Tales From The Potting Bench

🌱 This week, I've joined by a legend... 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. Now, often on this podcast I’ll feature a conversation with someone that you may not have heard of before, but this week I’ve got a real treat for you all as I welcome back a returning guest, that you absolutely will recognise! I only need to begin saying this person’s name and I know many of you will be delighted to hear that on the podcast this week I’m speaking with Gardener’s World favourite, the wonderful Frances Tophill. I first spoke to Frances just a little over two years ago and its fair to say a lot has happened to her since then and thankfully we sat down to discuss it all, in this feature length episode! This is one I know you’re going to thoroughly enjoy, so sit down, grab yourself a brew and listen along! If you’d like to see more from Frances then you can follow her on Instagram where you’ll her as @francestophill. Frances’s upcoming gardening book for children, called How To Grow A Garden is due out at the end of February next year and is available to pre-order at Waterstones and all good booksellers. Westland have such a wide range of composts available for your every garden need! From indoor potting mixes to the perfect outdoor solution, there is something for every grower and for every gardening need. For more information and to find the perfect compost for you, see gardenhealth.com now. ✍️ Read My Blog and More: ⁠⁠Click Here⁠⁠ 💻 My Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📩 Email Me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

🐦This week we're we're bird watching! 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. Enticing, encouraging and bringing wildlife in our gardens is a key part of gardening, and birds are a huge part of that. However, if you’re anything like I am, you’ll also really have no idea what you’re doing at all when it comes to looking after them properly and giving them what they need. Thankfully my guest this week does and he’s sharing it all with us in detail. Matt Spracklen, otherwise known on Instagram, as @rocknrollbirder has a huge interest in birds and through his popular Instagram page, shares the comings and goings of the birds in not only his garden, but also from nature reserves and all around the country. This is an informative episode, packed with advice and thoughts on how you can attract even more birds into your own garden, enjoy! I’d also highly recommend Matt’s podcast also called Rock n Roll Birder where you can join him by listening to a weekly birdwatching walk, complete with special guests. If you’d like to encourage an even wider variety of birds in your garden then do try Peckish Complete Seed Mix. Crafted to be 100% edible, with all husks removed. This ensures that no feed goes to waste, offering maximum nourishment to wild birds in your garden. By including a variety of seeds, this mix caters to the preferences of different birds, making your garden a hotspot for a wide variety from Robins, to tits and from chaffinches to thrushes. ✍️ Read My Blog and More: ⁠Click Here⁠ 💻 My Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ☕ Join my Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📩 Email Me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

🐛 This week we're working with wildlife! 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. We spend our time, as gardeners, beautifying our green spaces, adding flowers and plants to create a haven for us and our families. But what about the wildlife around us too? How can we encourage more of it to make our gardens their homes also? My guest this week knows all about that very topic and thankfully we’ve got lots of tips to share with you. Kate Bradbury is a wildlife expert and in fact, she’s also the wildlife editor of Gardener’s World magazine too so you’ll be glad to know we’re in safe hands! Kate has written numerous books on gardening for wildlife including her latest, One Garden Against The World, which we delve into deeper, here. Enjoy! If you’d like to find out more about Kate then you can follow her Instagram @kategbradbury. Kate’s latest book, One Garden Against The World is out now from Bloomsbury and can be found in all good bookshops, online and in your local library too. You can vote for One Garden Against The World in the People’s Book Prize by visiting People’sBookPrize.com now! If you’d like to help encourage more wildlife into your own garden then why not create even the smallest patch of wildflowers with Unwins Nature’s Haven Easy Wildflowers Mix! This ideal blend of wildflower seeds and sowing granules brings vibrant colours and valuable wildlife into your garden. Just scatter it around and enjoy a beautiful wildflower display—effortlessly! ✍️ Read My Blog and More: Click Here 💻 My Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ☕ Join my Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📩 Email Me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

🌱 This week we're talking about working with nature! 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. Our gardens connect us with nature, more than we might even realise. Some of us grow edibles either through necessity or for enjoyment, and others fill their growing spaces with ornamentals instead, but we all share the common joy of growing through one form or another. But someone who I know who is connected to nature perhaps more than anyone else I know is permaculturalist, Huw Richards. Huw has spent his time sharing how he grows and exactly how he does that in tandem with nature. In this episode we discuss the key principles of permaculture, what it means and so much more. Enjoy! If you’d like to find out more about Huw then do make sure to follow him on Instagram where you’ll find him as @huwsgarden. Huw’s latest book ‘The Self Sufficiency Garden’ is out now from DK and his upcoming book ‘The Permaculture Garden’ is scheduled to be released in March 2025. If listening to Huw has given you the bug to get serious with veg then I’d highly recommend you try out Westland’s Organic Vegetable Plant Food. A feed that provides every essential nutrient to boost your vegetable garden growth! No matter what your growing space is like, whether you have just a few pots, a single raised bed, a grow-bag or even a whole allotment, feeding your plants will give you an abundance of stronger, healthier and tastier vegetables while at the same time prevent disease too! ✍️ Read My Latest Blog: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 💻 My Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ☕ Join my Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📩 Email Me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠