Having offered the crowd one of his most challenging words, Jesus turned his attention to three parables, each describing something lost and found. Though Jesus calls his disciples to die to self, he also offers an image of God searching for those who are lost,By Pastor Chase Replogle

Both our guests on the HortWeek Podcast broadly agree with the reasons for a peat ban and agree there is a need to reduce carbon emissions to help fight climate change. But they are not equally convinced a peat ban is the way to do it. In the 'for' corner is cosmos and hollyhocks national collection holder and lobbyist Jonathan Sheppard. Sheppard s…

Having given a strong warning to the religious leaders, Jesus turned his attention to the crowd. They could not continue following Jesus if they were unwilling to count the cost of being a true disciple. A true disciple is called to the cross. We take a closer look at Jesus' hard words.By Pastor Chase Replogle

ICL's Sam Rivers digs down into Integrated Pest Management and speifically IPM planning. Sam describes what the current situation in the industry is with regards to IPM planning and details the 'hierarchy of control', which includes cultural, biological, physical and chemical methods. He gives examples of the different types of controls and talks a…

Barry Kinzer shares from Jesus' parable of the great banquet. He explores Jesus' warning to hosts and digs into those who reject the host's invitation. God will fill his banquet, compelling those in the streets to come in. We must be willing to not only hear his invitation but also to respond with determination.…

GroundsFest 2024 took place10 - 11 September at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire. Initial visitor numbers from day 1 (unaudited) of 4,738 were 40% up on last year, the show’s inaugural year. The podcast was recorded on day 2 of GroundsFest amongst the hustle and bustle of the show. HortWeek senior reporter Rachael Forsyth spoke with Chris Bassett, eve…

Again, Jesus went into the home of a Pharisee, and again, they took offense at his work. But Jesus was watching them. And again, he saw what they could not see about themselves. Jesus told a parable to illustrate their self-obsession and their addiction to honor.By Pastor Chase Replogle

Alan Down is a gardening broadcaster and writer and current HTA president, shortly to be replaced by Will Armitage after two eventful years. He studied at Cannington and Pershore College of Horticulture and after a spell working Germany, he developed and managed Hillier Nurseries' container grown and seed propagation nurseries for nine years. For t…

Jesus' description of his kingdom as a seed and leaven confused the crowd. Did that mean God's kingdom was small? Did it mean only a few would be saved? Jesus answered their question by turning it on them. Were they each striving for the narrow door to enter? We take a closer look at Jesus' answer and his compassion for the lost Jerusalem.…

A Sussex native, Susan Raikes, the new director of Wakehurst, Kew's wild botanic garden in West Sussex (she joined in June) was familier with the garden since childhood. "We're Kew's younger, bigger and wilder sister and very much a botanic garden with a purpose...a site of horticultural and scientific excellence and a living laboratory where groun…

Jesus healed another woman plagued by a demon. And again, it caused controversy. This time, it was a leader of the synagogue who saw Jesus's healing as a violation of the Sabbath. It is a familiar story in Luke. The leaders continue to oppose Jesus, and the crowd grows more impressed with his miracles. But few recognize how the kingdom is actually …

GroundsFest 2024 takes place on the 10 and the 11 of September at Stoneleigh Park, in Warwickshire. The free annual event is a must-attend for grounds staff, greenkeepers, landscapers, designers & architects, gardeners, local authorities, estate managers and contractors. It combines indoor business and education opportunities with outdoor demonstra…

HortWeek is delighted to present the Cultivate Your Future podcast, in partnership with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation and sponsors MorePeople. This episode was recorded on location at Ball Colegrave where the great and the good from the horticultural industry gathered to celebrate 30 years of the Colegrave Foundation. In this episode Neville St…

Having concluded a long teaching on fear and having called the crowd to repent, it must have been frustrating that they still did not understand. Jesus wanted to talk about their need for salvation; all they could think about was other people. The beginning of chapter 13 offers us a honest look at our own humanity but it also offers a remarkable vi…

This week's guest is Angus Soft Fruits' breeding program director, Lucy Wilkins. Angus Soft Fruits sells to the major multiples in UK, food service and wholesale and also exports fruit around the world to Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Angus is launching two revolutionary raspberry varieties: AVA™ Monet and AVA™ Dali - so named because they are,…

Jesus concluded his conversation on fear by discussing the coming judgment. For many people, the idea of judgment can create fear, but Jesus understood judgment as a revealing of what is true from what is false. We take a closer look at the images Jesus uses to explain the judgment of God.By Pastor Chase Replogle

Edwin Meijer from Green Solutions speaks about the dos and don'ts of loyalty programmes for garden retailers. Edwin speaks about the role of smartphones in loyalty campaigns as the older generation uses social media more. Research from KPMG showed that more than 80% of the consumers expect a mobile-based loyalty programme. If you retired aged 65 in…

Special guest Donna Barrett offers an exploration of the prayers in Luke's gospel and how they can shape a life or prayer for believers today.By Pastor Chase Replogle

Matthew Bent of Bents Garden and Home and Plants for Europe's Graham Spencer speak to HortWeek about the visitor experience at Four Oaks Trade Show. Four Oaks is the UK’s leading international exhibition for the whole of commercial horticulture. From production to point-of-sale, the breadth of exhibits on display is the show’s strength, attracting …

In the middle of talking about fear, Jesus turned his attention to the fact he would one day be gone and would then return. He commanded his disciples to keep watch. We look at how the promise of Christ's return offers hope and peace in the anxieties of our world today.By Pastor Chase Replogle

Sales development executive at Collier Turf Care Sally Jarrett is not a football fan but as stories of divot-strewn pitches she has sympathy for grounds keepers under the spotlight during the Euros tournament held in Germany last June. "When football pitches are getting ready for big tournaments, they undergo a lot of work...it could be that some o…

While Jesus was teaching about fear and anxiety, a man from the crowd interrupted. He wanted Jesus to command his brother to share the inheritance. Jesus saw something deeper. He forced man to see his own covetousness, and Jesus warned us not to measure life and meaning based on the things we possess.…

This week's podcast guests are leaders in the UK fruit growing sector: Alana Deakin, the new chair of the NextGen Fruit Group and head of operations at Hall Hunter and Oli Pascall, MD of Clockhouse Farm and the NextGen past president. They talk about their key takeaways from a recent visit to the USA including ag-tech, driven in part by scarcity an…

Before the crowd and the growing opposition, Jesus turned to his disciples and taught them not to fear those in power. Jesus explained that only the fear of the Lord can free us from the fear of this world. We take a closer look at his words and how they guide us toward courage today.By Pastor Chase Replogle

The author of The Ethical Carnivore, Louise Gray takes a journalistic approach to questioning trusims about fruit and veg being better for you and the planet. Mike Berners-Lee wrote about the carbon footprint of 100 things in 2010's How Bad Are Bananas. As many businesses attempt to go carbon neutral, ethical and environmental sourcing is more of a…

The Pharisees had often criticized Jesus, but it was not until chapter 11 that Jesus fully addressed what was wrong with the Pharisee's perspective on life and faith. We take a closer look at Jesus's warning and discover that the leaven of the Pharisees is still a danger today.By Pastor Chase Replogle

Tayshan Hayden-Smith's Wikipedia entry tells you he is a professional footballer from Ladbroke Grove, London. Nicknamed the "English Neymar" Tayshan had a burgeoning international career underway until the Grenfell Fire in 2017 took 72 lives from his local community. A quest for healing led him into the world of horticulture and his non-profit orga…

Having witnessed Jesus cast out a demon, his opponents accused him of dark powers, but the crowd asked for more miracles. Jesus answered their questions but also pushed the conversation further. They came to evaluate Jesus and his power, but he challenged them to evaluate their own hearts and their own eyes.…

This week's guest on the Horticulture Week Podcast is Glendale head of development, estate services, Deric Newman, The podcast was recorded shortly after the Perennial Quiz in February. HortWeek editor Matt Appleby and Deric, both on the 'Horticulture Geeks' team, discuss how they fared. Deric talks about his role and about Glendale's current busin…

Jesus's disciples often saw him praying, and they recognized something he possessed in prayer that they did not. Coming to Jesus, on disciple asked, "Teach us to pray." Jesus answered the man's question, but he pushed the disciple further and shifted the question from how to why.By Pastor Chase Replogle

This episode we hear from Peter Wessel and Shaun Herdsman from Modiform. Modiform offers solutions in the field of growing, transport, and packaging systems for the horticultural sector based on recycled raw materials. As one of the first horti-packaging companies to start looking into the recycling of plastic, Peter and Shaun talk about how and wh…

Many remember the familiar images of Mary and Mary, Martha busy with her work, and Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. In this week's sermon, we take a closer look at why Luke has included this little story and how it fits into the questions Jesus was trying to answer. We discover there is more going on in this scene than most remember.…

Former Defra secretary of state George Eustice says there should be a new generation of UK fresh produce glasshouse production post-election, with a Defra strategy to support that. The retiring Conservative MP believes more can also be done on labour shortages. He supports a needs-based policy so sectors with shortages have sector-specific visas, a…

Trees, arguably, have never been so popular and Sarah Lom, chief executive of the Tree Council is enjoying their moment in the sun. Applications to the Tree Council's small grants fund [under £500] have doubled in the last 12 months. National Tree Week at the end of 2023 reached an estimated 30 million people and a schools programme is helping enga…

Jesus's story of the Good Samaritan is one of his most familiar teachings in the Bible. It's so familiar that it's easy to miss the true point. We take a closer look at the parable and the conversation that provoked it and discover the wisdom of Jesus's probing questions.By Pastor Chase Replogle

HortWeek is delighted to present the Cultivate Your Future podcast, in partnership with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation and sponsors MorePeople. At a time when horticulture needs to encourage a new wave of young people to come into the industry, this podcast is designed to highlight the multiple and varied career opportunities available. Hear fro…

Jesus had been increasingly talking about suffering, but he also turned his disciples to the topic of joy. And Jesus chose to locate the source of true Joy in an unexpected place. Unlike the disciples who took join in their achievements, Jesus suggested that true joy came from the grace of having been included in his kingdom, with our names written…

HortWeek is delighted to present the Cultivate Your Future podcast, in partnership with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation and sponsors MorePeople. At a time when horticulture needs to encourage a new wave of young people to come into the industry, this podcast is designed to highlight the multiple and varied career opportunities available. Hear fro…

Jesus's disciples continued to struggle to understand Jesus's talk of suffering. Again, they failed to understand the way of his kingdom. They were prepared to call down fire to destroy their enemies. But Jesus turned their attention to the price they would pay to be his true disciples. The hour had come for them all to go to Jerusalem and for Jesu…

Renowned plantswoman Claire Austin, who has recently written a book called Peonies, a personal collection of 350 species, has revealed the secrets behind growing the increasingly popular herbaceous, intersectional and tree peonies. Austin, who owns the only retail nursery that also has a pub on site, in Sarn, mid-Wales, talks about the appeal of pe…

We've seen Jesus's disciples struggling to understand Jesus's increasing talk of suffering and rejection. But Jesus realized there was more going on in the logic of their hearts. We take a closer look at the disciple's struggles and how the temptations they faced are ours as well.By Pastor Chase Replogle

HortWeek editor Matt Appleby speaks with ICL's Andrew Wilson, Matthew Miller, Steven Chapman and Sam Rivers to preview Hort Science Live. ICL Hort Science Live explore the latest technologies and management practices growers need to produce quality resilient plants in sustainable media. Wilson will lead the ‘How to rethink plant nutrition’workstati…

Having come down from the mountain of his transfiguration, Jesus was met by another crowd. This crowd was in chaos. A man came yelling, desperate to have his son delivered, and explaining the disciple's failure to help. Jesus used the moment to again speak of the suffering that awaited him and challenged the crowd for their lack of faith. We look c…

HortWeek is delighted to present the Cultivate Your Future podcast, in partnership with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation and sponsors MorePeople. At a time when horticulture needs to encourage a new wave of young people to come into the industry, this podcast is designed to highlight the multiple and varied career opportunities available. Hear fro…

Jesus often withdrew to pray. And it's surprising how often his disciples fell asleep praying with him. When Peter, James, and John woke from their sleep, they discovered Jesus had changed. We take a closer at Jesus's transfiguration and the important place of prayer in the story.By Pastor Chase Replogle

David Richardson is director of horticulture at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) and leads a team of almost 850 horticulturists responsible for the maintenance and gardening of more than 2,400 sites across 50 countries. He speaks to HortWeek about how the CWGC will be at the heart of many D-Day events in the UK and France, and is a glo…

Jesus waited until the crowds were at their peak to begin discussing with his disciples what awaited. The Son of Man would have to suffer, be rejected, and die. It was a message the disciples were not prepared to hear. But Jesus went further. He explained that all his disciples must learn to bear their own crosses and die daily.…

Chris Baines is one of the UK’s leading independent environmentalists and an award-winning writer and broadcaster. A trained horticulturist and landscape architect, he spent some years practising and teaching landscape design but has spent most of his career a professional adviser to Government and other bodies including the National Trust, Nationa…

The crowds continued to grow around Jesus. And as they came, Jesus saw their need. The crowd was great and without food. Jesus, by his miraculous work, fed the crowd and continued to demonstrate his compassion for them.By Pastor Chase Replogle

Biostimulants and legislation is the topic for this week's podcast with ICL. ICL's Sam Rivers says there is confusion about what biostimulants are: micro-organisms that when applied to plants stimulate natural processes. They are not replacements for nutrition or IPM but can help overcome issues in plant production. Different types of biostimulants…