Home Grown with Martha and Jamie

This week Martha and Jamie explain why you may want to ditch the veg plot, and instead grow an edimental garden. The idea that a garden can be beautiful, productive and useful without separating vegetables from ornamental planting. They share beautiful simple swaps for commonly grown plant such as chard, peas and celery, plus lots of unusual plants you may not of heard of before such as perennial alliums, herbs, climbers and edible flowers. They also cover the incredible salad man Stephen Barstow and his 537-ingredient salad, ornamental plants you may not have known were edible such as lamb’s ears, hostas, begonias and fuchsias, and the extraordinary French potager gardens at Villandry and Versailles.And If you would like to grow our seed of the week, or some of the other varieties we discussed, you can find the links below with 20% off your first order with code 'Homegrown':Coriander Confetti:https://shegrowsveg.com/product/coriander-confetti/We love hearing your questions and comments - so please do get in touch:You now send us a message, voice note or picture on Whatsapp: 07999548073or email us at: hello@homegrownpod.comPresented by: Martha Swales and Jamie WaltonVideo Editor and Socials: Thomas GriffinArtwork: Rare Studio

In this weeks episode, Martha and Jamie explore the practical things gardeners can do to support summer wildlife, particularly in spells of prolonged warm dry weather. From providing food, water and shelter, to creating breeding spaces for insects, birds and other wildlife. They look at the habitats that help natural predators thrive, including mounds, leaf litter, log piles and beetle banks for ground beetles that eat the most common garden pests 'slugs'. Small ponds, half barrels and even an old Belfast sink can become useful wildlife spaces, while avoiding pesticides remains the most important starting point. Martha investigates whether the rare Viper's Bugloss Mason Bee could be visiting her parents' giant echiums, then tests a homemade moth trap and finds seven Jersey tiger mothsAnd If you would like to grow our seed of the week, or some of the other varieties we discussed, you can find the links below with 20% off your first order with code 'Homegrown':Italian Purple Artichoke:https://shegrowsveg.com/product/artichoke-italian-purple/We love hearing your questions and comments - so please do get in touch:You now send us a message, voice note or picture on Whatsapp: 07999548073or email us at: hello@homegrownpod.comPresented by: Martha Swales and Jamie WaltonVideo Editor and Socials: Thomas GriffinArtwork: Rare Studio

August is a month of abundance, but it is also a key moment for planning what comes next. In this episode, Martha and Jamie discuss what to sow, grow and do this month, and why we should keep sowing before light levels fall, while also making the most of our flowers, vegetables and fruit that at their summer peak. They also explain why wasps become more interested in sugary picnics, how to identify and treat deter spider mites, and how to grow saffron and save strawberry runners. As always, this monthly round up episode is also full of personal anecdotes, fun, facts and a reminder to observe the wildlife and plants already sharing the garden.And If you would like to grow our seed of the week, or some of the other varieties we discussed, you can find the links below with 20% off your first order with code 'Homegrown':Japanese Wasabi Autumn Radish:https://shegrowsveg.com/product/autumn-radish-japanese-wasabi/We love hearing your questions and comments - so please do get in touch:You now send us a message, voice note or picture on Whatsapp: +447999548073or email us at: hello@homegrownpod.comPresented by: Martha Swales and Jamie WaltonVideo Editor and Socials: Thomas GriffinArtwork: Rare Studio

Gardening is becoming less predictable. A dry spring can be followed by a summer drought, a late frost can be followed by golf ball sized hail, and plants that once suited the local climate may struggle with new patterns. In this episode, Martha and Jamie explore gardening in a changing climate, from extreme heat and heavy rainfall to milder winters and crops that behave differently under stress. They share practical ways to cool buildings, improve drainage, reduce bolting and choose plants that can cope with less predictable conditions. From there, the conversation moves through El Niño, plants that need winter cold, raised beds, sloped paths, organic matter, cover crops and a call to protect the wildlife that still shares our gardens.And If you would like to grow our seed of the week, or some of the other varieties we discussed, you can find the links below with 20% off your first order with code 'Homegrown':Beef and Onion Tree:https://shegrowsveg.com/product/beef-and-onion-tree/We love hearing your questions and comments - so please do get in touch:You now send us a message, voice note or picture on Whatsapp: 07999548073or email us at: hello@homegrownpod.comPresented by: Martha Swales and Jamie WaltonVideo Editor and Socials: Thomas GriffinArtwork: Rare Studio

A garden can produce far more than the obvious harvest. In this episode, Jamie and Martha look at the plant parts, picking techniques and timing decisions that help growers waste less, save money and keep plants cropping for longer. From edible plant parts that supermarkets usually remove and a long-lived brassica that can be picked repeatedly, to succession sowing, relay cropping, cut-and-come-again lettuce and maximising yields from small spaces. This episode is filled with practical tips and advice, as well as the usual anecdotes and fun facts.And If you would like to grow our seed of the week, or some of the other varieties we discussed, you can find the links below with 20% off your first order with code 'Homegrown:Kale thousand head:https://shegrowsveg.com/product/kale-thousandhead/We love hearing your questions and comments - so please do get in touch:You now send us a message, voice note or picture on Whatsapp: 07999548073or email us at: hello@homegrownpod.comPresented by: Martha Swales and Jamie WaltonVideo Editor and Socials: Thomas GriffinArtwork: Rare Studio

Flowers can do far more than look pretty. In this episode, Martha and Jamie explore the garden as a floral apothecary, looking at the ways flowers and useful plants can become balms, teas, tinctures, scents, natural dyes and simple homemade experiments. From hardy annuals to sow now for stronger blooms next year, and colour changing teas, to how to make a simple soothing slave from calendula, and which popular garden herb Jamie uses to make nourishing hair oil this episode is packed with practical advice and projects to enable you to make the most of those blooms. The conversation also covers natural dyes, from hapa-zome flower hammering and steam dyeing to sulphur cosmos, coreopsis, onion skins, woad, Japanese indigo and true indigo.And If you would like to grow our seed of the week, or some of the other varieties we discussed, you can find the links below:Calendula Pink Surprise:https://shegrowsveg.com/product/calendula-pink-surprise/We love hearing your questions and comments - so please do get in touch:hello@homegrownpod.comPresented by: Martha Swales and Jamie WaltonVideo Editor and Socials: Thomas GriffinArtwork: Rare Studio

July can feel like the point when sowing stops, but it is one of the most important months for planning autumn, winter and next spring. In this episode, Martha and Jamie share what they will be sowing growing and doing in this pivotal month in the garden, plus how to fill the inevitable gaps that begin to occur when potatoes, onions and early courgettes finish. They also cover the umbrella cucumber pruning method, tomato maintenance, garlic braiding, what to forage this month, why peanuts grow underground, and the relationship between cinnabar moths and ragwort.And If you would like to grow our seed of the week, or some of the other varieties we discussed, you can find the links below:Cabbage Kalibos:https://shegrowsveg.com/product/summer-cabbage-kalibos/We love hearing your questions and comments - so please do get in touch:hello@homegrownpod.comPresented by: Martha Swales and Jamie WaltonVideo Editor and Socials: Thomas GriffinArtwork: Rare Studio

Cut-flower farmer Sarah Gray of Bloom & Gray joins Martha and Jamie for a practical tour of the cut-flower calendar. From when to start hardy annuals and what to sow now, why flowers should be picked before pollination, which flowers earn their place in a productive cutting patch, and Sarah also breaks a bouquet into five useful elements and chooses her top five plants if you'd like to grow a small cut flower bouquet bed. They also discuss soil blocking for flower seeds without plastic pots, the growing British flower movement and Jeanne Baret, the pioneering botanist now recognised as the first woman known to travel around the world.And If you would like to grow our seed of the week, or some of the other varieties we discussed, you can find the links below:Zinnia Zinderella Peach:https://shegrowsveg.com/product/zinnia-zinderella-peach/We love hearing your questions and comments - so please do get in touch:hello@homegrownpod.comPresented by: Martha Swales and Jamie WaltonVideo Editor and Socials: Thomas GriffinArtwork: Rare Studio