A new gardening podcast is coming, from Andrew O'Brien, gardener and blogger at Gardens, Weeds & Words. It's a blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, as well as readings from the best garden and wildlife writing.   Don't forget to subscribe!

Trailer for the new Gardens, Weeds & Words podcast

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

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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   

S03 Episode 10: Rosemary for remembrance. With Maya Thomas

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 

S03 Episode 09: Gardens for Good Causes. With Hattie Ghaui

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 

S03 Episode 8: 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   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 

S03 Episode 7: 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   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 

Trailer for the new Gardens, Weeds & Words podcast

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