The Organic Grower Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

James speaks to Alice Rixon a.k.a. The Veg Lady, based in Chettle, Dorset. We  really wanted to hear from someone at the start of their growing journey to talk through the challenges and thinking of starting out with their own horticultural business. Alice talks about how she is setting up the growing space (where she’s combining polytunnels, market garden and field-scale from the get go), the things she’s chosen to invest in early on, the particular arrangement she has with her landlady and the vibrant food and farming scene she is helping to build, long-term financial planning, trying to build a market and learning what it wants, her involvement in the Universal Basic Income for Farmers Campaign. She is passionate about the route she has taken and hopefully you get plenty of insights and inspiration from the conversation, so let’s get to it.

This podcast is brought to you by the Organic Growers Alliance, the UK's only grower-led organisation providing technical and practical advice and support on organic growing. For more information about the OGA head to www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk and become a member.

More about James Butterworth and Cotswold Market Garden: https://www.cotswoldmarketgarden.co.uk/

Back to today’s episode, James speaks to Jean-Martin Fortier. And boy did we manage to pack a lot into this one. James ended up speaking to JM on his phone outside the packing shed at FQT farm so the sound isn’t perfect but hopefully the content more than makes up for that. We talk about the limits and sweet spots of human-scale market gardening, training new-entrant growers to do the work required, a deep dive on profitability and running market gardens as businesses, the importance of markets and stimulating market demand, state-level support for farming and local food, his latest venture running a farm-to-table restaurant, small-scale resilience in the face of climate change, compost and a whole load more. JM has done a huge amount to inspire a generation of market gardeners and hopefully our chat gives a taste of that. So let’s get to it.

This podcast is brought to you by the Organic Growers Alliance, the UK's only grower-led organisation providing technical and practical advice and support on organic growing. For more information about the OGA head to www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk and become a member.

More about James Butterworth and Cotswold Market Garden: https://www.cotswoldmarketgarden.co.uk/

In this episode James will be talking to Andy Dibben, head grower at Abbey Home Farm in Gloucestershire. Andy oversees an incredibly complex and well-honed system and manages to speak about it with clarity, passion, and honesty.

This episode covers year-round crop production, growing in 1000sqm of glasshouse, cover crops, issues of scale, and Andy's top tips for growing parsnips and cauliflowers.

More about Abbey Home Farm: https://www.theorganicfarmshop.co.uk/farm/

This podcast is brought to you by the Organic Growers Alliance, the UK's only grower-led organisation providing technical and practical advice and support on organic growing. For more information about the OGA head to www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk and become a member.

More about James Butterworth and Cotswold Market Garden: https://www.cotswoldmarketgarden.co.uk/

In this episode James speaks to Connie Hunter and Tom Booth from East Neuk Market Garden. We talk about how they have developed their site and growing systems over the last 6 years, the particularities of their climate on the East Coast of Scotland, farming as a couple and their recent forays into collaborative farming with nearby business Falkland Kitchen Farm. There’s also some top tips for dry-farming tomatoes and quick and easy pea supports. It’s such a rewarding conversation with a couple who are doing great things so let’s get to it. 

This podcast is brought to you by the Organic Growers Alliance, the UK's only grower-led organisation providing technical and practical advice and support on organic growing. For more information about the OGA head to www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk and become a member.

More about James Butterworth and Cotswold Market Garden: https://www.cotswoldmarketgarden.co.uk/

In this episode James speaks to Laurence Jarrett-Kerr of Soul Farm. Laurence started the business 6 years ago and has grand plans for the years ahead. We chat about combining home-grown veg with bought in produce, managing costs and some deep thoughts on profitability and entrepreneurship. The perennial issue of scale also features prominently as we dig in to Laurence’s plans to grow the business, having recently secured £350,000 of community investment. It’s a thought provoking one for sure so let’s get to it.

This podcast is brought to you by the Organic Growers Alliance, the UK's only grower-led organisation providing technical and practical advice and support on organic growing. For more information about the OGA head to www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk and become a member.

More about James Butterworth and Cotswold Market Garden: https://www.cotswoldmarketgarden.co.uk/

In this episode James speaks to Rosanna Catterall and Signe Jensen from Knepp Market Garden. We discuss establishing a production horticulture enterprise in the middle of a substantial rewilding project, growing on heavy clay, aligning crop planning and sales, combining no-dig and min-till systems side by side, running a market garden as employees and Rosanna and Signe’s top tips for growing beetroot and garlic. This one is jam packed with useful insights and experiences so let’s get to it.

This podcast is brought to you by the Organic Growers Alliance, the UK's only grower-led organisation providing technical and practical advice and support on organic growing. For more information about the OGA head to www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk and become a member.

More about James Butterworth and Cotswold Market Garden: https://www.cotswoldmarketgarden.co.uk/

In this episode, Jame speaks with Ashley Wheeler from Trill Farm Garden. Would you believe they have been going for 14 years now? We talk about how they have adapted their growing systems over that time, experimenting with field scale (although Ash questions whether that’s the right term!), setting up a new veg box scheme as an established market garden, all things radicchio and Ash’s reflections on the viability of small-scale growing in the current socio-economic context. Oh, and a bit about the importance of life beyond the farm, too. There’s a ton to take away from this one so let’s get to it.

This podcast is brought to you by the Organic Growers Alliance, the UK's only grower-led organisation providing technical and practical advice and support on organic growing. For more information about the OGA head to www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk and become a member.

More about James Butterworth and Cotswold Market Garden: https://www.cotswoldmarketgarden.co.uk/

In this episode, James talks to Phil Sumption, a man of many hats (grower, researcher, adviser, writer and editor). We discuss how Phil got into organic horticulture, his portfolio of roles in the sector, his reflections on the history of organics over the last few decades, as well as the development of the Organic Growers Alliance and The Organic Grower magazine. Later on in the episode we talk about his new book The Organic Vegetable Grower, his take on new entrants, issues of scale, and the importance of making space for part-time growers. Phil has a unique birds-eye view of the sector and there’s lots of ideas for you to wrap your brains around. So let’s get to it.

Phil's book, The Organic Vegetable Grower,  is published by The Crowood Press: https://www.crowood.com/products/organic-vegetable-grower-by-phil-sumption

Phil's website: https://www.philsumption-biocomms.com

This podcast is brought to you by the Organic Growers Alliance, the UK's only grower-led organisation providing technical and practical advice and support on organic growing. For more information about the OGA head to www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk and become a member.

More about James Butterworth and Cotswold Market Garden: https://www.cotswoldmarketgarden.co.uk/

Today, we have a wonderful conversation with Iain Tolhurst a.k.a Tolly of Tolhurst Organics. It’s a long one but there are so many gems in here that I couldn’t possibly leave any of them out. The whole point of this podcast is to share knowledge among growers so if it takes you a few bites of the apple to get the end then so be it - it will be worth it! We talk about many of the things Tolly is well-known for, including woodchip and green manures but I was also keen to get him talking about the other side of the coin, which is sales. We also discuss Tolly’s longevity as an organic grower (nearing 50 years now) and his advice for new entrants. His perseverance shone through when he agreed to go ahead with the interview despite having a stinking cold. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

This podcast is brought to you by the Organic Growers Alliance, the UK's only grower-led organisation providing technical and practical advice and support on organic growing. For more information about the OGA head to www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk and become a member.

More about James Butterworth and Cotswold Market Garden: https://www.cotswoldmarketgarden.co.uk/

We have a belter of a conversation with Calixta Killander of Flourish Produce in Cambridgeshire. Calixta spent a number of years in the US, studying and growing before coming back to the UK to establish Flourish where they grow in the region of 35 acres of vegetables, all sold direct. And boy, has she gone far in a relatively short space of time. We talk about crop diversity, green manures, resting the land, working with restaurants, the importance and challenges of scaling the business, continual investment and improvements, and differences between growing in the US and the UK. It’s inspiring stuff, so let’s get to it.

To learn more about Flourish Produce head to their website: https://www.flourishproduce.co.uk/

This podcast is brought to you by the Organic Growers Alliance, the UK's only grower-led organisation providing technical and practical advice and support on organic growing. For more information about the OGA head to www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk and become a member.

More about James Butterworth and Cotswold Market Garden: https://www.cotswoldmarketgarden.co.uk/