S02 Episode 5: healing nature. With Alys Fowler

Gardens, weeds and words

Healing nature. With Alys Fowler A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing. These notes may contain affiliate links. Garden soundtrack January, getting back out into the garden. Rains and flooding. A sign that not all’s ok with our relationship with nature Micro book review 03:30 from The Garden Jungle or Gardening to Save the Planet by Dave Goulson. Published by Jonathan Cape July 2019 https://amzn.to/2ZRfueo Extract read by Rachel Coldbreath Insect declines and why they matter, Dave Goulson, FRES, 2019. Dorset Wildlife Trust https://www.flipsnack.com/devonwildlifetrust/insect-declines/full-view.html Interview with Alys Fowler 06:04 07:05 Urban vs. country – where were Alys’s skills for observing the natural world honed? 09:03 Nature under your feet. Being detail orientated. 09:55 Plant blind Plant blindness Wandersee, J. H., & Schussler, E. E. (1999). Preventing plant blindness. The American Biology Teacher, 61, 82–86. https://abt.ucpress.edu/content/61/2/82 Wikipedia Article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_blindness Article on Plant Blindness by Sandy Knapp of the Natural History Museum (London) https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.36 12:20 The way we garden and how it interacts with the wider landscape 14:43 How well is the rewilding message being communicated? 15:20 A generational shift to a more sympathetic relationship with nature 16:35 Countering late stage capitalism 17:25 How long change takes 18:36 Caring in spite of it all 19:43 Mindfulness vs. paying attention 22:42 Vested interests and inertia 24:52 How our gardens help us to make sense of it all 26:29 Finding meaning and hope in a relationship with plants 27:25 What’s the definition of a gardner? 28:32 Thrifty gardening – recycling 31:37 Style vs. meaning in the garden 34:20 A multi-faceted job description 36:55 The relationship of the garden to the house – pushing the boundaries 39:10 Approaches to making gardens 42:20 Japanese gardens – listening to nature 44:45 Control, dominion – human relationships to nature and the garden. Patriarchy, religion, feminism. 48:46 A Modern Herbal – Alys’s take on herbs and herbals. 52:49 Gender roles in the transmission of herb lore 55:29 Herbal medicine and conventional medicine. Gayla Trail http://yougrowgirl.com/ https://www.instagram.com/yougrowgirl/ 56:40 Can we garden our way out of this, Alys?! *** New Year, New You. A new relationship with nature. Paying it back. Thank you to Alys for joining me on this episode. You can find Alys on Instagram here instagram.com/alysf and on the Guardian pages here https://www.theguardian.com/profile/alys-fowler. In the interview we talked about Alys’s latest book, A Modern Herbal, published by Michael Joseph in 2019. You can find that here https://amzn.to/39DaVc4. Of course, as she says in the interview, the best way to get hold of her is by phone! Thanks too to Rachel Coldbreath for a cracking reading from Dave Goulson’s book . With thanks to all my listeners for your continued support and reviews, I really do appreciate them. You can support the podcast by buying its producer a virtual cup of coffee for three quid, at https://ko-fi.com/andrewtimothyOB. Proceeds will go towards equipment, software and the monthly podcast hosting fees. One-to-one online garden coaching I’m very excited about my new venture – it’s a way for me to work with more people than I can physically get around to, helping them to make the very best of their gardens in a way that suits the life they lead. A few limited places left on introductory prices! https://www.gardensweedsandwords.com/garden-coaching website: gardensweedsandwords.com email: [e-mail] Instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB Twitter: twitter.com/AndrewTimothyOB