Can I Dig It? - Food Growing for Busy People – Details, episodes & analysis

Do you want to grow your own food but feel you don't have the time? Welcome to 'Can I dig it?' - the podcast that makes home grown food simple, fun and totally doable, even with a busy schedule. If you want to experiment with food growing, but you don't have the time to read all the books and watch all the Youtube videos, this is the podcast for you. 

Hosted by one seasoned gardening expert and one enthusiastic and curious beginner, 'Can I dig it?' breaks gardening down to the absolute essentials. No waffle, no overwhelm, just practical steps you can squeeze into your real life, without forgetting to enjoy ourselves along the way.  

Whether your space is an allotment, a back garden, a yard, a balcony or just a sunny windowsill, we’ll get you going with your growing. Tune in for easy tips, honest experiments and plenty of laughs along the way. Can I dig it? Yes, yes you can.

Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!

Can I Dig It? is made by: 

• Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.
• Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. 

Listen to the episode of Check Your Thread that featured Pippa's garden consultation:

• Ep. #112: Gardening more sustainably with Pippa Chapman

Check out Pippa's first book (The plant lovers backyard forest garden, available from most online bookstores The Plant Lover's Backyard Forest Garden | Permaculture Market )

Read through the list of seeds you can still sow this time of year (What to sow: Midsummer - Stephanie Hafferty)

The types of courgette/zucchini plants that don't need pollination include parthenocarpic varieties 'Maveric' and 'Parthenon'

For more information on 'No Dig', follow Steph Hafferty (About Me - Stephanie Hafferty or on Instagram @stephaniehafferty)

Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!

Can I Dig It? is made by: 

• Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.
• Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. 

Check out Pippa’s YouTube video that she was FINALLY able to make about preparing homemade herbal teas.

'Recycled plastic also has a significantly lower carbon footprint than timber or metal, using less energy and water and emitting lower levels of CO2 in its production.'

Find out more about the recycled plastic available for making planters and raised beds.

Pallet collars can be found second hand on ebay or facebook marketplace.

How To Save Your Own Seed at Home by Realseeds: tons of info on harvesting, storing etc. plus a downloadable PDF seed saving guide.

Steph Hafferty has a great guide to starting a no dig bed Top 10 FAQ - How to start your No Dig Garden - Stephanie Hafferty

Do you want fewer weeds, less time spent watering and healthier soil? A deep dive into mulching explains all. Plus, we discuss tactics for dealing with a variety of pests. 

Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!

Can I Dig It? is made by: 

• Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.
• Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. 

If you’re in the UK and have a TV licence, you can see Pippa’s appearance on Gardener’s World via iPlayer. 

Pippa uses an Excalibur dehydrator, specifically the Excalibur 9-tray Dehydrator With Timer In Black

Fermentation expert, Sam Cooper, is @chef.sam.black on Instagram. His book, The Fermentation Kitchen, is on Zoe’s Christmas list. 

‘Slow Bolt’ AKA ‘Long-Standing’ and ‘Santos’ are coriander (cilantro) varieties that are slower to go to seed. 

‘Green Aroma’ is Pippa´s favourite variety of coriander (cilantro).

Great sources for fruit trees are:

• Ashridge
• Blackmoor
• Or, your local trusted garden centre may do bareroot fruit orders.

Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!

Can I Dig It? is made by: 

• Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.
• Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. 

Fruit Works Co-operative is a social enterprise helping people to plant and maintain fruit trees in the Bradford and Leeds area of the UK. 

Find gardening expert Huw Richards on his YouTube channel and on Instagram (@huwsgarden). 

Huw has also written a ton of books, including his latest, The Permaculture Garden. 

Try out the BBC Good Food Easy Plum Jam recipe that Zoe recently had great success with.  

Pitmaston Pine Apple variety of apples is Pippa’s favourite. 

Find your nearest local apple festival. Orchard Network provides another resource for finding your local apple day. 

Research Apple blossom and harvest dates by variety and Apple storage times by variety.

The type of apple corer that, in Pippa’s experience, works the best.

Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!

Can I Dig It? is made by: 

• Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.
• Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. 

BBC Good Food have a great recipe for pickled pink onions, similar to the ones Pippa made and ate immediately!

The RHS explain F1 hybrid seeds so we don’t have to (again). 

Great sources for heritage and open pollinated seeds:

• The Organic Seeds Catalogue
• Real Seeds
• Vital Seeds

Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!

Can I Dig It? is made by: 

• Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.
• Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. 

Zoe found her secondhand greenhouse via the sharing app, Olio.

Zoe mixed some picante cocktails using homegrown chilis, flex!

Author and guerilla gardening advocate, Ellen Miles, wrote this excellent article on the topic for RHS.  

Ellen also wrote the book ‘Get Guerilla Gardening: A Handbook for Planting in Public Places’.

Follow the Phantom Planter on Instagram (@the_phantom_planter) or check out their website for more info. 

The Wildlife Trusts have a helpful article about how to make your own seed bombs. 

News flash: not all pumpkins are bland and useful only for carving! We discuss what we might be missing, and how to get the most from the bland ones too. Plus, Zoe sneaks in questions about tired rhubarb crowns, and seeks validation for her lazy approach to weeding.
Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!
Can I Dig It? is made by: 

• Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.
• Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. 

Pippa’s new book, ‘Permaculture Planting Designs’ is available for PRE-ORDER!!!! 
Varieties of seeds/plants mentioned:

• ‘Jack O Lantern’ for actual carving 
• Lady Godiva for naked/hulless seeds from Garden Organic
• Kakai for naked/hulless seeds from Vital Seeds
• Hablitzia / caucasian spinach seeds from Incredible Vegetables, a tastier alternative to Good King Henry

Check out the garden consultation episode (#112) of Zoe’s other podcast, Check Your Thread, with Pippa when they first got to know each other.

Most food growing is done for the year. However, there’s tons we can be doing throughout winter to get our growing spaces in great shape. Plus, a listener goes from NYC guerilla gardening to 1.5 acres dream plot - Pippa advises on how to avoid the overwhelm. 

Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!

Can I Dig It? is made by: 

• Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.
• Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. 

Pippa has been lifting her Oca and Mashua tubers. Find out more about growing Oca and Mashua.