Category Archives: media

Compost Crisis

Climate-friendly peat-free composts aren’t taking their place at the heart of more eco-savvy gardening because we’re not yet paying enough for them. By John Walker. Published in Kitchen Garden, November 2010. When well-known gardening pundits start proclaiming just how ‘awful’ … Continue reading

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Strange Bedfellows

Garden Organic’s plans to be co-opted by big business threated to undermine the ecologically desirable tenets of thrift, frugality and prudence that organic gardening actually epitomizes. By John Walker. Published in Kitchen Garden, March 2010. Without knowing quite where it’s … Continue reading

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The Real Gardeners’ World

As the new series of Gardeners’ World takes dumbing down to new heights, the most alarming casualty of the rush for ratings is the world around us.  By John Walker. Published in Organic Garden & Home, June 2009. Tempting though … Continue reading

Posted in carbon footprint, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, energy use, environment, food miles, garden centres & gardening industry, media, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, overconsumption, published articles, rainwater harvesting, tv gardening & celebrities, water & 'water footprints' | 1 Comment

How Many Apples?

Becoming ‘food secure’ and curtailing climate change by growing our own makes a great sound bite, but where is the evidence to back it up? By John Walker. Published in Organic Garden & Home, March 2009. An apple a day … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, fossil fuels, mail order, media, organic gardening, peak oil, pesticides in the garden, published articles, resilience | Leave a comment

We Shop, Planet Drops

Prudent use of natural resources is at the core of gardening organically, so why is the nation’s head gardener urging us to shop? By John Walker. Published in Organic Garden & Home, January 2009. It’s time to grab your wallets … Continue reading

Posted in carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, ecological footprints, energy use, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, fossil fuels, garden centres & gardening industry, gardening footprint, glyphosate, greenwash, media, organic gardening, overconsumption, pollution, published articles, tv gardening & celebrities | Leave a comment

Hearts and Trowels

Is mismatched leadership and a lack of joined-up campaigning hindering attempts to rouse the nation’s gardeners to grow ultra-local, organic and truly sustainable food? By John Walker. Published in Organic Gardening, November 2008. Despite my lousy maths, I’ve been doing … Continue reading

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Celebrities… Get Them Out of Here

It’s time for programme-makers to ditch celebrities, and instead start creating TV shows around folk who garden in the real world. By John Walker. Published in Organic Gardening, September 2008. Eavesdropping can be a depressing business – as I found … Continue reading

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Time For Climate Questions?

I join the audience for a Gardeners’ Question Time recording to pop questions to our top gardening ‘experts’ about carbon footprints, but did I get any answers? By John Walker. Published in Organic Gardening, July 2008. Inspiration is a powerful … Continue reading

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Smoke and Mirrors

Earth-friendly organic gardening has had a drubbing recently in other gardening magazines. What drives the ‘organic bashers’ – a lack of understanding, or the need to keep the chemical companies sweet? By John Walker. Published in Organic Gardening, June 2008. … Continue reading

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A Royal Shade of Green?

In an exclusive interview for Organic Gardening, I talk recycling, renewable energy and carbon footprints with Bob Sweet, the key decision-maker behind the Royal Horticultural Society flower shows, including the 2008 Chelsea Flower Show. By John Walker. Published in Organic … Continue reading

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