The Gardens, weeds & words podcast, Series 2 Episode 4

Nature in a virtual space

with Sara Tasker

Nature and technology might seem unlikely bedfellows, but there’s no real reason why they shouldn’t co-exist in relative comfort. I’d go further and suggest that, for many of us, our experience of the natural world is enhanced by the information and inspiration we receive by means of the technology we use daily. In this episode, I’m joined by the Queen of Instagram Sara Tasker to discuss how a relationship with nature influences her work in a virtual space.
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The gardening community on social media has added so much to my experience of plants, gardens, and the natural world, I find it hard – or at least I find it a rather lonely prospect – to imagine life without it. Like-minded people from all over the world coming together through technology, to inspire, inform and illuminate, to discuss and gently (most of the time) correct. It’s like a local gardening society, only on steroids. 

And so I make no apologies for the fact that, contrary to what you might expect, the smartphone is one of the most critical tools in the possession of this particular gardener. Not only does it contain a wealth of reference material I used to carry around in books that sat about getting muddy in the footwell of the Land Rover, but it also acts as a portal to a vibrant and vigorous world that makes me a better gardener, and a more informed resident of Planet Earth. For all its perceived ills and the behavioural flaws it supposedly encourages, I’m reluctant to be without it.

And it works both ways. The natural world is such an inescapable influence upon human creativity, inhabiting and informing all we do, and nowhere is this seen more than on perhaps the most visual platform across the entire social media landscape, Instagram. I’ve long been wanting to quiz to Sara Tasker about how she sees the role of the natural world in her own photography as well as in her wider work, and this episode is where that conversation happens.

I hope you enjoy listening – please 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, S02E04 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

Gardening in the rain

Most used garden tools

An argument for including a smart phone

Social media and gardening community



Micro book review 05:09

from Rootbound. Rewilding a Life by Alice Vincent

Published by Canongate Books January 2020. Preorder here https://amzn.to/2splqOU

Extract read by Rose White



The role of Instagram in disseminating an awareness of plants, flowers and the natural world.



Interview with Sara Tasker 09:42

10:58 Sara’s social media beginnings

12:46 The role of nature in Sara’s photography, and the move from Manchester to Yorkshire

16:58 Autumn in the city and the countryside

18:00 Gardens or wider landscape?

19:38 Nature getting her way

20:21 The mood of the pictures – escapism, or freedom?

24:07 The common theme in a multi-hyphenated career

25:39 Communicating ideas with Instagram

26:18 Insta cliches, meaning and language

28:27 The effect of social media on mental health

31:39 A female space?

36:03 The algorithm. Female-male dynamic – tensions between creativity and control. 

39:43 Natural creativity winning out.

41:03 Sara’s favourite plant…

44:41 Online courses to help express ideas through using flowers and natural elements in photography

46:45 15 Minute Magic

49:20 A mutually beneficial relationship between nature and technology? 

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Now and again, the product is as good as the hype. ⁣ ⁣ Not very often, but this is one of those occasions where the build up was justified. I wasn’t going to buy @me_and_orla’s book – I kind of thought it was for other people. I’ve done the course, found the community, listened to the podcast, soaked up all the info like a big beardy Insta sponge... why did I need a book with the same stuff in it? But then I read the intro on Amazon and realised it was a bit different. And I’m so glad about that because, when all’s said and done, and glowing hypnotic screens aside, I’m still a book person. There’s something about a good book – a physical thing you can hold in your hand, feel the weight of, turn the pages, turn off your phone and disappear with for several absorbing hours – that has always been wonderful, but perhaps for those of us that spend so much of our time on our devices, is all the more so. ⁣ ⁣ I suppose what I’m trying to say is, sometimes the Book of the Thing ends up being a bit of a cynical marketing exercise, a rehash of stuff you’ve heard elsewhere. But I think care has been taken to make sure this isn’t a charge that could be levelled here. It’s (hashtag) authentic Tasker, on message, but somehow given more air to breathe than maybe a podcast or an intensive online course unit can allow. It’s the longer-form writing that does it, I’m sure. And it’s a rather beautiful volume, too. ⁣ ⁣ Anyway, before this turns into a long-winded review, I’m going to put the coffee on. But let me know if you’ve got the book and what you think of it, and, if you were thinking it’s not for you...seek it out anyway and have a flick through. You’ll be pleasantly surprised I’m sure. ⁣ ⁣ #mystoryoflight #peninpractice #olympusuk #aplacetosit

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Thank you to Sara for joining me on the podcast. You can find out all about Sara’s work and her courses on her website here www.meandorla.co.uk, dive into her Instagram grid here https://www.instagram.com/me_and_orla/, or chat to her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/meandorla. Her podcast Hashtag Authentic is here https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hashtag-authentic-for-small-businesses-bloggers-online/id1200930280, and of her book of the same name, subtitled Finding creativity and building a community on Instagram and beyond, https://amzn.to/34yy0K1, is definitely worth reading. 


Thanks too to Rose White for her wonderful reading from Alice Vincent’s Rootbound. Rewilding a Life by Alice Vincent https://amzn.to/2splqOU. You can find Rose on Instagram at www.instagram.com/liveawelllife, and with her professional nutritionist hat on here. www.liveawelllife.co.uk. 

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. If you’d like to find out more, please click on the link below
https://www.gardensweedsandwords.com/garden-coaching


website: gardensweedsandwords.com
email: gardensweedsandwords@gmail.com
Instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB
Twitter: twitter.com/AndrewTimothyOB 


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A year of 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. If you’d like to find out more, please click here to book for a January 2020 start.

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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.

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