I'm on BBC Gardeners' World
Bucket list goals
It’s a strange thing to put on a bucket list - ‘appear on Gardeners’ World’ - but when I turned 30 I wrote down a handful of things I would like to achieve in my life and this was one of them. That, and you know - publish a book. I am incredibly grateful to the BBC team who put my short video forward for consideration for the episode, and for editing the footage into a beautiful montage that demonstrated our ‘cottage style garden’ where edibles mustle cheek-by-jowl alongside the perenials we love so much. Suburban gardens are small, with high fences and neighbours to consider, alongside an array of children’s play equipment and necessary storage for tools, but I believe wholeheartedly they can be both productive and beautiful. I do hope you agree with me.
Gardener’s World, Episode 2, 2021
I think my heart my actually burst with joy to share that I am featured in Episode 2 of the 2021 series of Gardeners’ World. What I'd give to call my late Grandfather to tell him his granddaughter will be appearing on the one television show he watched religiously throughout his life. What I'd give to tell my Grandmother, who died from covid-19 in December, that the flowers I inherited from her garden, who I named my daughter after because of her love of them, will be on national television! And above all this, what I’d give to show them the garden I’ve created because of all I learned from them.
I grow because of them. I grow because they taught my mother, who in turn taught me to love nature and to garden with respect for it. I promise to keep learning, keep sharing and keep teaching my children, my friends, my community, the joy of gardening. They may not be here in person, but I feel them by my side every time I garden and in all that I grow.
Watch me on BBC Gardeners’ World via BBCiPlayer
If for any reason you don't want to watch the whole episode, and skip ahead just to see my garden (but I really would suggest watching the whole episode!) then fast forward to time stamp 49:35.
What Gardeners’ World means to me
The BBC television show Gardeners’ World has been a feature in my life for as long as I can remember. When I was little, I assumed all gardeners sounded like my late Grandfather. Why? Because Geoff Hamilton, Gardeners’ World presenter from 1979 to 1995, and my Grandad, were both born in Stepney. Their approach to gardening, and their accents, were so entwined in my mind, they and gardening were synonomous.
My Grandfather was a beekeeper, urban gardener and allotmenteer. I was raised with growing all around me. When I remember trips to the allotment, three things comes to the fore: 1, the gigantic, steaming heap of horse manure they kept on site, 2, the old, metal drinking trough we used to fill our watering cans with and watch pond skatters and mosquitos make their home, and 3, the red potty with a little yellow duck on the front that Grandad would let me use if I were ‘caught short’. (‘I don’t want to carry your pissy knickers in my pocket,’ he’d say!) One day I hope to have room to grow more, but right now this is the lot I have and I am going to pack it with as many edibles, medicinals, and pretty things, as I can.
Other stories I’ve written about our cottage style gardening which you may like to read…