Sue Stuart-Smith // From 'outdoor housework' to The Well Gardened Mind, Gardening for Mind & Body, the Power of Flowers, The Barn Garden

Welcome to the first episode of our little mini winter series. We'll be talking about the birds and the bees, the mind and fruit trees. Thanks for being here. First up, we're having a fan girl moment chatting to Sue Stuart-Smith. Sue is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and author of The Well Gardened Mind – a Sunday Times Bestseller. Sue originally saw gardening as 'outdoor housework', but it was the veggie garden that drew her in.  She originally studied English Literature at the University of Cambridge before qualifying as a doctor and working in the NHS, where she went on to become the lead clinician for psychotherapy in Hertfordshire.  Sue and her husband, celebrated garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith, have together spent almost four decades cultivating the Barn Garden – a place that inspired much of her writing. Her book explores the relationship between gardening and mental health. Sue lives, works and gardens in Hertfordshire in the UK from where she shares widely her deep appreciation for the natural world.  Before we get to this beautiful chat with Sue we're drinking a Sailor Seeks Horse Chardonnay. Emily is dishing up why she's not a fan of carnations. Maddie boldly states she's going to build her own chicken coop. We've discovered (unpalatable) native blueberries. We've found all of the apple info at Pomiferous. And Emily's decided what to plant in her future espalier bed - including a Plum Scrumptious - an interspecies plant that is plum and peach. Yumbo!