Growing Together

It's been a strange gardening year - freezing cold, soaking wet and then hot hot hot.  

This month, Ann-Marie and Claire talk about what can still be sown, collecting seeds for next year's growing or as gifts for friends and keeping your kit clean - while wearing a bikini in the sun preferably. 

They're encouraged by the growth of community gardens with the wellbeing that comes from it, so evident in our own Petersfield Community Garden.

And Ann-Marie gives an insight to what delights the upcoming Chelsea Flower Show hopes to bring this September - and it sounds magical. 

Growing Together - Saturday mornings at 7, Monday evenings at 6 and Wednesday evenings at 8 - and always online at shineradio.uk or on your favourite podcast app.

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This month Growing Together comes from the magical Petersfield Community Garden.  Chair Sue Edberg and volunteers Alex and Linda warmly welcome Ann-Marie and Claire back to this amazing community space, even though it’s raining!

With a new pond, plans afoot for a large wooden communal structure and an unusual but fantastic use for sheep wool, there’s lots of tips, advice and inspirational garden chat too.

Everyone is welcome at the Petersfield Community Garden - to meet like-minded people, grow some fruit and veg or if you’d just like to play a musical instrument in the orchard!

Saturday mornings at 7:30, Monday evenings at 6 and Wednesday evenings at 8 - and always online at shineradio.uk or on your favourite podcast app.

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After the wettest May, Ann-Marie and Claire are hoping for the sun to shine in June - aren’t we all!

With everything being slightly behind schedule, there’s a rush to get plants from seed trays into the garden.

Ann-Marie has some great top tips from feeding plants to lining pots and Claire recommends hanging baskets for tumbling tomatoes and planting herbs in flower borders.

They’re both also taking on the gardening design police!

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With April showers few and far between last month and so many frosts, the tulips are suffering but the daffodils have been amazing, as have the muscari and Ann-Marie's new favourite anemone Mr Fokker.  Such a gorgeous blue!

This month Ann-Marie and Claire break the rules, discuss how to prune and layer clematis and reveal a kind way to get rid of lily beetles.

With Chelsea now scheduled to take place in September, Claire finds out what plans Ann-Marie has for her show garden and Ann-Marie gives us a sneak peek of her soon-to-be opened Wisley gardens, with a virtual tour.

 

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After recording remotely for the last few months, Claire and Ann-Marie are happy to be back together in Ann-Marie’s garden again.

April is a busy time in the garden and, accompanied by blackbird song, they share what seeds they’ve already sown and what they’re going to sow this month.  

Ann-Marie has new arches in her garden for cobaea and squash plants to grow up and Claire discusses what small tree could work well in her garden.

With advice for colour, companion planting, seeds swaps, planting to remember loved ones and a surprise recipe, this month’s Growing Together is bursting with excitement for the coming growing season.

Growing Together from Petersfield’s Shine Radio - Saturday mornings at 7:30 and Wednesday evenings at 8 - and always online at shineradio.uk or on your favourite podcast app.

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It’s March and there’s a lot to be getting on with in the garden as Spring begins and the days grow longer.  Ann-Marie and Claire discuss what seeds they’ve started to sow and where they’ve sown them - let’s just say there’s not a lot of space in their kitchens.

Ann-Marie announces news of her new book ‘My Real Garden’ and they remember a year ago when lockdown started and how important our green spaces have become.

With tips on planting summer bulbs and creating wildlife ponds for biodiversity, Ann-Marie and Claire share a few gardening confessions too.  It’s all in this month’s edition of Growing Together.

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In February’s Growing Together Ann-Marie and Claire are recording remotely, but that doesn’t stop them from feeling connected as they discuss how lockdown can bring time to plan for the coming year’s garden - and they’re getting organised!

With tips on how to train roses, when to move dormant plants and which seeds to sow now for an early crop, Ann-Marie and Claire also discuss how this year, perhaps more than ever, gardening can bring people together.

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Ann-Marie and Claire visit the Petersfield Community Garden for their January Growing Together programme.  They meet with chair Sue Edberg and volunteers Sarah, Alex and Leslie to find out more about the garden and all it offers.  

It’s the first time visiting the garden for both Ann-Marie and Claire and they are given a very warm welcome on this cold winter day. 

Open to all who wish to come along, the Community Garden is a safe place for anyone who would like to learn more about gardening, get stuck in with a project, meet new people or simply to just sit and have a cuppa.  You’ll always be met with a friendly smile and, in the colder months, a warm campfire!

With emphasis on gardening for physical and mental wellbeing, Leslie tells us that coming to the garden has helped her regain mobility and speech since her debilitating stroke a few years ago and Alex says she has changed her working hours to fit in visiting the garden. 

Sarah explains how the garden is working with local surgeries, mental health charities, youth clubs and schools to help with social prescribing and hopes 2021 brings more opportunity for the garden to help more people, both young and old.

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How do you make your Christmas wreath? Claire and Ann-Marie discover they have very different methods, but both are great ways to get out in the garden and forage for foliage!

How about making a wreath for a lonely neighbour or putting a few small bulbs and compost into an empty jam jar decorated with ribbon as a little gesture of seasonal gardening gifting.

Ann-Marie lets us into a bulb-planting secret and plans to plant more sweetpea seeds around Boxing Day in her continuing sweetpea experiment, as well as sowing tomato seeds for an early crop, hopefully.

Poinsettia discussion - what do you do with them after Christmas and what type of Christmas tree do you choose?  This year we’re choosing the more ‘characterful’ ones.  Lots of handy tips and advice for December decorating but watch out for those flower frogs!

To contact the programme email [email protected] or call 01730 555 500.

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As the weather turns wetter and colder and the days grow shorter, why not brighten your garden with fairy lights?

Both Ann-Marie and Claire recommend warm, white lights to add a glow to the garden during winter.

Lights are available to buy in the shops now for Christmas (Claire just didn’t pack hers away from last year!) and look into solar ones as a good option too.

Garlic bulbs can be planted, as can tulip bulbs - finally!

We talk about compost bins, hot bins with steam and Ann-Marie’s worm friends in her wormery - who provide amazing amounts of plant food!

Remember to feed the birds and put out water for them.

Best thing to do in the garden as the nights draw in: wrap up, lie on the grass and stare at the stars ✨

You can email Ann-Marie and Claire at [email protected] or 01730 555 500.

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