OGPod Episode 25: Michael Fitzsimmons and Cinderwood Market Garden

In today’s episode, I speaks to Michael Fitzsimmons of Cinderwood Market Garden in Cheshire. Michael is a breath of fresh air - incredibly open, honest and clear in his thinking. When I approached him I didn’t know he was about to take a step back from growing so the conversation came at a really interesting point in time, full of food for thought for all of us as growers. Cinderwood is such an interesting case study of a market garden founded with one foot in the growing world - that’s Michael - and one foot in the culinary world - that’s his business partner, chef Joseph Otway. We talk about how the business has developed to cater for chefs, mostly in the Greater Manchester area, and all the opportunities and challenges that presents. Michael goes into detail about crop planning, logistics, communications and pricing, as well as a deep-dive into celtuce and onions and garlic production on a small scale. It’s a really wonderful conversation and I’m really grateful to Michael for opening up about so many things, including how he thinks of himself as a weed - I love it. 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.Liv James is taking the reins from James Butterworth as host in 2026. Liv has been a grower for 10 years mainly at Down Farm Market Garden in Devon and is now a storyteller at Soil Association. Alongside this Liv is a plant nut, wordsmith, music lover, life enthusiast, surfer and Mum.