Podcast 147 - Beans, beans good for…the planet!
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
Release Date: 02/21/2022
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
info_outlineRoots and All - Gardening Podcast
info_outlineRoots and All - Gardening Podcast
This week I’m speaking to gardener and writer Lulah Ellender about her book Grounding: Finding Home in a Garden. Lulah’s book is about tuning into the unceasing rhythms of nature in order to live with uncertainty and how they can help us become more connected to the places in which we live. We talk about how gardens can root us in time and place, even when those roots seem tenuous and liable to break. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Sentient bugs What we cover The premise behind the book and the circumstances in which Lulah came to write it How Lulah gardened differently when she...
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Hello and welcome to this week’s episode where I’m speaking to Marion Whitehead from the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden in New South Wales, Australia, part of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. I talk with Marion about one of her areas of speciality; the intersection of plants and human feelings, particularly in the context of 3 books as recommended by Marion; Enid Blyton’s ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s ‘The Secret Garden’ and ‘The Overstory’ by Richard Powers. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Venom What we cover Enid Blyton’s ‘The Magic Faraway...
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This week’s guests are Kenton Seth and Paul Spriggs, co-authors of a book that’s just been released called ‘The Crevice Garden: How to Make the Perfect Home for Plants from Rocky Places.’ This book is immensely detailed and if you’ve ever had an interest in crevice aka rock gardens, or indeed have not but are curious, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the types of plants suited to growing in this style of garden (there are many), the different looks you can create, how to build and maintain them, famous and successful examples and why they are good from an environmental...
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This week’s guest is veg growing expert Huw Richards. Huw grows a vast range of plants in his garden in mid-West Wales and is always trialling and experimenting with new ways of growing. He has an enormously popular YouTube channel and has authored a number of books, the latest of which is ‘The Vegetable Grower’s Handbook’ which draws on his experience as very much a thoughtful and philosophical gardener. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Flower Crab Spiders What we cover Gardening with a mission statement Being organised in the garden; keeping checklists, batching jobs, planning...
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This week’s guest is Clare Keller, a fashion designer and stylist who’s previously work at Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Pringle, Chloe and Givenchy. Clare is currently a Trustee and spokesperson for the British Iris Society, a society dedicated to promoting and preserving UK irises and providing resources to iris growers. We talk about these picturesque, perpetually popular flowers. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Organic recyclers What we cover How Clare became involved with the British Iris Society and interested in irises Species of iris Ideal iris growing conditions Iris hardiness...
info_outlineRoots and All - Gardening Podcast
info_outlineRoots and All - Gardening Podcast
info_outlineThis week, I’m talking to Susan Young, author of the book ‘Growing Beans’. As I’ve looked further into having a sustainable diet, into growing and storing crops and into sources of plant protein, beans just seemed to tick every box, but I needed to know more. So Susan’s book ‘Growing Beans’ is exactly what I’ve been looking for, because it covers growing, harvesting and storing beans and it argues a very convincing case for a fact that many people the world over have known for centuries; that beans are good not only for you but for the planet, because they’re such a resilient, easy to grow, low carbon footprint crop.
Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Tobacco whitefly
What we cover
What makes beans such a good crop to grow, in terms of their eco credentials?
The beans we commonly grow here in the UK
Beans to grow for their green pods, as fresh green beans, half dried and drying
Bean nutritional needs
Overwintering tubers of runner bean plants
Drying beans in a UK climate
Bean toxicity
Storing different types of beans
Easy beans to grow
Beans for taste and aesthetics
Preparing and cooking beans
About ‘Growing Beans: a diet for healthy people and planet' by Susan Young
Susan's new book brings together 10 years of experimentation with multiple varieties of beans. She clearly explains how to sow, grow, harvest, dry, store and cook them, and shares her six ‘must grow’ varieties.
Beans are easy to grow and cook, help build healthy soil in the garden, and also provide a nutrient-rich diet, helping to reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer – they are good sources of protein, fibre, folate, iron and potassium. Plus, they can reduce your carbon footprint and food miles as well!
Links
'Growing Beans: a diet for healthy people and planet' by Susan Young