77 episodes

Inspiration to help you garden the organic way, with advice, tips and interviews from the UK's leading organic gardening organisation, Garden Organic. Hosted by Fiona Taylor and Chris Collins.

The Organic Gardening Podcast Garden Organic

    • Leisure
    • 4.7 • 75 Ratings

Inspiration to help you garden the organic way, with advice, tips and interviews from the UK's leading organic gardening organisation, Garden Organic. Hosted by Fiona Taylor and Chris Collins.

    March - The ultimate guide to composting

    March - The ultimate guide to composting

    To celebrate Food Waste Action Week (18-24 March), Chris Collins and David Garrett join Fiona to bust the myths around composting. If you want to know how, why and what to compost this is a must-listen.


    David, our head of knowledge transfer at Garden Organic, shares the reasons he loves compost, and talks through the different composting systems at our organic demonstration garden, and how to use them.


    “We're producing kitchen waste at home so why not process it ourselves and produce compost? It's a circular economy in our own homes,” says David. “We're taking ownership of the waste and not relying on someone else to deal with it for us.”



    Also in this episode…

    Chris and Fiona chat about what to sow and plant now and how to care for winter ponds. 

    • 55 min
    February - The wonders of wetlands

    February - The wonders of wetlands

    Our CEO Fiona Taylor visits Slimbridge to chat to Simon Rose from the  Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) about ways to create similar habitats in your growing space. 


    With 75 per cent of wetlands in the UK lost in the last 300 years, Fiona explores the importance of urban bluescapes and bogs as a homes for wildlife.


    “Wetlands are really rich in wildlife – in fact 40 per cent of the world's species are reliant in some way on wetlands,” says Simon, who is Head of Experience Development at the WWT, which is based at Slimbridge Wetlands Centre in Gloucestershire. “But they also help prevent flooding and reduce carbon emissions. Wetlands are actually faster than rainforests at locking up carbon.”

    Simon and Fiona discuss ways you can mimic these diverse habitats in your own growing space.


    “Whenever you introduce water into the garden it's one of the best biodiversity boosters, and that could be anything from a bucket to half a barrel. Dig a hole, fill it with water, put some rocks and some plants in it and I guarantee that within weeks you’ll attract wildlife,” says Simon. “The sediment that settles on the bottom of a pond is another opportunity for carbon sequestration, even in a back garden setting.”



    Also in this episode…

    Chris Collins and Fiona chat about jobs you can be getting with this month, and Anton Rosenfeld delves into the postbag to help answer your questions. This month, they chew over using woodchip as a mulch, how to tackle rats, and ways to save money in the garden.

    • 57 min
    January 2024 - An interview with the Seed Detective

    January 2024 - An interview with the Seed Detective

    Join Fiona Taylor as she chats to Adam Alexander, aka the Seed Detective.

    • 48 min
    December - Bring back the butterflies

    December - Bring back the butterflies

    Our guest this month is Anthony McCluskey from Butterfly Conservation, who shares some fascinating advice about how to support butterflies and caterpillars in your growing space.

    We chat to Butterfly Conservation’s urban butterfly project officer about the importance of attracting more butterflies and nighttime pollinators such as moths. And he provides some brilliant advice on things you can plant and do in your garden to help support pollinator populations.

    “Recent studies show more than 80 per cent of our UK butterfly species are in decline and a lot of our moths are in decline too,” says Anthony, who is based in Stirling. “If you want to boost butterfly numbers locally, you need to pack your garden with ‘caterpillar plants’.”

    Also in this episode…

    Chris, Emma and Fiona take time to reflect on their successes and failures this year, and Emma answers questions from the postbag including how to plant wildlife-friendly hedges, tackle leek moth and improve soil in greenhouses.

    • 54 min
    November - How the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is tackling climate change

    November - How the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is tackling climate change

    In this month’s podcast, Chris hops across the border to visit the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to learn more about its conservation work.

    He chats to Kirsty Wilson, herbaceous supervisor at the botanic gardens, to discover more about its 350-year-old living collection of plants and its research projects.

    Kirsty, a presenter on BBC Scotland’s Beechgrove Garden, explains the steps the garden is taking to help fight climate change, including preserving struggling plants, using green and clean technology and biocontrols for pests. 

    “We're doing a lot of work conserving Scottish native flora, as well as plants that are dying out in the rest of the world,” says Kirsty. “It’s important to understand biodiversity and plant life – and the species that are struggling - so we can protect them…and raise awareness with governments.”

    Also in this episode…

    Chris and Fiona discuss the benefits of not being too tidy in the garden, and planting whips for hedging. From the postbag, we offer advice on what to do after tomato blight, ways to tackle invasive weeds and allium leaf miner.

    • 48 min
    October - Pam The Jam shares her preserving secrets

    October - Pam The Jam shares her preserving secrets

    In this month’s podcast, we chat to Pam ‘The Jam’ Corbin about making seasonal jams and chutneys from homegrown produce.

    As the UK's leading expert on preserving, Pam shares some of her best-kept preserving secrets in October’s Organic Gardening Podcast.

    Pam cemented her reputation as a preserving expert at Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s River Cottage. And in her latest book, Pam the Jam: The Book of Preserves, she provides detailed instructions for making more than 100 of her favourite recipes from classic pickles to savoury jams.

    Fiona caught up with her at her home in the West Country to take a tour of her pretty garden, and find out why she loves to make the most of delicious garden fruit and vegetables.

    Also in this episode…

    Chris Collins and Anton discuss creating the right conditions for healthy grapevines, friendly ways to tackle box moth caterpillars, and box alternatives, and how to avoid plum tree rot.

    • 48 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
75 Ratings

75 Ratings

bug🍀 ,

The best gardening podcast out there!

I love this podcast so much I have listened to some episodes more than once. Also the British climate is very similar to what we have here in the Pacific Northwest so their tips are particularly useful to me. I’ve been gardening for decades but there’s still so much to learn and that’s what I love about this podcast a wealth of knowledge here!

anitajorg ,

My new favorite podcast

Hello. I stumbled upon this podcast last week and was immediately hooked. Why listen to tiresome news when amazing topics about organic gardening are a click away? I particularly enjoyed the non dig soil episode. Last fall/winter I covered my little garden with manure and peat moss thinking I was cheating. Now I know the good stuff filters down into the soil beneath with no digging required and is preferred. In my NYC fire escape pots where I had grown blazing sunflowers from seed sadly succumbed to the insurance police. Now I have a little garden in the country for weekend gardening. And a fabulous lawn full of all sorts of broadleaf and other weeds which a Welch friend calls a “lettuce lawn”. Love this podcast!!

Agatha Fan! ,

Inspiring!

Just finished the new 2021 episode and this podcast is just packed full of inspiring, easy to do projects for this new year! Definitely worthy of all the awards. Will absolutely listen regularly.

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