Rich Pickings

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Rich Pickings

Jo Thompson and Nina Baxter

16 episodes

5 months ago

A little bit about gardens, and a lot about everything else. Two garden designer friends share their tales, some tips and quite a lot of trivia: each week is a ramble along wherever the garden path leads them. Whether it’s Morris dancing or a gritty debate about the merits of biscuits for breakfast, the gentle debates and occasional squabbles are never in danger of being too earnest.

jothompson.substack.com

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All content for Rich Pickings is the property of Jo Thompson and Nina Baxter and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

A little bit about gardens, and a lot about everything else. Two garden designer friends share their tales, some tips and quite a lot of trivia: each week is a ramble along wherever the garden path leads them. Whether it’s Morris dancing or a gritty debate about the merits of biscuits for breakfast, the gentle debates and occasional squabbles are never in danger of being too earnest.

jothompson.substack.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show more...

Episodes (16/16)

Rich Pickings

Where have they been?

Where have they been? Where will they go? It's as if they've never been away. Jo and Nina are back with the real gardening news - from Chelsea Flower Show Gold to funny foxgloves and a revolting cat story. Also, why we should bring back island beds, crazy paving and Bergenia (with a hard 'g').

Show notes

More about Jo's Glasshouse garden at Chelsea Flower Show - https://www.jothompson-garden-design.co.uk/chelsea-2025/

More about the Butler and Parker garden - https://www.butlerandparker.com/garden-of-the-future

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5 months ago

34 minutes 38 seconds

Rich Pickings

Perambulations round the park

Jo and Nina are back with a vengeance as they take stock of this year's RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival. A pottering through gardens swerves into a conversation about manservants, the gowns of academics and the sleep-inducing qualities of The Lord of the Rings.

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2 years ago

38 minutes 11 seconds

Rich Pickings

The One with the Druid - Part I

At the time of the Summer Solstice, Nina and Jo chat with an actual Druid and discuss why, actually, it’s all logical. Celebrating trees, plants, stones and skies, Dan Lobb takes us along on a journey of reconnecting with the wisdom of our ancestors.

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

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2 years ago

32 minutes 6 seconds

Rich Pickings

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Jo and Nina are back from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Listen in to hear their thoughts and reflections on one of the biggest weeks of the horticultural year.

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

38 minutes 15 seconds

Rich Pickings

A little bit of sunshine

A little bit of sunshine does us all the world of good as Nina and Jo catch up on what’s going on in the garden. There’s a lucky dip of horticultural information this week: why not stick a hand in and rummage around?

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

41 minutes 46 seconds

Rich Pickings

Trolley tours and trench coats

Jo is back and gives Nina a whistlestop tour through San Francisco, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Connecticut.

Motorcades and Gwyneth Paltrow, expensive dressing Succession-style, best bookshops and booknooks, and is there any point at all to a eucalyptus, which Nina feels fairly strongly about.

There’s a visit to a super-whizz tech headquarters in Silicon Valley, an homage to the Tales of the City novels and a scoot around gardens both botanical and communal. Groundhogs make yet another appearance, and Jo reveals why you don’t want to be standing behind her on an escalator on the Tube.

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

39 minutes 5 seconds

Rich Pickings

Pre-Easter special

This week, the sap is rising in a pre-festive special. The Easter bunny and Gwyneth Paltrow, a new idea for a wellness book, and are Creme Eggs smaller than they used to be.

Please do rate this podcast on Apple or Spotify. And…. follow now so that you never miss another episode!!! Next episode out at Easter.

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

38 minutes 23 seconds

Rich Pickings

The Elixir of Life

This week, Nina takes us to Alexandra Palace and live music, whilst Jo unpicks the rules of ice hockey and shares a secret never told before. The debate continues as to whether Alan Titchmarsh is a dog or cat person, and whether or not darts is a sport, while Nina indulges in a bit of Tom Cruise-manifesting and has a very peculiar feeling about her teeth. In the garden, beans in all their glory are the topic of the day, as Jo reveals her exciting new theory on the fountain of youth and the elixir of life.

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

33 minutes 43 seconds

Rich Pickings

James Alexander-Sinclair is in the shed

This week, Jo and Nina are joined by all-round good egg James Alexander-Sinclair. Big hugs and juggling, party tricks, taxidermy and truckloads of Jaffa cakes are just the tip of the iceberg. Is he a Renaissance man? Is it ok to make a garden out of rubber and chains? And why you should probably keep your dog on a lead in the middle of town. Listen to find out how James, the original biscuit blogger, went from being Father Christmas in Harrods to RHS Ambassador for garden design. There’s plenty of life-skill training, including how to eat a selection box, judging clients on the quality of their biscuits, and Monty Don’s hands.

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

1 hour 30 seconds

Rich Pickings

A Morris dance to the music of time

There’s excitement in the air as Nina is followed by a band of Morris dancers, whilst Jo is finally allowed to muse upon the Romans’ fondness for topiary. They have a look at the plans for the garden at Sandringham, going up a very royal garden path. Poetry plays a part again as they investigate whether ChatGPT can write a poem about Jo’s garden in the style of Pam Ayres. Why? Listen to find out, alongside the revelation of both the biscuit and role model of the week.

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

33 minutes 50 seconds

Rich Pickings

The Reality of Punxsutawney Phil

Welcome to this new episode of Rich Pickings. There’s yet more controversy, this time about worm-tickling and whether or not Nina’s biscuit choice actually is a biscuit. There’s a furry rodent theme (sorry in advance) with one-eyed squirrels and dubious groundhogs, and there’s even a short discussion about the dreaded pruning, in which we do acknowledge both the possible dullness of the debate and the over-complicatedness of the task itself.

But never fear, we soon shake ourselves out of this, and into ponderings on how much a worm weighs. You have been warned. Discover that we don’t know our equinoxes (Imbolc is between winter and spring, we really do know that!) Find out what biscuit actually has made it this week, and Who We Should Be More - it’s an old faithful this time; can you guess who it might be …?

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

38 minutes 47 seconds

Rich Pickings

The Scent of Winter

This week, Nina takes a wander around a witchhazel and poses a controversial question about this winter beauty, whilst Jo delves into Venetian architecture and tries to explain the age-old question of how Venice stays up. There’s definitely an Italian theme, with the biscuit of the week taking a bit of a surprise turn. Listen in to find out Who We Should Be More, and why Brownies carry a piece of string.

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

44 minutes 33 seconds

Rich Pickings

SPICE up your life

This week, Renaissance Man Mark Diacono (writer, gardener, garden designer and most recently author of Spice) joins Nina and Jo on a journey though time and how the ****** we got anything done. Taking in a new twist on Brandy Alexanders and a quick dash around the mulberry tree, meeting film stars and whether or not it’s ok to tascalate, this episode meanders through gardening, recipes, the Beatles and yes, Duran Duran again, in the way that only it knows best. Join us for cocktails and plan your kitchen garden plant choices at the same time, without worrying about any of it very much at all.

This podcast is public so please do share it with anyone you think would enjoy it!

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

1 hour 4 minutes 10 seconds

Rich Pickings

Accept No Imitation

More vehement opinions from Nina and Jo this week: a heated discussion on things that are ‘marmite’, including marmite, flirting with begonias, and why Rich Tea biscuits are the best. Listen to find out what other rich pickings are in this week’s podcast: whether gardening jobs are basically all a conspiracy, which reality TV show would they choose, and where is Pam Ayres actually from?

Thank you for listening- please do rate and review on whichever platform you’re listening to it on. We are really grateful!

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

33 minutes 55 seconds

Rich Pickings

Episode 2 - Who's in the tea leaves today?

This week, Jo and Nina find themselves back in the shed (or is it more of a ‘room’?) debating myrtle and Max Bygraves. There’s a muddle over cat psychiatry and a dubious daphne story, along with the results of the Christmas pudding poll. But, most intriguingly of all, whose face could be seen in the tea leaves?

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

35 minutes 38 seconds

Rich Pickings

Episode 1 - Madeira cake, you fool!

This week, old friends Jo Thompson and Nina Baxter find themselves in the garden shed, their new weekly spot. Find out who wins the heated debate over the merits of cake for breakfast, and discover why a ballet-dancing hoover could be a very good thing indeed. And in response to all the weekend papers telling us what to do in the garden this week, they come up with their anti-to-do list!

Please do rate and subscribe!

Get full access to The Gardening Mind at jothompson.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 years ago

40 minutes 36 seconds