THE BEARDED GROWERS

Two school pals met up by chance after nearly 20 years and before they knew it they had their own gardening radio show. KG editor Steve Ott caught up with John (JJ) and Chris (Bish) for a chinwag!

- Steve Ott

You guys have a great rapport. How did you first get together and what gave you the idea for a radio show?

We actually went to school together 25 years ago in the Black Country. We lost touch for 19 years and then randomly reconnected when we saw each other at a 10k race for charity in Cheltenham about five years ago!

We already had connections to the radio station as Bish used to present a sports show a few years back. When we realised that we had a shared love of gardening and allotmenting, we decided to take it one step further and approached nccr.co.uk (North Cotswold Community Radio), asked them to consider us for a slot, and the show was born.

For those who haven’t found you yet, who is the show aimed at? What do you aim to give your listeners?

In a word – everybody! Our aim is to rip down the prehistoric thoughts of gardening and horticulture being an ‘old man hobby’ or something you do when you retire. We want to bring a fresh new feel to a previously outdated hobby and we want to create a fun outlet and fun outlook on horticulture!

As much as we love to watch the well-known gardening TV shows, we often notice that we are watching gardeners in their rather large gardens, creating beautiful displays that the majority of us simply would never have the space to create. We want to be inclusive of all garden sizes, balcony set-ups, and indoor gardens, and show and remind people that you don’t need a huge palatial garden in order to create yourself a happy space, and to make a difference to wildlife and the environment!

Are you both keen allotment gardeners? If so, are you competitive?