The Organic Grower Podcast
By: Organic Growers Alliance
Language: en-gb
Categories: Science, Nature
The Organic Grower Podcast aims to bring together organic growers from across the UK to share their skills and experiences with those looking to deepen their knowledge of the organic growing world. It will be practical in focus, getting straight into the nitty-gritty of people’s growing practices and business operations.James Butterworth, co-founder and grower at Cotswold Market Garden, will be taking us on a journey through farms and gardens across the UK to speak to growers about the work they do, delving into the most relevant topics of the organic growing world.This podcast is brought to you by...
Episodes
OGPod Episode 33: James' 2025 Season Review
Jan 08, 2026James is in a reflective mood, offering up a review of the season just gone...the highs and lows, lessons learned, and areas for improvement. Hopefully you find it useful and can use it as a springboard to think about things wherever you are growing.
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 M...
OGPod Episode 32: Jamie Carr and Blacklands Organics
Dec 11, 2025In today’s episode, I am delighted to share my conversation with Jamie Carr from Blacklands Organics in Oxfordshire. We chat about the pros and cons of taking on land already used for organic veg production, developing a library of field-scale machinery and adapting crop plans to new market streams. A large chunk of the podcast focusses on how Jamie has fostered a skilled and dedicated team, based on principles of delegation, cross-training across tasks and roles and allowing employees space to develop their own ideas and learn from their mistakes. We delve deep into growing chard in th...
Duration: 01:09:57OGPod Episode 31: Jez Taylor and Daylesford Organic
Nov 27, 2025In today’s episode I’m delighted to share with you my conversation with Jez Taylor, Head Grower at the famous Daylesford Organic in Gloucestershire. It is a wide ranging conversation where you’ll get a sense of the rather atypical scale and complexity of the wider farm business. According to Jez, the market garden is ‘the jewel in the crown’ of Daylesford. Jez manages the 34 acres of organic horticulture with a team of 8 plus a few more in the main season. We discuss the seasonal flow of produce with 14 different ‘in-house’ customers and the bias towards growing for chefs. Jez...
Duration: 01:30:08OGPod Episode 30: Sinead Fenton and Aweside Farm
Jul 31, 2025I speak with Sinead Fenton of Aweside Farm about the the inspiring job she has done in building a business around organic edible flowers. We get into all the nitty gritty of production methods, market development and the various changes that happened to get the business to where it is now.
In the latter part of our conversation, and I think this section will be of real importance to the sector as a whole, we discuss Sinead’s (and my own!) recent health struggles and how this affects the business.
OGPod Episode 29: James' Spring Review 2025
Jun 08, 2025So today, I thought I would share with you my 2025 spring review. What’s gone well and what’s gone less well? How are sales going? What's up, what's down?What are the top crops and why? What improvements can be made for this year and next? And, stay tuned to the end, to hear how our third annual spring plant sale went..
So, plenty to talk about…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 prac...
Duration: 00:54:43OGPod Episode 28: Jonty Brunyee on Being Enterprising and Joint Ventures
May 15, 2025In today’s episode I speak to farmer, educator and my own business partner, Jonty Brunyee. As I was preparing to change careers 7 years ago, I approached Jonty and his wife, Mel, to see if there was scope for setting up a market garden here at Conygree Farm. To cut a long story short, we went into partnership and the rest is history! Inspired by Jonty and Mel, I have become evangelical about partnerships and I have been keen for a while to sit down with Jonty and get him talking. Anyway, we sat down last week, in...
Duration: 00:46:54OGPod Episode 27: James talks... Maximising Protected Cropping Space
Apr 24, 2025In this episode, James dives into the topic of protected cropping and share ideas to make the most of the space that you have in an organic system. He talks about the role of protected cropping through the seasons, rotations, balancing long-season repeat-harvesting crops with quick-growing catch crops and the importance of aligning your crop plan with your sales plan. James also goes into detail about how you can underplant, intercrop and relay crop to maximise production and revenue undercover.
This podcast is brought to you by the Organic Growers Alliance, the UK's only grower-led organisation providing t...
Duration: 00:59:51OGPod Episode 26: Ruth Hancock and Fresh and Green Vegetables
Apr 10, 2025In today’s episode, I speak to Ruth Hancock from Fresh and Green Vegetables in Devon. Ruth’s business is 22 years old so she has a huge amount of experience of organic veg production as well as earning a living from doing it. In many ways, Ruth has kept things simple by developing a 75-strong veg box scheme that operates weekly through most of the season and fortnightly through the late winter and spring, minimising the need to buy in produce from elsewhere. We talk about lessons learned from running a veg box scheme over two decades both in t...
Duration: 01:10:45OGPod Episode 25: Michael Fitzsimmons and Cinderwood Market Garden
Mar 27, 2025In 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...
Duration: 01:31:12OGPod Episode 24: James talks...5 reasons to run a plant sale and 10 tips for success
Feb 27, 2025In this episode, James shares his thoughts on running a successful plant sale. It's jam packed with tips and tricks for you to put into practice. Buckle up, reason number 1 to run a plant sale is...
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/
OGPod Episode 23: George Bennett and Sandy Lane Farm
Feb 13, 2025James speaks to George Bennett of Sandy Lane Farm. George came back to the family farm after a career in IT and has built something pretty special. We talk about going to scale and building a growing operation and sales infrastructure that allows them to run an extremely slick 400-strong veg box scheme and on-site farm shop. George discusses implementing and improving processes and systems throughout the farm, harnessing the natural environment as well as opportunities provided by data analysis and technology. We go into detail about Growing Good, a sales platform and software package that George co-founded...
Duration: 01:43:35OGPod Episode 22: John McCormick and Helen's Bay Organic
Jan 30, 2025James speaks to John McCormick of Helen’s Bay Organic just outside Belfast. It was a real privilege to speak to John, who is entering his 34th year on the site. We speak about dealing with clay soils, particularly in spring and methods he’s developed to get production going earlier. We discuss rotations, compost, green manures, weed control and John’s large collection of machinery, which he uses to great effect. Our conversation also touches on business skills and the benefits of direct retailing and John shares his advice for keeping customers happy for the long term, so let...
Duration: 01:33:36OGPod Episode 21: Ed's Veg
Jan 16, 2025James speaks to Edwin of Ed’s Veg in Hampshire. Ed has a wide range of expertise but today the conversation focuses mainly on his year-round salad production. Ed and his team produce 150-200kg of mixed leaf salad a week, primarily for wholesale markets. We drill down into propagation, planting, varieties, irrigation, fertility, harvest schedules and techniques and much more. We also discuss the development of a field scale operation at a nearby site, which is helping to expand and diversify the enterprise. Towards the end, Ed also talks about his international work as a campaigner and ac...
Duration: 01:27:28OGPod Episode 20: Hamish Evans, Sammy Elmore and Middle Ground Growers
Jan 03, 2025James speaks to Hamish Evans and Sammy Elmore of Middle Ground Growers on the edge of Bath. In four seasons, they have grown the business from nothing to a turnover of over £200,000. We discuss how they set their goals and worked backward from there to achieve their rapid scaling up. We touch on how they built up a 180-strong veg box scheme, the different production systems they have developed from small-scale no-dig to field scale mechanisation and the benefits of their collaborative farming model. There’s a fascinating conversation about their hugely successful crowd-funder, which helped to finance the...
Duration: 01:08:53OGPod Episode 19: Rebecca Laughton and the Landworkers Alliance
Dec 19, 2024James speaks to researcher, policy expert and campaigner, Bea Laughton. Much of the conversation focuses on her work for the Landworkers Alliance. We discuss the latest Horticulture Across Four Nations report, including addressing import substitution, increasing supply and consumption of UK-grown vegetables, price challenges and the true cost of production. We also discuss public sector procurement of organic veg, particularly attempts to get more organic veg into schools in Wales. We move onto identifying and overcoming the barriers to the growth of agroecology, matters of scale, including building appropriate skills, knowledge and funding for new entrants on medium...
Duration: 01:12:45OGPod Episode 18: Adam Payne and Awen Organics
Dec 05, 2024James speaks to Adam Payne of Awen Organics in Pembrokeshire. Adam is no novice and is now putting his experience to work in a relatively new venture in West Wales, where he has been leading in establishing a 25-acre organic veg farm from the ground up. We talk about the farm’s long-term investments in infrastructure and machinery and attempts to scale the business quickly. We discuss developing a strong and diverse market, building a good team and designing efficient growing systems. We also discuss Adam’s dreamy pack shed, delve deep into agretti growing and end on the...
Duration: 01:08:22OGPod Episode 17: Jim Aplin and Hotchpotch Organics
Nov 21, 2024James speaks to Jim Aplin of Hotchpotch Organics in Worcestershire. We talk about Jim’s experience of developing a growing system with next to no infrastructure where crops moved every year as part of a much larger arable rotation. We discuss why Jim opted for a 4-wheel compact tractor over a 2-wheel tractor and how he developed spacings and techniques to suit. More recently, Jim has moved to a new site, now with buildings and protected cropping, and he talks about the challenges and lessons learnt. We also delve deep into squash production, markets and the importance of sp...
Duration: 01:16:54OGPod Episode 16: Kate McEvoy and Real Seeds
Nov 07, 2024James speaks to Kate McEvoy from Real Seeds in Pembrokeshire. We talk about the gradual growth of the business over many years, growing seed for home gardeners, the importance of open-pollinated seed and incorporating seed growing into market gardens., We delve deep into growing peas and beans for seed, economics of seed vs veg, what you need to think about on top of actually growing seed when you run a seed business and the scope for more small-scale seed companies. Later on, Kate discusses her use of movable caterpillar tunnels with some really great tips so hang for...
Duration: 01:32:36OGPod Episode 15: Ed Hamer and Chagfood Community Market Garden
Oct 24, 2024James speaks to Ed Hamer of Chagfood Community Market Garden in the Dartmoor National Park. CSAs or Community Supported Agriculture is very much the focus in this one. We talk about Ed’s split growing site, leaning into the restrictive nature of the CSA model, dealing with and sharing risk, the importance and challenges of communicating with customers/members, the benefits of hard copy newsletters, member recruitment and retention, dealing with crop failures, surviving without cold storage and calculating value in CSA models. We also speak about Ed’s recent travels around the US, where as part of a Ch...
Duration: 01:34:18OGPod Episode 14: Pete Dollimore and Hankham Organics + The Montessori Place
Oct 17, 2024James speaks to Pete Dollimore, previously of Hankham Organics in Sussex and now an instructor at The Montesorri Place. Pete is an absolute fountain of knowledge, particularly about protected cropping, which is so important to many organic growers. At Hankham Organics, Pete oversaw production in 7000m2 of glasshouse - an incredible opportunity but one with an endless learning curve. We delve deep into irrigation systems, managing fertility, dealing with the peaks and troughs of production, timings, the hungry gap, tomatoes and more. Towards the end of the episode, Pete reflects on his more recent experience of running a small...
Duration: 01:36:36OGPod Episode 13: Rita Oldenbourg and Adam Beer and Pitney Farm Market Garden
Sep 26, 2024James speak to Rita and Adam from Pitney Farm Market Garden in Somerset. Rita and Adam are fresh from winning Young Organic Grower of the Year and hopefully our conversation gives you a flavour of why. We talk about their decision to mechanise much of their operation and how this feeds into their goal of year-round production, direct wholesaling and growing as much food as possible while maintaining soil health and providing a livelihood. It’s a very wide-ranging conversation with loads of nuggets and take-aways that I’m sure will give you lots of food for thought, so l...
Duration: 01:33:54OGPod Episode 12: Jayne Arnold and Oxton Organics
Sep 12, 2024James speaks to Jayne Arnold of Oxton Organics in Worcestershire. Oxton Organics has undergone a number of transformations over the years and James and Jayne discuss this, but the bulk of the conversation focuses on Jayne’s experiments with green manures. Jayne talks about the benefits of green manures, establishment, undersowing, species selection and seed mixes, key dates and methods of termination. We also get onto Jayne’s LWA-funded trials into bio-stimulants and her attempts to save seed that is adapted to her local conditions. It’s a wonderful conversation with lots of ideas for things to be doing...
Duration: 01:23:07OGPod Episode 11: Alice Rixon a.k.a. The Veg Lady, Chettle
Aug 15, 2024James 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...
Duration: 01:17:01OGPod Episode 10: Jean-Martin Fortier
Aug 01, 2024Back 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 loca...
Duration: 01:19:26OGPod Episode 9: Connie Hunter and Tom Booth and East Neuk Market Garden
Jul 18, 2024In 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 po...
Duration: 01:30:33OGPod Episode 8: Laurence Jarrett-Kerr and Soul Farm
Jul 04, 2024In 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 Allianc...
Duration: 01:24:11OGPod Episode 7: Rosanna Catterall & Signe Jensen and Knepp Market Garden
Jun 20, 2024In 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 grow...
Duration: 01:09:36OGPod Episode 6: Ashley Wheeler and Trill Farm Garden
Jun 06, 2024In 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 t...
Duration: 01:33:38OGPod Episode 5: Phil Sumption
May 23, 2024In 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...
Duration: 01:10:39OGPod Episode 4: Iain Tolhurst and Tolhurst Organics
May 09, 2024Today, 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...
Duration: 01:44:16OGPod Episode 3: Calixta Killander and Flourish Produce
Apr 24, 2024We 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 in...
Duration: 01:17:17OGPod Episode 2: Kate Collyns and Grown Green
Apr 10, 2024In episode 2 of the Organic Grower Podcast, we hear from Kate Collyns, founder and grower at Grown Green in Wiltshire.
Kate set up the business in 2010 following a two-year Soil Association Horticultural Apprenticeship and now grows a wide range of vegetables, herbs, salads and flowers for her local market. Kate always has something interesting to say and this conversation is no exception. We talk about taking on more land, buying a tractor, crowd-funding, juggling a wide range of crops for wholesale accounts, growing leeks and a whole lot more. There’s a ton of great insights in th...
Duration: 01:21:51OGPod Episode 1: Andy Dibben and Abbey Home Farm
Mar 26, 2024In 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...
Duration: 01:42:43