The Organic Growers Alliance (OGA) have teamed up with James Butterworth of Cotswold Market Garden, to produce a podcast on organic horticulture, called the Organic Grower Podcast. The podcast will feature a mix of experienced and new-entrant growers, who will share their growing methods, business practices and thoughts on the pressing issues facing the organic movement today.
The idea for the podcast was developed by James, in response to the lack of podcasts featuring UK growers. Despite the many inspiring podcasts featuring growers from North America, James felt there was a real gap in the market. He knew there was a wealth of knowledge and experience among UK growers that remained untapped and under-shared (particularly with regards to growing in UK climates and running business in the UK economic context). With a background in research/education and experience in audiovisual production he decided to fill the gap himself, and approached Jim Aplin, a board member of the OGA to see if they would be up for collaborating on the project – and they were! Alongside James, Lizzy Haughton, the development officer at the OGA, will be helping run the project for the foreseeable future.
The Organic Grower Podcast will complement other OGA resources, aiming to involve new voices and reach a wider audience. It will be practical in focus, getting straight into the nitty-gritty of people’s growing practices and business operations. While being careful not to present a rose-tinted view of UK organic growing, it will encourage growers to share their successes, so that others can learn from them.
The first episode will be released on 27 March 2024, with an episode published fortnightly after that. Episodes will highlight growers of different scales, different business stages and in different parts of the country. While some themes will inevitably reoccur, each podcast will focus on the topics most relevant to the guests in question and to prescient issues at the time. Things to look forward to in the first few episodes include:
To listen to the podcast, head to https://organicgrowersalliance.co.uk/news/ or search The Organic Grower Podcast on Spotify or Apple Music.
