Tanya Anderson is an organic gardener; soap maker and beekeeper and she joins us on the podcast this week to discuss all things skincare with her soap making and plant-based beauty products she makes.

Born in America but now living in the Isle of Man, Tanya runs a blog called Lovely Greens where she shares gardening tips, plant-based beauty and soap recipes and DIY projects you can do at home. She sells her products direct as well to various local shops on the Isle of Man and has a very popular bees wax lip balm which she sends all over the world.

Tanya will be featuring on Gardener’s World this week and if you’re watching it at the moment, you’ll know that Francis has a new allotment and has been visiting allotments around the country to get inspiration for her own space and she takes a visit to Tanya as she’s very interested in growing plants for skincare and medicine.

Check out Tanya’s amazing blogs and learn more about her by visiting:

Website: lovelygreens.com

Facebook: lovely.greens.iom

Instagram: lovely.greens

Twitter: @LovelyGreens

YouTube: Lovely Greens

This week we’re joined by Charles Dowding, an author, vegetable grower and the guru of no dig gardening. Charles’ gardening journey began when he left university in 1981 and by 1982, he was creating a 6000m2 market garden and since then has established and run four market gardens in two countries, all of which use the no dig approach.

Charles has featured on the Gardeners’ World programme and frequently provides talks to individuals and groups, as well as providing courses where you can learn how to grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables with less effort.

With his expertise in no dig, Charles has written nine books on no dig and regularly writes for national and international magazines, as well as appearing on TV and radio. Take a listen to this episode to learn more about his weed free no dig methods and achieve amazing and time saving results.

Learn more about Charles and no dig by visiting:

Website: charlesdowding.co.uk

YouTube: Charles Dowding

Instagram: @charles_dowding

Facebook: Charles Dowding

Twitter: @charlesdowding

Joining us this week is chilli grower Shaun, AKA Chillichump. Shaun first started growing chillies in his home country in South Africa and his craze started in 2006 when the ghost pepper was making headlines. Shaun also makes his own chilli sauces and is always experimenting with different recipes, which he shares on his YouTube channel by recording the process. Shaun combines his love of technology with his gardening and you’ll learn all about how he automates the drip irrigation, air circulation and heating/cooling and more on his YouTube channel.

This is a great episode for all you chilli lovers! Check out Chillichump by visiting:

YouTube: ChilliChump

Instagram: @chillichump

Twitter: @chillichump

Facebook: @chillichump

Website: chillichump.com

Lisa runs Edulis Wild Food (which means edible in Latin) where she runs wild food walks and a range of foraging courses including identifying, using, fermenting, preserving and cooking. With 15 years’ experience of picking wild fungi, fruits, flowers and foliage, Lisa has impressively taught herself all her foraging knowledge.

Her whole journey as a wild food specialist started by finding out one tiny fact… porcini mushrooms grow in the UK. Lisa was totally amazed as she had bought a pack the day before and thought they were a fancy mushroom from Italy. Since then she has been on some *ahem* wild adventures discovering and learning about wild foods.

If you want to see what Lisa gets up to on her foraging adventures, check her out at:

Website: eduliswildfood.co.uk/

Instagram: @edulis_wildfood

Twitter: @eduliswildfood

Gennaro is an American green builder and artist living in New York City. Led by Gennaro is the artistic green contracting and design firm, Eco Brooklyn which is recognised by the National Association of Green Builders and LEED AP. Gennaro uses his firm to turn New York green by creating living walls which not only enhances the aesthetics of living spaces, but also improves the environment and the quality of life of all living creatures. Living walls are a great way for people to grow plants, including fruit and vegetables, up a wall as opposed to in the ground.

The Eco Brooklyn Team have handled many green buildings, including green roofs, natural swimming pools and a large range of projects using salvaged non-toxic materials. They also specialise in soil remediation which they do mostly for brownstone owners who have high lead levels in their gardens, therefore, helping to make New York a greener and healthier place.

We really recommend you check out Gennaro’s pages just for the visuals! Learn more about Gennaro and Eco Brooklyn below:

Website: ecobrooklyn.com

Facebook: @ecobrooklyn

Instagram: @eco.brooklyn

Twitter: @ecobrooklyn

A lover of all things house plants, Jane is a presenter and producer of indoor gardener podcast On The Ledge and a freelance journalist who specialises in plants and gardening. She writes for a range of publications and regularly has her work published in The Guardian, The Financial Times, Gardens Illustrated and Garden Design Journal.

Jane’s background in news journalism started when she worked in local newspapers for more than 20 years, then joined The Guardian as a reporter online and worked her way up to an online news desk editor. Soon after she became the gardening editor at The Guardian and left in 2017 to become fully freelance.

In between her writing and producing, Jane regularly gives talks to gardening groups and societies and gives interviews on radio and gardening podcasts.

This is a great episode if you’re a house plant lover like Jane. Learn more about Jane by visiting:

Website: janeperrone.com

Facebook: @OnTheLedgePod

Twitter: @janeperrone

Instagram: j.l.perrone

Growing up in Romania, Iulia Barta has always had a passion for learning about nature and the positive effects that medicinal plants can have on people’s lives. Natural remedies are a huge part of the Romanian culture and she explains in this episode how she was a sick child and talks about her first experience of being treated by a medical herbalist. Naturally, this led to her moving to the UK to study Western herbal medicine at the University of Westminster.

Since then, Iulia has helped and treated a number of people suffering with a range of conditions. She has also joined The National Institute of Medical Herbalists, which is the UK’s leading professional body representing herbal practitioners.

This is a great episode for those who want to learn more about medicinal herbs or for those who are seeking a medical herbalist.

To view Iulia’s Golden paste recipe mentioned in this episode, visit:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1038660509498109?view=permalink&id=2411830675514412

Learn more about Iulia:

Website: www.herbalistnaturalcare.co.uk

Facebook: @herbalistnaturalcare.co.uk

David has become a popular figure in the horticultural world and is well respected for his knowledge by nurserymen, professional gardeners, journalists and the gardening public. Discovering his love of gardening as a child, David has now been growing plants for more than 40 years.

Growing on a range of different soils and regions in the country, David has worked in many gardens and nurseries and has discovered different plants and gardens around the world. In fact, he has travelled to every continent except for Antarctica.

After training as a teacher, David has taught a range of subjects, including botany, soil science, garden design and plant identification. He currently teaches courses and masterclasses around the UK and is also a very popular speaker with local gardening groups.

David has also spent over 20 years writing and editing for the nation’s crop of garden magazines and websites and most recently, the Deputy and then Associate Editor for BBC’s Gardener’s World Magazine.

Check out the below links to learn more about David:

Website: www.davidhurrion.com

Facebook: @DavidHurrion

Instagram: @DavidHurrion

Twitter: @DavidHurrion

YouTube: David Hurrion

Recently listed in the Top 5 Women Influencers in Horticulture by Grow Your Own Magazine, Ellen has had a passion for gardening since she was child where she enjoyed her parents’ Norfolk kitchen garden and learning organic gardening methods from her uncle.

Since then she’s been busy writing gardening content, hosting a horticultural radio show on Future Radio, as well as TV presenting and travelling the world providing talks about gardening and growing your own food where she aims to promote how nature and gardening can benefit our well-being. And not to mention having also appearing on BBC Countryfile, Mustard TV and has filmed with the Royal Horticultural Society.

In between all of that, Ellen runs many events across the country for Grapes Hill Community Garden and is also the Horticultural Co-Ordinator for the Royal Norfolk Show, Patron of Filby Gardening Club and found of No Fear Gardening.

The Plant Based Podcast is Ellen’s latest project which she hosts with Michael (Mr Plant Geek). You can listen to this podcast fortnightly via iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube and other platforms by visiting www.theplantbasedpodcast.net

Learn more about Ellen by visiting:

Website: https://www.ellenmarygardening.co.uk/

Facebook: @ellenmarygardening1

Instagram: @ellenmarygardening

Twitter: @EllenMaryGarden

Joining us on the podcast this week is Lee Connelly, also known as The Skinny Jean Gardener. Specialising in children’s gardening, Lee is the co-founder of The Skinny Jean Gardener and is best known for his work as the CBBC Blue Peter Gardener.

Lee’s interest in garden started in 2014 when he began gardening on a local allotment with his brother, learning his new hobby through social media. Later, he moved onto TV’s Jimmy Doherty’s farm to build a new kitchen garden for his restaurant and during this time he got involved with Jamie Oliver’s food revolution.

Back in 2015, a year later he discovered his new hobby, Lee travelled to Japan to build a Kids Show Garden. Since then Lee enjoys getting involved with designing and building children’s gardens and his ideas incorporated in the design have been tried and tested by his daughter.

To learn more about Lee, visit:

Website: http://skinnyjeangardener.co.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leetconnelly

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkinnyJeanGard

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skinnyjeangardener/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnFl5130I2rYDL3W9xAOP0A