garden by doing next to nothing, is published by DK Life, and is available here
    I’m ever appreciative of all my listeners for your continued support and reviews, I really do appreciate them. You can support the podcast by buying its producer a virtual cup of coffee for three quid, at https://ko-fi.com/andrewtimothyOB. Proceeds will go towards equipment, software and the monthly podcast hosting fees. 

    website: gardensweedsandwords.com
    email: gardensweedsandwords@gmail.com
    Instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB
    Twitter: twitter.com/AndrewTimothyOB 
     

    • 59 min
    Gardens for Good Causes. With Hattie Ghaui

    Gardens for Good Causes. With Hattie Ghaui

    Gardens for Good Causes, with Hattie Ghaui
     
    A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing.
     
    These notes may contain affiliate links. 
     
     
    Garden soundtrack
     
    The glory of October
     
    3:25 Reading from Kew Gardens, by Virginia Woolf. Written in 1919, available in hardback from Kew Publications, 2018
    Read by Milli Proust
     
    8:19 Interview with Hattie Ghaui
     
    9:00 A summary of Project Giving Back’s work... 
    10:56 … and how Hattie became involved 
    11:25 How PGB is funded
    12:13 The original goal
    12:30 Me, failing to get Hattie to preempt the announcement (made in late September) about the extension of the original remit
    14:35 Hattie, repping the business world on Gardens, Weeds & Words!
    15:00 Hattie’s own childhood memories of plants and gardens
    22:20 Hattie’s present garden and gardening style
    24:29 An unexpected plug for To Stand and Stare
    25:15 Hacking Big Money for charities at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Can philanthropy really help?
    31:02 PGB's due diligence process for charities and corporate partners
    34:45 What kind of difference can Chelsea make to a charity?
              Gardens for good causes, the PGB podcast https://www.givingback.org.uk/podcasts
    40:27 The variety of different charities supported
    41:36 Sustainability at Chelsea, and the legacy of a PGB show garden
    45:23 Keep asking the questions, PGB and the RHS
    47:20 A few stand out PGB projects
    50:09 The long term impact of the gardens
     
     
    53:41 Book writing – To Stand and Stare, and what comes next from me
     
     
    ***
     
    Thank you to Hattie Ghaui for joining me on this episode of the Gardens, Weeds & Words podcast.
     
    You can find Hattie on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/hghaui/
    and Project Giving Back here https://www.instagram.com/project.giving.back/
    and on the web here https://www.givingback.org.uk/
     
    With thanks once again to Milli Proust for this episode’s reading. Milli’s beautiful instagram is here https://www.instagram.com/milliproust/
     
     
    My own book, To Stand and Stare; how to garden by doing next to nothing, is published by DK Life, and is available here https://geni.us/Qs2d
     
     
     
    I’m ever appreciative of all my listeners for your continued support and reviews, I really do appreciate them. You can support the podcast by buying its producer a virtual cup of coffee for three quid, at https://ko-fi.com/andrewtimothyOB. Proceeds will go towards equipment, software and the monthly podcast hosting fees. 
     
    A year of garden coaching If you'd like to find out more about my my 12 month online garden coaching programme, please visit the website, where you can read more details. There will be a few spaces opening up after Christmas, so do sign up to be the first to hear when you can book.
    http://www.andrewtimothyobrien.com
     
     
    website: gardensweedsandwords.com
    email: gardensweedsandwords@gmail.com
    Instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB
    Twitter: twitter.com/AndrewTimothyOB 

    • 56 min
    Designing with flowers. With Hazel Gardiner

    Designing with flowers. With Hazel Gardiner

    Designing with flowers. With Hazel Gardiner
     
    A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing.
     
    These notes may contain affiliate links. 
     
     
    Garden soundtrack
     
    Over the hump of the year
     
    1:56 Vita Sackville west struggling with summer
     
    Readings from In Your Garden, Vita Sackville West. Oxenwood Press, 1996
    Read by Andrew Timothy O'Brien
     
    5:30 Interview with Hazel Gardiner
    5:55 Creating in relationship with others – elevating and encouraging.
    8:25 Hazel’s career path. Dealing with burnout and serious illness
    13:11 Retraining in floristry. Transferable skills.
    18:50 Choosing the floristry path, rather than gardening or garden design
    21:50 The through-line in a varied career
    24:00 Fearless. A parental gift of confidence
    27:10 Building a team
    29:23 A typical week
    30:45 Incorporating artificial flowers
    33:15 Hazel’s early gardening memories
    40:46 Creating installations that flummox – Hazel’s ideal brief
    43:12 A ‘chewy’ style – texture, layer and story
    46:15 How people interract with the work
    48:00 The place of sustainability, seasonality and a responsive approach
    51:28 Natural mechanics
    52:22 Hazel’s own garden
     
    56:38 Bramble & Briar, the Substack for the more confessional side of my gardening content. Sign up at https://andrewtimothyobrien.substack.com/
     
    57:28 An extract from my book, To Stand and Stare; how to garden by doing next to nothing, DK Life,  https://geni.us/Qs2d
     
     
     
    ***
     
    Thank you to Hazel Gardiner for joining me on this episode of the Gardens, Weeds & Words podcast.
     
    You can find Hazel on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/hazelgardinerdesign/
    and on the web here https://www.hazelgardinerdesign.com/studio
     
     
     
    My own book, To Stand and Stare; how to garden by doing next to nothing, is published by DK Life, and is available here https://geni.us/Qs2d
     
     
     
    I’m ever appreciative of all my listeners for your continued support and reviews, I really do appreciate them. You can support the podcast by buying its producer a virtual cup of coffee for three quid, at https://ko-fi.com/andrewtimothyOB. Proceeds will go towards equipment, software and the monthly podcast hosting fees. 
     
    A year of garden coaching If you'd like to find out more about my my 12 month online garden coaching programme, please visit the website, where you can read more details. There will be a few spaces opening up in September 2023, so do sign up to be the first to hear when you can book.
    http://www.andrewtimothyobrien.com
     
     
    website: gardensweedsandwords.com
    email: gardensweedsandwords@gmail.com
    Instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB
    Twitter: twitter.com/AndrewTimothyOB 

    • 1 hr 1 min
    To Stand and Stare. With Andrew Timothy O'Brien

    To Stand and Stare. With Andrew Timothy O'Brien

    A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing.
     
    These notes may contain affiliate links. 
     
     
    Garden soundtrack
     
    Cracking ice while walking through the fields – is it too soon to say, or is winter beginning to think about handing over to spring?
     
    A great time for mulching.
     
     
    Reading from To stand and stare 3:02
    Read by Andrew Timothy O'Brien
     
    To stand and stare: how to garden while doing next to nothing, by Andrew Timothy O'Brien. DK Life, 2023.
    https://geni.us/Qs2d
     
     
    05:47  Interview with Andrew, by Alice Vincent
     
    06:40 role reversal
     
    07:35 Introducing the book – Andrew
     
    09:14 Introducing the book – Alice
     
    10:00 A book that grants permission
     
    11:12 on the plus side of getting it wrong
     
    11:46 jumping to the book's Acknowledgements
     
    14:00 how the book came to be
     
    17:56 Alice on 'looking'
     
    20:48 Alice on gardening as 'a tiny altering'
     
    21:52 being empowered to garden the way you want to, rather than the way you feel you *should*
     
    22:33 Andrew on the pros and cons of lists
     
    26:08 Pottering
     
    A breath from elsewhere, by Mirabel Osler. Bloomsbury, 1997.
    https://amzn.to/3Stlvr9
     
    28: 41 How much the soil holds – memories, stories, our selves
     
    33:15 Bill's place in the book
     
    38:15 The 'how to' sections
     
    43:19 The research – the 'science stuff'
     
    46:30 Andrew's recent standing and staring – and Andrew answer to an Alice question
     
     
     
    ***
     
    Thank you to Alice Vincent for her table-turning stint in coming to interview me on my own podcast! Keep an eye out for Alice's upcoming book, Why Women Grow: stories of soil, sisterhood and survival, published by Canongate on 2 March 2023. https://amzn.to/3k6yu75
     
    You can find Alice on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/noughticulture/
    and the Why Women Grow podcast here https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/why-women-grow/id1659885168
     
     
     
    My own book, To Stand and Stare; how to garden by doing next to nothing, is published by DK Life, and is available here https://geni.us/Qs2d
     
     
     
    I’m ever appreciative of all my listeners for your continued support and reviews, I really do appreciate them. You can support the podcast by buying its producer a virtual cup of coffee for three quid, at https://ko-fi.com/andrewtimothyOB. Proceeds will go towards equipment, software and the monthly podcast hosting fees. 
     
    A year of garden coaching If you'd like to find out more about my my 12 month online garden coaching programme, please visit the website, where you can read more details. There will be a few spaces opening up in spring 2023, so do sign up to be the first to hear when you can book.
    http://www.andrewtimothyobrien.com
     
     
    website: gardensweedsandwords.com
    email: gardensweedsandwords@gmail.com
    Instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB
    Twitter: twitter.com/AndrewTimothyOB 

    • 51 min
    Flower & Story. With Milli Proust

    Flower & Story. With Milli Proust

    A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing.
     
    These notes may contain affiliate links. 
     
     
     
    Garden soundtrack
     
    Winter bringing new and rare experiences – December snow in Kent, and recording the audio version of my new book.
     
     
    Reading from To stand and stare 2:10
    Read by Andrew Timothy O'Brien
     
    To stand and stare: how to garden while doing next to nothing, by Andrew Timothy O'Brien. DK Life, 2023.
    https://geni.us/Qs2d
     
     
    04:35  An introduction to From Seed to Bloom: a year of growing and designing with seasonal flowers, by Milli Proust. Quadrille, 2022
    https://amzn.to/3hGlcNg
     
     
    Reading from From Seed to Bloom 5:15
    Read by Milli Proust
     
     
    09:29  Interview with Milli Proust
     
    10:55 The original plan
     
    12:45 Working with intention – Milli loves a strategy
     
     
    13:45 The other aspect of Milli's professional life!
     
    Molly Wansell, 42 Management & Production
    https://www.42mp.com/
     
     
    15:18 A sustainable business
     
    Paris Alma Flowers
    https://parisalmaflowers.com/
     
     
    17:08 Working as part of a team
     
    On the business with Paris, on the book with photographer Éva Németh
    https://www.evanemeth.com/
     
     
    18:54 The visual aspects of the book
     
    Theatre, storytelling, atmosphere.
     
    The human experience of connecting with nature.
     
     
    23:03 Milli's earliest plants and gardens memories
     
     
    26:53 A gardening (self)education
     
     
    29:00 Why grow your own floristry supplies?
     
     
    30:43 Using foliage, and the stories of plants in weather
     
     
    34:00 Design principles in floral arrangement
     
     
    38:00 From Seed to Bloom:
     
     
    40:51 How becoming a mother might impact Milli's creative practice – new perspectives and opportunites
     
     
    45:45 A seasonal perspective
     
     
    48:30 Grower, or gardener? What's the difference?
     
    ***
     
    Thank you to Milli Proust for giving up her time to talk to me about the beautiful work she brings into the world from her patch of land in West Sussex.
     
    You can find Milli on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/milliproust/
    Or on her website: https://www.milliproust.com/
     
     
    My own book, To Stand and Stare; how to garden by doing next to nothing, will be published by DK Life on Feb 2, 2023, and is available to preorder here https://geni.us/Qs2d
     
     
     
    I’m ever appreciative of all my listeners for your continued support and reviews, I really do appreciate them. You can support the podcast by buying its producer a virtual cup of coffee for three quid, at https://ko-fi.com/andrewtimothyOB. Proceeds will go towards equipment, software and the monthly podcast hosting fees. 
     
    A year of garden coaching If you'd like to find out more about my my 12 month online garden coaching programme, please visit the website, where you can read more details. There will be a few spaces opening up in spring 2023n, so do sign up to be the first to hear when you can book.
    http://www.andrewtimothyobrien.com
     
     
    website: gardensweedsandwords.com
    email: gardensweedsandwords@gmail.com
    Instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB
    Twitter: twitter.com/AndrewTimothyOB 

    • 58 min
    Where the sun don't shine. With Susanna Grant

    Where the sun don't shine. With Susanna Grant

    A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing.
     
    These notes may contain affiliate links. 
     
     
     
    Garden soundtrack
     
    The joys of October in the garden.
     
     
    Reading from A breath from elsewhere, by Mirabel Osler 4:28
    Read by Jemma Cooper
     
    A breath from elsewhere, by Mirabel Osler. Bloomsbury, 1997.
    https://amzn.to/3Stlvr9
     
     
    06:52 Gardening in the shade
     
     
     
    08:10 Interview with Susanna Grant
     
    08:20 First encounters
     
    Wild about Weeds, by Jack Wallington
    https://amzn.to/3FbVU31
     
    09:17 Sharing weeds (and weeds)
     
    10:48 How the name – and the business – 'Linda' came about
     
    12:35 A Jack of All Trades – Susanna's other work
     
    16:11 A Fair Weather Shop
     
    19:26 Susanna's childhood memories of plants and the natural world
     
    Flower Fairy books, by Cicely Mary Barker
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09PGM2YBD?binding=hardcover&searchxofy=true&ref_=dbs_s_bs_series_rwt_thcv&qid=1666786266&sr=1-19
     
    Observer Book of Wild Flowers
    https://amzn.to/3SxxWCo
     
    21:26 Arnold Circus and the Boundary Estate – the community garden
     
    Radicle, edited by Sui Searle aka @decolonisethegarden
    https://radicle.substack.com
     
    Volunteering: a problem and an opportunity? by Joanna Pidcock
    https://radicle.substack.com/p/volunteering-a-problem-and-an-opportunity
     
    29:49 From Gardens Where We Feel Secure, by Susanna Grant and Rowan Spray, published by Rough Trade Books and The Garden Museum
    https://amzn.to/3Dpdrn4
     
    35:31 Practicalities of window box gardening with perennials
     
     
     
    ***
     
    Thank you to Susanna Grant for giving up her time to talk to me about her creative nature-inspired practice.
     
    Susanna's book Shade is published by Bloom, 2022, and is available here
    https://amzn.to/3F6eGsu
     
    The Rough Trade/Garden Museum pamphlet by Susanna, with photography by Rowan Spray is From Gardens Where We Feel Secure, and is available here
    https://amzn.to/3Dpdrn4
     
    Pamphlets in the same series, such as Horticultural Appropriation by Claire Ratinon and Sam Ayre, are also available here
    https://roughtradebooks.com/collections/editions
     
    You can find Susanna on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/hellotherelinda
    Or on her website: https://www.hellotherelinda.com/
     
     
    My own book, To Stand and Stare; how to garden by doing next to nothing, will be published by DK Life on Feb 2, 2023, and is available to preorder here https://geni.us/Qs2d
     
     
    I'm so grateful to Jemma Cooper for lending us her lovely tones for the reading from Mirabel Osler's A breath from elsewhere. You can find Jem on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/thecountrynurse_
     
    I’m ever appreciative of all my listeners for your continued support and reviews, I really do appreciate them. You can support the podcast by buying its producer a virtual cup of coffee for three quid, at https://ko-fi.com/andrewtimothyOB. Proceeds will go towards equipment, software and the monthly podcast hosting fees. 
     
    A year of garden coaching
    If you'd like to find out more about my my 12 month online garden coaching programme, please visit the website, where you can read more details. There will be a few spaces opening up early in the new year, so do sign up to be the first to hear when you can book.
    https://www.gardensweedsandwords.com/garden-coaching
     
     
     
    website: gardensweedsandwords.com
    email: gardensweedsandwords@gmail.com
    Instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB
    Twitter: twitter.com/AndrewTimothyOB 

    • 50 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
117 Ratings

117 Ratings

The Empowered Entrepreneur ,

A thoughtful balm for my soul

Oh my. Your podcast is an absolute balm for my soul. Thank you, thank you for such beautiful work. At every level it really moves me. A joy to listen to, inspiring, thoughtful, and a much needed gentle and heartfelt reminder of our deep connection with the wild. 🙏🏽

A&C-reviews ,

Depth of conversation yet still soothing

So few garden related podcasts are able to encompass deeper and wider issues yet still be utterly soothing to listen to.

I so appreciate the attention to the nuance of really important things that gardening impacts and which impact gardening, things which are so often ignored of glossed over into soundbites in other media.

It always feels like the guests are given a lovely space to really say what they want rather than what is usually expected, and that makes this so much more authentic and interesting.

I learn a lot and I feel more connected with the power of growing and paying attention to the needs of the land, soil, people, communities and all the wider systemic issues they intersect.

And it is just so gentle and soothing, so I know I can listen to something with heart at any time of day, even just before sleep. Thanks for making this lovely podcast.

Ammi Majus ,

Episode 4 - Ready for the weather

Great to see you back! Loved the chat, more please..

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