Earliest gardening memory The earthy smell of digging up Jersey Royals with my Nan.
First plant love Physalis – the papery husks were the perfect addition to a fairy garden.
Biggest inspiration Kate McEvoy and Ben Gabel of the Real Seed Catalogue. They are pioneers in UK seed saving, and so generous with their knowledge.
Favourite garden Trill Farm Garden in east Devon, where I worked for many years. The attention, love and soul that Ashley Wheeler and Kate Norman put into their market garden is like nowhere else.
Three most worthwhile tips Have a go at saving your own seed. There is something life-affirming about being part of a plant’s full lifecycle. Store your seeds properly and they will last for years beyond the ‘use by’ date. Keep them cool, dry and, ideally, in an airtight container. Remember that soils are like people – the things that make them wonderful also make them incredibly irritating. Your soil is well-draining? It’s heaven in a wet spring and hell in a dry summer. You can spend your time grumbling about it or accept that these are two sides of the same coin, and work on improving what you’ve got.
We are getting more flooding and more droughts. The answer is to grow a larger diversity and choose locally grown
Most valuable training The Organic Seed Conference, Oregon. Attending this event spurred me on to set up Winnow Farm Seeds and I still think about the conversations I had there daily.
Favourite ‘weed’ Nettles – the king of weeds – for pest management, plant feeds and eating.
One easy way to be more sustainable Try growing some locally grown seeds. Seeds grown locally are much better adapted for our wet, mild corner of the world.
My guiding principles Treat plants mean. You don’t need to feed, fertilise and mollycoddle them. Give plants the bare minimum and expect them to draw on their internal genetic toolkit to make the best of the situation. Any plants that don’t thrive are culled. Sounds harsh, but this is the best way of producing resilient and robust seeds, adapted to organically managed gardens.
Biggest challenge facing gardeners The unpredictability and inconsistency of our climate. In the South West, we are getting more flooding and more droughts. The answer is to grow a larger diversity, in terms of crop types and varieties, and choose locally grown, genetically diverse, open-pollinated seeds. We are one of the few companies specialising in this kind of resilient seed
Website winnowfarmseeds.co.uk
With special thanks to The Field Nursery in Gloucestershire where this portrait was taken
