Episodes
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Episode 683: Mulch, Raspberries & Getting Ready for Winter
There’s a point in autumn when gardening stops being about the big summer rush and becomes a collection of smaller jobs. A couple of bags of leaves, some raspberry pruning and a few pots lifted off the ground might not sound dramatic, but that’s where my attention has been this week. In episode…
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November Vegetable Gardening: Sowing, Saving Seeds and a Fresh Start
November vegetable gardening isn’t about squeezing in every possible job before winter. For me, it’s about choosing what’s worth doing now and making next year a little easier. In episode 682 of the Veg Grower Podcast, released on 2 November 2026, I’m sharing a kitchen garden update, a…
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Episode 681-After the Storm: Tidy Sheds, Winter Readiness and Smarter Seed Storage
Stormy weather may interrupt the jobs we planned, but it does not have to stop us making progress. This week, Richard checks the allotment and kitchen garden after wind and rain, clears two overfilled sheds and turns a dark evening into a useful seed-organising session. Productive Wet-Weather...
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Episode 680-Moving the gardening indoors
I can cope with working in the cold. Working in the rain is another matter. With plenty of showers this week, I’ve found myself moving more of my gardening under cover — and growing food indoors has become the thread running through this episode.There are young plants filling the shed, cold…
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Episode 679-Free Garden Gold: Leaf Mould, Wood Ash and Autumn Money-Saving Tips
Autumn is full of useful materials that gardeners can turn into next year’s fertility. In episode 679 of The Veg Grower Podcast, Richard makes the most of fallen leaves, prepares to store wood ash safely and shares practical ways to keep growing costs under control. Turn Fallen Leaves into Leaf...
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October Growing: Seeds to Sow, Soil to Prepare and a Marrow Curry
October may bring shorter days and cooler temperatures, but there is still plenty to do in the productive garden. In this week’s episode, I’m sowing crops for winter and next spring, preparing allotment beds, making a warming marrow curry and checking in on Alysda and Lisa’s new vegetable garden....
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Episode 677: Autumn Abundance — Compost, Maincrop Potatoes and Crispy Potato Cakes
The end of September can look like the garden is winding down, but this week it felt more like a fresh beginning. Moist weather brought a burst of growth to the kitchen garden, the allotment continued to provide generous harvests, and autumn sowings offered the promise of food through winter....
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Episode 676: Autumn Planting and Preparing for Next Season
In episode 676, the focus is on looking ahead to the next growing season through essential autumn tasks. The small but important jobs of planting garlic, sowing hardy leaves, and preparing protected growing spaces for the shorter days are explored in detail. Allotment Update: Autumn Garlic…
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Episode 675-Autumn Inspiration at Audley End: Walled Gardens, Wildlife Ideas & Seasonal Growing Motivation
This week Richard takes us out of the kitchen garden and allotment and over to Audley End House in Essex for the Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair — the final show of the year and a perfect chance to gather fresh inspiration as we head into autumn. Victorian Walled Gardens & Orchard Training Richard...
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Episode 674: The Growing Season Isn’t Over Yet!
After what has been a really difficult summer for growing, things are finally starting to feel like they are turning a corner. The rain has returned, the gardens are coming back to life and there is still plenty of time to grow more food before winter. Kitchen Garden Update Richard's kitchen…
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Episode 673: The New Growing Season Starts Now
There’s a definite change happening in the garden now. Summer might still be hanging on, but I’m already looking ahead to autumn, winter and, believe it or not, the growing season of 2027. The recent rain has been very welcome after such a dry year and it has made a big difference to the garden....
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Episode 672-Rain Returns, Soil Softens & A Fresh Push Toward Winter Crops
After one of the driest Julys I can remember, this week finally brought the kind of rain that transforms a garden overnight. Every one of my sixteen water butts refilled, the soil softened enough to dig again, and the whole plot seemed to sigh with relief. It’s amazing how quickly things bounce...
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Episode 671- A Tough Week on the Plot – Pests, Harvests and Potatoes
Welcome to this week’s episode of the Veg Grower Podcast. This week we’re taking a look at what’s happening both down on the allotment and in the kitchen garden, with plenty of harvesting, a few pest problems and some thoughts on storing our home-grown potatoes. Allotment We start the episode…
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Episode 670- Battling Hydrophobic Soil, Greywater Experiments & Preparing for Autumn Crops
This week’s episode comes from the second week of August, following one of the driest Julys on record. The allotment and kitchen garden are both feeling the strain, with soil baked so hard that water beads on the surface and runs off rather than soaking in. Despite the challenges, progress...
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Episode 669: August Spinach, Drought-Smart Gardening and a Gourmet Harvest
August has arrived, and this week’s episode moves between the kitchen garden, allotment and podding shed. I choose spinach Medania as the seed of the month, share progress during a stubborn dry spell, turn ripe tomatoes into a quick pasta supper and revisit a gardening book that puts flavour…
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Episode 668: Allotment Adventures: Drought, Pot Sorting & Bee Updates
This week’s episode is all about focus, tidying, and keeping the garden productive during a long dry spell. Richard starts at the allotment, where he’s been tackling untidy borders, harvesting potatoes and filling gaps with new plantings. Back home, a big organisational job has transformed the...
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Episode 667- Mid‑July in the Garden: Caterpillars, Leeks and Soft Fruit
This week on the Veg Grower Podcast, Richard tackles caterpillars on the brassicas, gets his leeks planted at last, enjoys a strong run of summer harvests, completes a few kitchen‑garden jobs, shares a simple stir‑fried bean recipe, and looks at the best ways to store soft fruit. Allotment Update...
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Episode 666: Grapevine Pruning, Potato Problems & A New Vegetable Garden Begins
Welcome to Episode 666 of the Veg Grower Podcast. This week Richard has been juggling warm, humid weather, kitchen‑garden pruning, allotment challenges, and an exciting new project helping a young couple start their very first vegetable garden. It’s a classic midsummer mix of maintenance,...
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Episode 665: Fruit Thinning, Thorny Gooseberries & Summer Slaw Magic
Welcome to Episode 665 of the Veg Grower Podcast. This week Richard shares a classic mix of summer gardening jobs — fruit thinning, sweetcorn planting, slug control, greenhouse tidying — plus our Seed of the Month, a refreshing cabbage slaw recipe, and a look at July’s Book of the Month. It’s…
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Episode 664: Heatwave Gardening – Early Mornings, Water Wisdom & Edible Ponds
Welcome to Episode 664 of the Veg Grower Podcast. This week has been shaped by one thing: heat. With temperatures soaring and humidity making everything feel heavier, Richard has been adapting his gardening routine to keep both the kitchen garden and the allotment thriving during a heatwave. In...
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Episode 663- Gardeners’ World Live 2026: Inspiring Designs, Mushroom Magic & Growing for Every Space
This week on the Veg Grower Podcast, I took you with me on my annual pilgrimage to Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC in Birmingham — for the very last time at this venue before the show moves to a new location next year. And what a send‑off it was. Right from the moment I stepped into the…
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Episode 662 — A Week of Growth: Garlic Harvest, Garden Tidying & Feeding Our Plants
This week on the Veg Grower Podcast, I’ve been making the most of a week off work — and it’s amazing how much difference a few focused days can make. Daily visits to the allotment have helped me get on top of all those little jobs that build up, and the plot is looking better than it has in a…
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Episode 661: Early June Chaos: Wild Weather, Busy Bees and Successional Sowing
Early June has brought that classic mix of heavy rain, strong winds and sudden sunshine — and the garden has certainly felt it. In this week’s episode, I’m sharing how the weather has shaped everything from seed sowing to weeding, plus an exciting update from the beehive as the colony continues…
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Episode 660: Embracing Tomato Fortnight & Sowing French Beans in Early Summer
Early summer has truly arrived, and with it comes one of my favourite celebrations in the gardening calendar—Tomato Fortnight. As I shared in this week’s Veg Grower Podcast, the allotment and kitchen garden are bursting with activity, from staking tomatoes to sowing French beans, harvesting peas,...
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Episode 659: Battling the Heatwave & Finding a Rustic Vision for the Kitchen Garden
This week’s bank holiday brought record‑breaking heat, and like many gardeners, I’ve spent most of my time simply trying to keep plants alive. Between fast‑drying soil, thirsty young crops, and a greenhouse that felt more like an oven, it’s been a week of adapting, improvising, and learning a few...
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Episode 658: The Week the Weather Turned… and I Finally Got My Bees
This week’s episode of The Veg Grower Podcast is a real mix of surprises, setbacks, and exciting new beginnings. From unexpected frost damage on the allotment to big changes in the kitchen garden — and the moment Richard finally becomes a beekeeper — there’s plenty to dive into. If you want the...
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Episode 657: Sowing Winter Cabbage, Tackling Allotment Overwhelm & Our April Book Review
This week has been one of those classic early‑May weeks where everything seems to need doing at once. I’ve been sowing our Seed of the Month, tackling slugs and snails in the kitchen garden, trying to stay on top of the allotment before inspections begin, and finishing our April Book of the…
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Episode 656: Highlights From the Gardener’s World Spring Fair
This week has been a little different here at the Veg Grower Podcast. While the allotment and kitchen garden have mostly seen me planting out the last of the season’s young plants, the real highlight has been my annual trip to the Gardener’s World Spring Fair at Beaulieu. It’s a show I look…
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Episode 655: Planting Early, Protecting Brassicas & My First Real Beekeeping Experience
We’re at the end of April and everything suddenly feels early this year. Warm days, fast growth, and that sense that the season has properly kicked into gear. I’ve taken a few risks in the kitchen garden, made good progress down on the allotment, and had a beekeeping experience that’s left me…
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Episode 654: What’s Really Growing This Week — And How Do You Label It All?
This week on the Veg Grower Podcast, Richard takes us through that wonderful mid‑April moment when everything suddenly bursts into life. The allotment is waking up fast, the kitchen garden is buzzing with activity, and even the potting shed has a surprisingly important topic to tackle. There’s…
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Episode 653 — Seedlings, Straw Bales & the Aphid Battle Begins
This week’s episode takes us from a sun‑soaked kitchen garden to a windswept allotment and finally into the potting shed, where a familiar spring pest has been causing more trouble than usual. With seedlings on the move, potatoes going into the ground, and straw bales warming up for the season...
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Episode 652 Easter Gardening, Potato Planting & Tackling the Hunger Gap
This Easter weekend has been a rare treat. Four full days in the garden, decent weather, and plenty of progress across both the allotment and the kitchen garden. In this week’s episode, I share what’s been happening on the plot, the projects completed at home, and my thoughts on the hunger gap as...
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Episode 651: Pea Planting, Beetroot Basics & A Year on the Waterway – Early Spring in the Garden
This Week in the Kitchen Garden Richard opens this week’s episode by describing that classic early‑spring rush — the moment when the light improves, the soil warms and suddenly everything seems to need doing at once. As he puts it, “everything at the moment seems to be growing at double speed” .…
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Episode 650: Spring Sunshine, Potato Planting & A Buzzing Start to Beekeeping Season
Spring has finally arrived on the south coast, and with it comes that unmistakable lift in energy across the allotment and kitchen garden. This week’s episode was packed with sunshine, soil, potatoes, pots, and even a first look inside the beehive for 2024. Here’s everything that unfolded. Down…
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Episode 649- Early Carrots, Soil Care, and the Power of Wool Pellets — This Week on the Veg Grower Podcast
Spring is finally starting to show itself in Richard’s garden this week, with early sowings going into the ground, the greenhouse warming up, and both the allotment and kitchen garden shaking off winter. From experimenting with early carrots to juggling seedlings on every available surface, and...
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Episode 648: A Big Tree Down, Compost Going Out and My Top Tips for Successful Seed Germination
This week’s episode has been a satisfying mix of big winter jobs finally completed, steady progress in both the kitchen garden and the allotment, and the start of the busy seed‑sowing season. Here’s a written look at everything covered in Episode 648. Kitchen Garden Update The biggest achievement...
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Episode 647: March Begins: Soil Warming, Cauliflowers & No‑Dig Gardening
March has arrived and the soil is finally starting to warm up. This week on the podcast In this week’s episode of The Veg Grower Podcast, Richard is welcoming in the month of March. I share updates on soil temperatures, warming beds for early sowings. We also have our Seed of the Month, and this...
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Episode 646: Greenhouse Heating Test, Spring Prep & Beekeeping Insights
This week on the Veg Grower Podcast, I’ve been dodging rain showers, running a greenhouse heating test, answering listener questions, and getting the allotment ready for the season ahead. Despite the soggy conditions, there’s still plenty happening both in the kitchen garden and down on the plot....
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Episode 645: Early Signs of Spring, Allotment Prep & Why Grow Lights Matter More Than Ever
This week’s episode of The Veg Grower Podcast was packed with those subtle but exciting signs that the growing season is waking up. After a rare dry spell on the south coast, I finally managed a full day in the kitchen garden — and it felt good to get stuck in. Kitchen Garden: Early Growth &...
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Episode 644 Sowing Seeds, Sodden Soil & Is Crop Rotation Still Necessary?
It’s been another wet and windy week here in Littlehampton, and once again the weather has been calling the shots. Outdoor jobs have been limited, but plenty has still been happening both indoors and on the allotment. In this week’s episode of the Veg Grower Podcast, I’m sharing an update from…
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Episode 643: Potato Prep, Celery Sowing & Composting Insights
Welcome back to another episode of The Veg Grower Podcast. This week has very much been about working with the weather, preparing for the season ahead, and slowing things down where patience is required. From soggy allotment soil and potato bed preparation, to sowing celery in the potting shed,...
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Episode 642: Lemon Tree Troubles, Raspberry Pruning & Birdwatching Insights
As the winter months stretch on, many gardeners find themselves dreaming of warmer days and bountiful harvests. In this week's episode of the Veg Grower Podcast, host Richard takes listeners on a journey through his kitchen garden and allotment, sharing valuable tips and insights that will…
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Episode 641- Beekeeping Dreams, Winter Harvests and Tidying Up the Allotment
This week’s podcast is a bit longer than usual, but there’s plenty going on both in the garden and beyond. From steady progress on the allotment, to seed sowing at home, and a fascinating deep dive into beekeeping, it’s been a good week all round. Down on the Allotment After a very wet week, I…
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Episode 640: Stormy Weather, Rhubarb Jobs & Learning to Prune Together
This week’s episode was recorded in challenging conditions, with stormy weather sweeping across the UK. I genuinely hope you’ve come through it without any damage. While the weather has made gardening more difficult, it certainly hasn’t stopped things ticking along – both at home in the kitchen...
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Episode 639 Seed of the Month: Chives | Is It Too Early to Sow Seeds?
Happy New Year and welcome to the first episode of 2026. In this week’s podcast I’m easing myself back into the garden after a rough start to the year, sharing what I’ve been up to on the allotment, and tackling one of the most common questions gardeners ask at this time of year: is it too early…
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#638 2025 Wrapped – A Year in the Kitchen Garden and Allotment
This week’s episode is the final Veg Grower Podcast of 2025, and I wanted to take a step back and reflect on what has been a huge year here in the kitchen garden and down on the allotment. From new systems and new beds, to challenges with drought, job changes, and the reminder of just how…
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Episode 637 Building an Edible Fence & Planning a Home-Grown Christmas Dinner
This week on the Veg Grower Podcast, I’ve been making the most of a rare bright December day down on the allotment, starting a long-planned project that should completely change how the plot looks in years to come. Back at home, I’ve also been tackling a problem area in the kitchen garden and…
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Episode 636 Winter Protection, Fresh Eggs & My Honest HotBin Verdict
A busy December episode this week, taking in fresh eggs from the chicken run, winter protection in the kitchen garden, a productive day on the allotment, a festive bread sauce recipe, and my honest verdict after several months of using a HotBin composter. If you prefer to read along with the...
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Episode 635 – Pruning Fruit Trees, Allotment Updates & Winter Seed Planning
Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of the Veg Grower Podcast! I’m Richard, and my goal is to encourage and inspire you to grow more of your own food, no matter the space you have available. I share what I’ve been up to in my own allotment and kitchen garden here in Littlehampton on the…
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Episode 634 – Tackling Gooseberry Sawfly, Allotment Adventures & December’s Seed of the Month
This week on The Veg Grower Podcast, Richard delves into the latest happenings at his allotment and kitchen garden as he navigates the challenges of a busy schedule. With limited time available, he shares exciting updates on the ongoing improvements to the allotment and addresses a listener's...