The Organic Grower Podcast

Nov 07 2024 16 ep. 86 mins 14
The Organic Grower Podcast artwork

The Organic Grower Podcast aims to bring together organic growers from across the UK to share their skills and experiences with those looking to deepen their knowledge of the organic growing world. It will be practical in focus, getting straight into the nitty-gritty of people’s growing practices and business operations.

James Butterworth, co-founder and grower at Cotswold Market Garden, will be taking us on a journey through farms and gardens across the UK to speak to growers about the work they do, delving into the most relevant topics of the organic growing world.

This podcast is brought to you by the Organic Growers Alliance, the UK's only grower-led organisation providing technical and practical advice and support on organic growing. For more information about the OGA head to www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk and become and member.

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OGPod Episode 16: Kate McEvoy and Real Seeds

Nov 07 2024 92 mins  
James speaks to Kate McEvoy from Real Seeds in Pembrokeshire. We talk about the gradual growth of the business over many years, growing seed for home gardeners, the importance of open-pollinated seed and incorporating seed growing into market gardens., We delve deep into growing peas and beans for seed, economics of seed vs veg, what you need to think about on top of actually growi

OGPod Episode 15: Ed Hamer and Chagfood Community Market Garden

Oct 24 2024 94 mins  
James speaks to Ed Hamer of Chagfood Community Market Garden in the Dartmoor National Park. CSAs or Community Supported Agriculture is very much the focus in this one. We talk about Ed’s split growing site, leaning into the restrictive nature of the CSA model, dealing with and sharing risk, the importance and challenges of communicating with customers/members, the benefits of har

OGPod Episode 14: Pete Dollimore and Hankham Organics + The Montessori Place

Oct 17 2024 96 mins  
James speaks to Pete Dollimore, previously of Hankham Organics in Sussex and now an instructor at The Montesorri Place. Pete is an absolute fountain of knowledge, particularly about protected cropping, which is so important to many organic growers. At Hankham Organics, Pete oversaw production in 7000m2 of glasshouse - an incredible opportunity but one with an endless learning curve

OGPod Episode 13: Rita Oldenbourg and Adam Beer and Pitney Farm Market Garden

Sep 26 2024 93 mins  
James speak to Rita and Adam from Pitney Farm Market Garden in Somerset. Rita and Adam are fresh from winning Young Organic Grower of the Year and hopefully our conversation gives you a flavour of why. We talk about their decision to mechanise much of their operation and how this feeds into their goal of year-round production, direct wholesaling and growing as much food as possible

OGPod Episode 12: Jayne Arnold and Oxton Organics

Sep 12 2024 83 mins  
James speaks to Jayne Arnold of Oxton Organics in Worcestershire. Oxton Organics has undergone a number of transformations over the years and James and Jayne discuss this, but the bulk of the conversation focuses on Jayne’s experiments with green manures. Jayne talks about the benefits of green manures, establishment, undersowing, species selection and seed mixes, key dates and m

OGPod Episode 11: Alice Rixon a.k.a. The Veg Lady, Chettle

Aug 15 2024 77 mins  
James speaks to Alice Rixon a.k.a. The Veg Lady, based in Chettle, Dorset. We really wanted to hear from someone at the start of their growing journey to talk through the challenges and thinking of starting out with their own horticultural business. Alice talks about how she is setting up the growing space (where she’s combining polytunnels, market garden and field-scale from the

OGPod Episode 10: Jean-Martin Fortier

Aug 01 2024 79 mins  
Back to today’s episode, James speaks to Jean-Martin Fortier. And boy did we manage to pack a lot into this one. James ended up speaking to JM on his phone outside the packing shed at FQT farm so the sound isn’t perfect but hopefully the content more than makes up for that. We talk about the limits and sweet spots of human-scale market gardening, training new-entrant growers to

OGPod Episode 9: Connie Hunter and Tom Booth and East Neuk Market Garden

Jul 18 2024 90 mins  
In this episode James speaks to Connie Hunter and Tom Booth from East Neuk Market Garden. We talk about how they have developed their site and growing systems over the last 6 years, the particularities of their climate on the East Coast of Scotland, farming as a couple and their recent forays into collaborative farming with nearby business Falkland Kitchen Farm. There’s also some

OGPod Episode 8: Laurence Jarrett-Kerr and Soul Farm

Jul 04 2024 84 mins  
In this episode James speaks to Laurence Jarrett-Kerr of Soul Farm. Laurence started the business 6 years ago and has grand plans for the years ahead. We chat about combining home-grown veg with bought in produce, managing costs and some deep thoughts on profitability and entrepreneurship. The perennial issue of scale also features prominently as we dig in to Laurence’s plans to

OGPod Episode 7: Rosanna Catterall & Signe Jensen and Knepp Market Garden

Jun 20 2024 69 mins  
In this episode James speaks to Rosanna Catterall and Signe Jensen from Knepp Market Garden. We discuss establishing a production horticulture enterprise in the middle of a substantial rewilding project, growing on heavy clay, aligning crop planning and sales, combining no-dig and min-till systems side by side, running a market garden as employees and Rosanna and Signe’s top tips