Hello, and welcome to Tales From The Potting Bench, a planty podcast where you’ll hear all manner of stories from knowledgeable, passionate and invaluable people who love plants as much as you and I.

We’re here at the monumental 7th season of the podcast and thanks to you, the listeners, we’re back with even more guests and this season promises to be even bigger, even better and with even more planty goodness! This season I'm focussing on those people who really know what they're talking about in a series of episodes I'm calling 'Experts In Their Field'.

Along with a brand-new season, is a brand-new sponsor, and I’m thrilled to share that I’m joined for season 7 by the powerhouse of the plant world, Westland Horticulture. Westland are dedicated to empowering everyone with the skills, knowledge, and tools to help every gardener give it their best, season after season. Great gardening starts with great compost, and Westland has a trusted range of composts for your every gardening need, from giving your baskets and containers the best start in life filling your vegetable patch with nutrients ahead of a bountiful season.

In the first episode of this new season, I wanted to invite someone that I’ve known for a while now, through social media and someone who is going to absolutely help you grow the best tomatoes you’ve ever grown in your life. I’ve dabbled, sometimes good, and sometimes bad, but one thing is for sure, home-grown tomatoes are far superior to any you’ll eat from a shop and Niall Radford has become a master at the art of the perfect tom! From a simple beginning with one particular unique variety, more on that later, to now growing over 150 tomato plants of his own this year – it’s fair to say that Niall knows what he’s talking about and in this episode he shares his exact method for growing, including when to sow, how to sow, and what to do next! This is one you’re going to want to listen to, and maybe even make a few notes on too. Enjoy!

If you’d like to see more of Niall’s interesting toms, including his growing setup and much more, then do follow him on Instagram where you’ll find him as @niallradford. As mentioned in the conversation, Niall also sells seeds of the best tomatoes available, directly from his own fruits, and you’ll find all the details of that at nrtomatoseed.com