Where the sun don’t shine
with Susanna Grant
This post contains affiliate links
This episode begins as usual in the Kentish countryside, where I’ve been finding October to be just about the most conducive time to be out and about in the garden in the whole year – though admittedly my opinion on this topic is never entirely steadfast. And while there’s plenty to be done, one task I won’t be entertaining in my own garden is tidying. Not this side of Christmas, at least – and I call upon the writing of Mirabel Osler for vindication, with a reading from A breath from elsewhere given to us by Jemma Cooper.
Then it’s time for the interview with Susanna Grant, proprietor of the urban plant emporium Linda in London’s East End. We start weedily, descend into confusion over the origins of the phrase ‘Jack of All Trades’ (which could be applied with equal validity to either of us), before progressing to community gardening at Arnold Circus on Shoreditch’s Boundary Estate and the benefits of growing perennial plants, rather than annuals, in your window boxes.
At the time of our chat, Susanna had just written the pamphlet From Gardens Where We Feel Secure for Rough Trade Books and the Garden Museum, and more recently, Bloom have published the book Shade, an excellent guide for gardening where the sun don’t shine. Finally, I let you in on the secret of what I’ve been working on lately.
Please do continue to share the podcast on social media, and if you’d really like to brighten my day, leave a review on iTunes or your podcast app of choice. Or drop me a note in the comments section below, having listened on the embedded player on this page.
Gardens, weeds and words podcast, S03E05 show notes
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
The joys of October in the garden.
Reading from A breath from elsewhere, by Mirabel Osler 4:28
Read by Jemma Cooper
A breath from elsewhere, by Mirabel Osler. Bloomsbury, 1997.
https://amzn.to/3Stlvr9
06:52 Gardening in the shade
08:10 Interview with Susanna Grant
08:20 First encounters
Wild about Weeds, by Jack Wallington
https://amzn.to/3FbVU31
09:17 Sharing weeds (and weeds)
10:48 How the name – and the business – 'Linda' came about
12:35 A Jack of All Trades – Susanna's other work
16:11 A Fair Weather Shop
19:26 Susanna's childhood memories of plants and the natural world
Flower Fairy books, by Cicely Mary Barker
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09PGM2YBD?binding=hardcover&searchxofy=true&ref_=dbs_s_bs_series_rwt_thcv&qid=1666786266&sr=1-19
The Observer Book of Wild Flowers
https://amzn.to/3SxxWCo
21:26 Arnold Circus and the Boundary Estate – the community garden
Radicle, edited by Sui Searle aka @decolonisethegarden
https://radicle.substack.com
Volunteering: a problem and an opportunity? by Joanna Pidcock
https://radicle.substack.com/p/volunteering-a-problem-and-an-opportunity
29:49 From Gardens Where We Feel Secure, by Susanna Grant and Rowan Spray, published by Rough Trade Books and The Garden Museum
https://amzn.to/3Dpdrn4
35:31 Practicalities of window box gardening with perennials
***
Thank you to Susanna Grant for giving up her time to talk to me about her creative nature-inspired practice.
Susanna's book Shade is published by Bloom, 2022, and is available here
https://amzn.to/3F6eGsu
The Rough Trade/Garden Museum pamphlet by Susanna, with photography by Rowan Spray is From Gardens Where We Feel Secure, and is available here
https://amzn.to/3Dpdrn4
Pamphlets in the same series, such as Horticultural Appropriation by Claire Ratinon and Sam Ayre, are also available here
https://roughtradebooks.com/collections/editions
You can find Susanna on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/hellotherelinda
Or on her website: https://www.hellotherelinda.com/
My own book, To Stand and Stare; how to garden by doing next to nothing, will be published by DK Life on Feb 2, 2023, and is available to preorder here https://geni.us/Qs2d
I'm so grateful to Jemma Cooper for lending us her lovely tones for the reading from Mirabel Osler's A breath from elsewhere. You can find Jem on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/thecountrynurse_
I’m ever appreciative of 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.
website: gardensweedsandwords.com
email: gardensweedsandwords@gmail.com
Instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB
Twitter: twitter.com/AndrewTimothyOB
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Hello! I’m Andrew, gardener, writer, photographer, and owner of a too-loud laugh, and I’m so pleased you’ve found your way to Gardens, weeds & words. You can read a more in-depth profile of me on the About page, or by clicking this image.
