S1 Ep 53: Trees and Why They Matter: with Charity Wakefield and Danny Clarke

In this weeks episode Martha and Jamie explore the pungent and versatile world of the allium family. From how to best grow familiar alliums such as onions, garlic and leeks, to perennial onions that can provide harvests for years. Packed with practical advice and useful anecdotes, they cover growing onions from seed or sets, overcoming common allium pests, multi-sowing to make more of a growing space, puddle planting leeks and so much more. Martha then tells the story of the special leeks she ate in Bahrain and asks listeners for help finding Egyptian kurrat and Persian tareh.

In this weeks episode Martha and Jamie share the value of planting soft fruit, and why it earns its place in a garden of any size! They discuss rooting strawberry runners, growing fruit in hanging baskets and gutters, buying bare-root plants, making tea from the leaves of fruiting bushes, unusual berries, and why ripe gooseberries deserve another chance. Martha then shares the origin of the famous Little Scarlet jam, and her experience of sowing and growing another special little strawberry variety and serving the fruit with some of her favourite recipes.

October is a month of change, but there is still plenty to sow, grow and harvest in the garden. In this weeks episode, Martha and Jamie discuss what to plant this month, from garlic and field beans to winter leaves and spring bulbs, and explore how to create a winter polyculture of edible ground cover. They also discuss saffron crocuses, growing an oak from an acorn, and what to do with green tomatoes, beetroot, mangold wurzel, pears and a surprisingly productive Armenian cucumber. As always, this monthly round up episode is full of personal anecdotes, fun facts, seasonal harvests, foraging and a reminder to make the most of the garden as autumn arrives.

In this weeks episode, Martha and Jamie discuss everything spring bulbs, as well as having two exclusive announcements! A new round of Sow, Grow, Compost makes them choose between daffodils, tulips and alliums. Jamie explains how to make a bulb lasagne that will flower from early spring right through to summer. Martha considers late planting and why you should never plant tulips too early. And a wartime story about tulip bulbs in the Netherlands leads into their mangold wurzel grow-along.

In this weeks episode Martha and Jamie discuss how saving seed can be simple, satisfying and useful in gardens of every size. They give a practical introduction to saving seeds from many of the plants likely already growing in your garden, such as peas, beans, lettuce, calendula and tomatoes. They cover why we should avoid seed from early-bolting crops, useful drying and storing techniques, the history of commercial plant breeding, seed registration and the important role of home gardeners in keeping varieties alive. Martha also shares the story of Nikolai Vavilov, his international seed collection and the brave scientists who guarded it at all costs during the siege of Leningrad.