Episode 308: Gardening for Recovery
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
Andy Mitchell believes gardening has the power to be a uniquely beneficial arena for the addiction recovery journey. In this interview, we discover why he feels this is the case and why we have much more to learn about this particular aspect of horticulture. Andy is Professional Addiction Recovery Coach and has conducted research into gardening as a tool to help people overcome addictions. Alongside having lived experience, Andy has extensive professional training within the field of Addiction. About Andy Mitchell Andy Mitchell is a Social and Therapeutic Horticulturalist (STH) and addiction...
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Episode 307: Trees and Humans: Intertwined
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
If you’ve ever been even a little curious about the magic of trees, you won’t want to miss this conversation with the ultimate tree expert, Tony Kirkham. We’re diving into Tree: Exploring the Arboreal World—a seriously stunning collection of art, history, and culture, centred around the human-tree connection. This book documents the historical significance of trees throughout human history, society and culture. This really is the coffee table book to end all coffee table books for anyone with even so much as a passing interest in trees. About Tree: Exploring the Arboreal World...
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Episode 306: The Soil Habitat
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
Want to know what the soil food web is, what inhabits the soil habitat, why soil health impacts on plant health and ultimately our health and what you can do to get the best out of your garden? Eddie Bailey is a geologist, organic no-dig gardener, and soil food web specialist who runs Rhizophyllia. Eddie is passionate about soil health and growing healthy plants that are good for you and good for the planet. About Eddie Bailey Eddie Bailey is a geologist, organic no-dig gardener, and soil food web specialist who runs soil health workshops through his company . Links Other episodes if...
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Episode 305: Building on Nature
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
What feature does a wildlife supporting landscaper refuse to install in a garden? What is the most beneficial addition for wildlife? And how can hard landscaping be compatible with wildlife and nature? This week my guest is former ecologist and founder of NatureScaping, Nick Townsend, who sheds light on building greener gardens. Nick uses his knowledge of ecology and the environment in his landscaping business in order to make better gardens and outdoor spaces for wildlife. About Nick Townsend Nick holds a masters in Environmental Management and is a former ecologist. After working with...
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Episode 304: One Garden Changing the World
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
Hello and welcome to this week’s episode which features garden writer , broadcaster and returning guest Kate Bradbury. Kate has a new book out One Garden Against the World: In Search of Hope in a Changing Climate. It’s been a while since we last spoke about Kate’s garden and with the opportune timing around the release of the book, I thought it would be the ideal time to catch up on what’s changed for Kate, her garden and nature in general since 2019. Links Other episodes if you liked this one: If you liked this week's episode with Kate Bradbury, you might also enjoy this one...
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Episode 303: Slugs and Snails
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
Think you know what slugs eat? And what eats slugs? You might be surprised...This episode my guest is retired academic and lifelong gardener Jo Kirby. Jo has written The Good Slug Guide, the first-ever book on slugs and snails that explains why the usual controls often don`t work, what slugs and snails really get up to, what they really eat and – importantly – what eats them. About the Good Slug Guide The Good Slug Guide is full of simple, practical advice on how to encourage your new-found friends and transform your garden into a beautiful, leafy and above all slug-resilient haven. It...
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Episode 302: Green at Heart
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
The episodes generating the most feedback recently have been those featuring other gardeners and business owners who are trying to run green businesses, so I called on former guest and supporter of the podcast, Dave Woolmer. Dave changed career from law to gardening and has been forging ahead creating a business based on sound principles and horticultural excellence. Links Safe Opportunities are at Disability Confident Employment registration is at And Green Heart is at Other episodes if you liked this one: If you liked this week's episode with Dave Woolmer, you might also...
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Episode 301: Gardening without Plastic
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
My guest this episode is gardener and activist Ed Allnutt. Ed is part of Plastics Rebellion and the @plasticscrisis Instagram account and campaigns to reduce the use of plastics, particularly in a gardening context. We talk about the most common offending items in the gardening world and discuss possible solutions to the current accepted ways of gardening so we can make changes that better the environment. Links Other episodes if you liked this one: If you liked this week's episode with the Ed Allnutt, you might also enjoy this one from the archives: - I’m talking water-wise...
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Episode 300: Best of the Best
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
Welcome to the 300th episode! Join me as I take a look back at some of my favourite episodes, some of your favourites and take a bit of time to reflect on the sheer enormity and yeah, I’ll say it, the sheer excellence of the back catalogue of the podcast! Find out; The Top 3 episodes of all time as ranked by downloads How I choose guests to be on the podcast What guest had me in tears The ones that got away… The episode that was a load of shit And listeners’ pick their favourites Links Wildlife: Jeff Ollerton, Dave Goulson, Kate Bradbury, Terry Woods, Doug Tallamy, Richard...
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Episode 299: Sowing Seed, Growing Culture
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
What if growing food was never meant to be about just the end product? What are we missing from conventional agriculture and gardening? Steven Martyn is an Ontario based teacher and practitioner of sacred agriculture and what he terms wildculturing. He focusses on the traditional living skills of growing food, building and healing and has a unique take on how we can live in the with the earth. Steven had me pondering how agriculture has been used to create culture historically, how we incorporate intentionality into horticulture, he even had me rethinking my morning beverage… About Steven...
info_outlineAndy Mitchell believes gardening has the power to be a uniquely beneficial arena for the addiction recovery journey. In this interview, we discover why he feels this is the case and why we have much more to learn about this particular aspect of horticulture.
Andy is Professional Addiction Recovery Coach and has conducted research into gardening as a tool to help people overcome addictions. Alongside having lived experience, Andy has extensive professional training within the field of Addiction.
About Andy Mitchell
Andy Mitchell is a Social and Therapeutic Horticulturalist (STH) and addiction recovery coach. His interest in how people in addiction recovery were using gardening through his work within the homeless and mental health sectors led him to do an MSc in STH within the field of Occupational therapy. His particular interest is how non-traditional recovery interventions, such as gardening, are helping people to help themselves through their recovery journeys.
Links
Andy Mitchell - www.myrecovery.me
Making the hard work of recovery more attractive for those with substance use disorders -
PubMed (nih.gov)
Putting Down Roots | St Mungo’s
To view the video filmed at Veterans' Growth to see how gardening can help with the recovery journey click here.
Samaritans 116 123
NHS call 111, or 999
Text the word SHOUT to 85258
Perennial helpline - 0800 0938543
Veterans’ Growth [email protected]
Forces Helpline - 0800 7314880
Other episodes if you liked this one:
If you liked this week's episode with Andy Mitchell, you might also enjoy this one from the archives:
A Therapist’s Garden - This week I’m chatting with New England-based horticultural therapist and master gardener, Erik Keller, who is also the author of the book A Therapist’s Garden: Using Plants to Revitalise Your Spirit.Over 20 years, Erik has worked with thousands of people of all ages and types, using horticulture and therapeutic techniques to help them deal with physical, emotional and mental challenges. Erik talks about using an outdoor space as a place for therapy and learning and about the downs and ups of bringing horticulture into peoples’ lives as a way to heal.
Social & Therapeutic Horticulture - In this episode, I speak to Damien Newman of Thrive, a charity responsible for promoting and providing Social Therapeutic Horticulture throughout the UK. Thrive is also the leading provider of training for those entering the profession. The Thrive website states;“Social and therapeutic horticulture is the process of using plants and gardens to improve physical and mental health, as well as communication and thinking skills. It also uses the garden as a safe and secure place to develop someone’s ability to mix socially, make friends and learn practical skills that will help them to be more independent.” – www.thrive.org.uk