How can farming work with nature?

(00:00) Intro with wildlife guide Tom Forward – soil, the last frontier and a whistlestop guide to the five principles of regenerative farming.

(05:31) What is conservation grazing? - with Rich Allum and Tristram Stuart

(16:45) A tour round Elizabeth Buchanan’s organic farm

(27:51) Trip to Groundswell, the Regenerative Agriculture Festival with:

· John Cherry, co-founder of Groundswell

· Henry Dimbleby, author of ‘National Food Strategy'

· Martin Lines, CEO of Nature Friendly Farming Network and others…

(41:41)  Peter Brown explains biodynamic farming – which celebrates its 100th year.

(52:01) Closing thoughts with Tom Forward

Keen listeners with headphones: spot the cuckoo which we didn't notice in the background of one of the interviews.

This podcast takes the Ashdown Forest as a springboard for conversations about wildlife.

Please subscribe and leave a review.

You can support the production of the Ashdown Forest podcast by donating here: https://ashdownforest.org/get-involved/ Please specify ‘podcast’ where it says ‘Tell us more about your gift’. Thank you!

Podcast webpage

‘So professional and well-constructed.' Vanessa Williams, Director BBC Countryfile

'This podcast is a total delight and an immersion in nature itself.' Isabella Tree, rewilding pioneer

Links:

Groundswell, the Regenerative Agriculture Festival: www.groundswellag.com

Nature Friendly Farming Network: www.nffn.org.uk

Regenerative farming documentary: www.sixinchesofsoil.org

We are hugely grateful to the Halleria Trust for funding this episode and to The Ashdown Forest Foundation (TAFF) for supporting our fundraising.

Link to our social platforms

Producer: Eka Morgan

Guitar: Jared Thode

Artwork: Carry Akroyd

Technical support: David Kitto

If you have suggestions for future subjects or if you can sponsor future episodes, please get in touch: ashdownpodcast@gmail.com.

• How can we connect children with nature more?
• Are children still excited about the outdoors? Hear from 9-17 year olds.
• ‘Slimed, scratched, bitten and stung’? Is this the way to ignite curiosity? Hear from outdoor educators Lisa Stevens and Paula Da Luz.
• The magic of the humble stick…with Rich Skrein, Forest School specialist.
• Teenagers on a dusk walk… discovering biofluorescence.

Link to our social platforms

This podcast takes the Ashdown Forest as a springboard for conversations about wildlife.

Please subscribe and leave a review.

You can support the production of the Ashdown Forest podcast by donating here: https://ashdownforest.org/get-involved/ Please specify ‘podcast’ where it says ‘Tell us more about your gift’. Thank you!

With thanks to Dara McAnulty for permission to read from his ‘Diary of a Young Naturalist’.

Natural History GCSE

Ashdown Forest Youth Volunteer Group (13-17 years) is every 3rd Sunday of the month: Find out more and reserve a free place

For Rich Skrein see: richardskrein.com. Rich works with the Garden Classroom, the inner-city nature connection charity: www.thegardenclassroom.org.uk

Background reading:

‘Learning with Nature’ by Marina Robb, Victoria Mew and Anna Richardson.

‘The Nature Seed, How to Raise Adventurous and Nurturing Kids’, by Lucy Jones and Kenneth Greenway.

‘So professional and well-constructed.' Vanessa Williams, Director BBC Countryfile

'This podcast is a total delight and an immersion in nature itself.' Isabella Tree, rewilding pioneer

We are hugely grateful to the Titcomb Foundation and the Friends of Ashdown Forest for their generous funding towards this episode of the podcast.

We also appreciate all the support that The Ashdown Forest Foundation (TAFF) gives us to keep this podcast going.

Producer: Eka Morgan

Guitar: Jared Thode

Artwork: Carry Akroyd

Technical support: David Kitto

If you have suggestions for future subjects or if you are in a position to sponsor future episodes, please get in touch: ashdownpodcast@gmail.com.

This podcast takes the Ashdown Forest as a springboard for conversations about wildlife.

Link to our social platforms

Please subscribe and leave a review.

You can support the production of the Ashdown Forest podcast by donating here: https://ashdownforest.org/get-involved/ Please specify ‘podcast’ where it says ‘Tell us more about your gift’. Thank you!

If you have suggestions for future subjects or if you are in a position to sponsor future episodes, please get in touch: ashdownpodcast@gmail.com.

Podcast webpage

'An invaluable source of information. I actually thought I was listening to a Radio 4 broadcast, it was so professional and well constructed.'

Vanessa Williams, Director BBC Countryfile

'This podcast is a total delight and an immersion in nature itself.'

Isabella Tree, rewilding pioneer

'Magical, life-enhancing and full of pearls of wisdom.'

Christina Coleman, Environmental Advisor to the UK Government

'So educational, quirky and fun.'

Khorshied Nusratty, Director of Media Relations at Gallup, USA

• What was the real Christopher Robin like? Ann Thwaite, biographer of Winnie-the-Pooh author A. A. Milne, tells us.

• Dawn: how to manage the ever-increasing deer population.

• Dusk: youth rangers join our search for rutting deer.

Link to our social platforms

This podcast takes the Ashdown Forest as a springboard for conversations about wildlife.

Please subscribe and leave a review.

You can support the production of the Ashdown Forest podcast by donating here: https://ashdownforest.org/get-involved/ Please specify ‘podcast’ where it says ‘Tell us more about your gift’. Thank you!

If you have suggestions for future subjects or if you are in a position to sponsor future episodes, please get in touch: ashdownpodcast@gmail.com.

Podcast webpage

'So professional and well constructed.' Vanessa Williams, Director BBC Countryfile

'This podcast is a total delight and an immersion in nature itself.' Isabella Tree, rewilding pioneer

We are hugely grateful to a wildlife enthusiast for generous funding towards this episode of the podcast.

Producer: Eka Morgan

Guitar: Jared Thode

Artwork: Carry Akroyd

Technical support: David Kitto

· Dawn: bird ringing explained

· Cats: how to reduce their impact on wildlife

· Curlews, lynx, wildcats & the Natural History GCSE with author and campaigner Mary Colwell

· Dusk: bat spotting on the Forest.

Link to our social platforms

This podcast takes the Ashdown Forest as a springboard for conversations about wildlife.

Please subscribe and leave a review.

You can support the production of the Ashdown Forest podcast by donating here: https://ashdownforest.org/get-involved/ Please specify ‘podcast’ where it says ‘Tell us more about your gift’. Thank you!

If you have suggestions for future subjects or if you are in a position to sponsor future episodes, please get in touch: ashdownpodcast@gmail.com.

Podcast webpage

'So professional and well constructed.' Vanessa Williams, Director BBC Countryfile

'This podcast is a total delight and an immersion in nature itself.' Isabella Tree, rewilding pioneer

We are hugely grateful to a wildlife enthusiast for generous funding towards this episode of the podcast.

Producer: Eka Morgan

Guitar: Jared Thode

Artwork: Carry Akroyd

Technical support: David Kitto

Music extract: The Arc by David Gray from Simmerdim: Curlew Sounds.

· ‘Conservation Hero’ Dave Goulson (Professor of Biology at the University of Sussex) sees a world in a cowpat…

· Musician Sam Lee rhapsodises about Nightingales.

Link to our social platforms

This podcast takes the Ashdown Forest as a springboard for conversations about wildlife.

Please subscribe and leave a review.

You can support the production of the Ashdown Forest podcast by donating here: https://ashdownforest.org/get-involved/ Please specify ‘podcast’ where it says ‘Tell us more about your gift’. Thank you!

If you have suggestions for future subjects or if you are in a position to sponsor future episodes, please get in touch: ashdownpodcast@gmail.com.

Podcast webpage

'So professional and well constructed.' Vanessa Williams, Director BBC Countryfile

'This podcast is a total delight and an immersion in nature itself.' Isabella Tree, rewilding pioneer

We have been fortunate to receive a generous contribution from a local individual towards this episode of the podcast.

Producer: Eka Morgan

Guitar: Jared Thode

Artwork: Carry Akroyd

Technical support: David Kitto

Hoverfly sound effect: Simon Elliott

Grasshopper sound: Baudewijn Odé

Music extracts:

The Garden of England (Seeds of Love) from Sam Lee’s ‘Old Wow’ album.

Singing with Nightingales collaborators: Sam Lee on Shruti Box followed by Anna Mudeka on vocals and Mbira.

www.singingwithnightingales.co.uk

· Clare Balding from BBC Radio 4’s Ramblings brings her ‘Tigger’ energy to the Forest…

· Rewilding trailblazer Isabella Tree tells Eka about her new ‘Book of Wilding’.

And by the way, we do know that 2 x 85 is 170, not 160…but it was dark and we were being eaten by midges. However, what we are referring to is very exciting.

Link to our social platforms

This podcast takes the Ashdown Forest as a springboard for conversations about wildlife.

Please subscribe and leave a review.

You can support the production of the Ashdown Forest podcast by donating here: https://ashdownforest.org/get-involved/ Please specify ‘podcast’ where it says ‘Tell us more about your gift’. Thank you!

Podcast webpage

'So professional and well constructed.' Vanessa Williams, Director BBC Countryfile

'This podcast is a total delight and an immersion in nature itself.' Isabella Tree, rewilding pioneer

We have been fortunate to receive a generous contribution from a local individual towards this episode of the podcast.

Producer: Eka Morgan

Guitar: Jared Thode

Artwork: Carry Akroyd

Technical support: David Kitto

If you have suggestions for future subjects or if you are in a position to sponsor future episodes, please get in touch: ashdownpodcast@gmail.com.

James was the Chief Executive of the Conservators of Ashdown Forest from January 2021 to May 2023.

Why is Ashdown Forest special?

This soundscape is a compilation of highlights of interviews with people who know and love the Forest, blended with wildlife sounds. It is a celebration of this rare space, so close to the biggest city in Europe.

Produced by Eka Morgan in 2017.

Link to our social platforms

Please subscribe and leave a review.

You can support the production of the Ashdown Forest podcast by donating here: https://ashdownforest.org/get-involved/ Please specify ‘podcast’ where it says ‘Tell us more about your gift’. Thank you!

Podcast webpage

'A stunning example of how audio can be so much more powerful than video.’ Anna Buckley, London, Producer, BBC Radio 4’s Life Scientific

‘Wonderful! A real delight to listen to.’ Cheryl Tipp, Curator, Wildlife and Environmental Sounds, British Library

With thanks to the following interviewees, who you hear from in this order:

Corin Stuart

Peter Kirby

Diana Hurrell

Mike Parcell

Rich Allum

Sue Hollingsworth

David Brett – reading from William Cobbett and later Winnie the Pooh

Martin Wilkinson

Gregers Brinch

Tom Forward

Michael Blencowe

David Streeter

Fred Marshall

Henry Osborne

Steve Alton

Mossy Marshall

Podcast webpage

Producer: Eka Morgan

Artwork: Carry Akroyd

If you have suggestions for future subjects or if you are in a position to sponsor future episodes, please get in touch: ashdownpodcast@gmail.com.

· Tony Juniper, dedicated wildlife campaigner and Chair of Natural England...

· Kari Dunbar – how to improve your dogs impact on wildlife…

· Dusk – the delight of children, frogs, toads and an intimate encounter with a woodcock.

This podcast takes the Ashdown Forest as a springboard for conversations about wildlife.

Link to our social platforms

Please subscribe and leave a review.

You can support the production of the Ashdown Forest podcast by donating here: https://ashdownforest.org/get-involved/ Please specify ‘podcast’ where it says ‘Tell us more about your gift’. Thank you!

Podcast webpage

Mystery sounds revealed – where you can also see a photo of the frog mating with a toad.

'So professional and well constructed.' Vanessa Williams, Director BBC Countryfile

'This podcast is a total delight and an immersion in nature itself.' Isabella Tree, rewilding pioneer

Producer: Eka Morgan

Guitar: Jared Thode

Artwork: Carry Akroyd

Technical support: David Kitto

If you have suggestions for future subjects or if you are in a position to sponsor future episodes, please get in touch: ashdownpodcast@gmail.com.

· James Adler, Chief Executive of the Conservators of Ashdown Forest

· Green MP Caroline Lucas on wildlife corridors

· Dusk walk… with owls galore.

Link to our social platforms

This podcast takes the Ashdown Forest as a springboard for conversations about wildlife.

Please subscribe and leave a review.

You can support the production of the Ashdown Forest podcast by donating here: https://ashdownforest.org/get-involved/ Please specify ‘podcast’ where it says ‘Tell us more about your gift’. Thank you!

Podcast webpage

Mystery sounds revealed

'So professional and well constructed.' Vanessa Williams, Director BBC Countryfile

'This podcast is a total delight and an immersion in nature itself.' Isabella Tree, rewilding pioneer

Producer: Eka Morgan

Guitar: Jared Thode

Artwork: Carry Akroyd

Technical support: Martha Littlehailes

If you have suggestions for future subjects or if you are in a position to sponsor future episodes, please get in touch: ashdownpodcast@gmail.com.