grow, cook, eat, arrange with Sarah Raven & friends

The National Garden Scheme is a national treasure, raising millions for charities and giving access to gorgeous gardens for those who need them most. It’s a joy this week to be joined by former GP and National Garden Scheme CEO Dr Richard Claxton to explore how 3,200 gardens – from stately homes to hospital rooftops and new-build backyards – are transforming health and access to green space across...

We’ve learned from years of unpredictable weather patterns that the climate is demanding more of our plants than ever before, and while some struggle, others quietly thrive throughout it all. In this episode, Sarah is joined by Josie Lewis to explore which plants are quietly thriving through late frosts, heatwaves and torrential rain with a practical, down-to-earth shortlist of resilient perennial...

What Pam Corbin doesn’t know about preserves, isn’t worth knowing. She’s an oracle on all things jam - hence her apt nickname, ‘Pam the Jam’. For the home cook, and for those with a kitchen garden worthy of capturing its fruity goodness, this week’s episode of ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’ with Pam is a perfect entry point to creating your own jams. She and Sarah share the secrets behind turning seas...

There are few flowers more quintessential than the rose, and it’s safe to say that there’s a perfect rose for everyone’s tastes.  This week’s ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’ delves into the world of roses, with someone whose love for a great rose knows no bounds: Josie Lewis. Whether you’re looking for a rose with a particular colour to combine with the beauty of your existing garden, or you’re more pr...

This Christmas might feel a while away, but if there’s one way to prepare right now for a more stunning and sustainable tree, it’s with alliums. Sarah’s love of alliums is well-documented on the podcast, but this week she’s recalling some of the most show-stopping varieties with which to decorate this Christmas, and the joys that they’ll bring as ‘colour baton-carriers’ in spring. In this episode,...

Biennials – plants which flower in their second year – may often be overlooked by us gardeners, but between their value for money, wonderful scent, and versatility they’re among the best plants to sow and grow in any garden. Sarah makes the case for brilliant biennials in this episode of ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’, exploring how she came to appreciate their beauty, and which varieties are best for...

Every garden space deserves a chance to be transformed into a beautiful space which breathes, rather than constricts, and Pollyanna Wilkinson is a master of such designs. Polly joins Sarah this week to share her no‑nonsense methods for transforming everything from boxy new‑build plots to tired, inherited gardens into layered, soulful spaces.  In this episode, discover: How to think like a garden d...

Chelsea is upon us, and among the beauty of all the show gardens lies a very special offering from Arit Anderson and Parkinson’s UK. She’s planting with purpose in a garden which promises to reflect every Parkinson’s journey in a beautifully poignant way, and on ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’, she walks us through the planting ethos and careful design behind one of Main Avenue’s great sights for 2026....

In this episode of ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’, Sarah Raven welcomes renowned garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith to uncover his visionary new garden for Tate Britain and how he’s reimagining it for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.  They explore his bold, foliage-rich planting, ingenious water features, and a remarkable new memorial garden at Badminton that promises to be one of the RHS’s most ambitious s...

Watch the full video episode on YouTube! https://youtu.be/_T97COq6blM Throughout Mary Berry's life, the garden has played a charming role, from her wartime childhood plot to a brand-new garden started in her 80s - it’s an essential ingredient in her life. This week on ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’ Mary kindly joins us to explore a lifetime of gardening, how it’s inspired her new book, and how ga...

Sissinghurst is one of the country’s crowning gems of National Trust gardens, and a place in which Adam was brought up, around the beauty curated by his grandparents. This week on ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’, we’re delving into the centuries of legacy which led to a spot perfect for Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson to create the poetic space we know and adore today, and how their vision is b...

The magic of growing your own food is hard to overstate, and while some lament the labour necessary, it takes far less time and space than many imagine. This week’s ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’ once again features the remarkable Huw Richards, fresh from the release of ‘How to Grow Food’ - his new book which dives into the detail of how anyone can grow a kitchen garden in real spaces, with a planting...

The sunnier months in April present a fresh opportunity for gardeners to sow some of the fastest-germinating seedlings, bringing a productive garden closer than you might think. We return to Josie Lewis this week for an episode all about what she’s sowing in mid-April, how to prick out and pot on seedlings, and the simple tricks they use to keep plants growing hard and healthy at this most promisi...

There’s something uniquely calming about a garden washed in cool pastels – soft tones that feel like frosty mornings and freshly laundered linen.  Moving us onto the 4th and final palette in Sarah’s colour system, we explore the washed palette in this episode of ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’. She takes you through the colour combinations, productive plant families, and tips for crafting a soothing, c...

A comforting garden can feel as soft and familiar as your favourite cashmere jumper, and in this episode of ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’, Sarah shares a palette which achieves exactly this feeling. In the latest of the Colour Guide Mini Series episodes, Sarah shares how to create a mood using the comforting palette, the key plant families and varieties, plus how to sequence them through the seasons,...

For many, the garden should be a peaceful place where its colours invite you in and envelop you in their earthy tones, and that’s the role of Sarah Raven’s velvet palette. In this episode of the Colour Guide Mini Series, Sarah moves us to her next, and perhaps favourite palette of the four. She talks through their calming colours, and the flower families that help keep that tranquility in your gar...

Seeds sown in March are the great givers of colour and fragrance in a cutting garden or container, from spring right through to autumn. This week, Sarah is joined by Josie Lewis to walk through 12 of the most trusted plants to sow now, how to fill your beds, pots and vases, and feed the birds from a single month’s sowing. In this episode, discover: Practical techniques for handling both big and du...

The garden is a welcoming place for all, particularly for newcomers when guided by the gentle eye of Milli Proust, and under the instruction of her calming new book. Milli joins us once again, this time to share the inspiring journey that’s led up to her most approachable book to date, and some of the easy-to-understand frameworks to create an effortlessly beautiful garden. In this episode, discov...

The luminous palette - a rich, stained glass collection of citrus, scarlet and pinky-purples - is the first of Sarah’s colour combinations that we’ll walk through in depth for this episode of the Colour Guide Mini Series. Sarah explains the six key colours, which ones to use together throughout the year, and the flower families which she considers the most prominent and productive as they pass the...

Colour is best when it’s tangible, and if you’re planning a patch in your garden then this episode of the Mini Series is perfect to help you bring your plans to life. In this episode of the Colour Guide Mini Series, Sarah dives into the practical side of using colour as the backbone of your garden design - from using candles to visualise colour combinations, to the ‘bride, bridesmaid, gate crasher...

Each colour palette in the garden creates a unique atmosphere, and you don’t need intricate knowledge of the colour wheel to combine them cohesively in the garden. In this episode of the Colour Guide Mini Series, Sarah talks us through why her colour palette system works to create stunning arrangements which work with each other, rather than against each other, and how to transition between palett...

Welcome to the first in a brand new miniseries of ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’, as Sarah delves into the world of colour, and how to use each colour palette to its absolute maximum potential in the garden. In this week’s first episode, Sarah shares how the colour system used at Perch Hill came to be, the theories behind mixing certain palettes, and the difference between calm and chaos when combinin...

In this episode, Sarah is joined by YouTube phenomenon Huw Richards to talk about his journey from smallholding childhood to seven-acre experimental plot, and the ideas behind his hit book Veg in One Bed.  They’ll also cover exactly what to sow in late winter, and what’ll perform best when sown later – from chillies and aubergines to peas, onions and tomatoes.  In this episode, discover: How Huw R...

From their resistance to deep snow and hard frosts, to long-flowering habits, hellebores are quietly spectacular plants that earn their keep in pots, borders and shady corners. This week we’re diving into one of the true stars of the winter garden, focusing on the new varieties that bring a renewed perspective on one of the winter garden’s most generous providers, and how to keep them looking thei...

March 2026 marks the release of perhaps Sarah’s most personal book to date, drawing from childhood love, family influence, and the evolution of one’s own gardening tastes. In this week’s ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’ Milli Proust joins us to discuss Sarah's new book, ‘A Year of Cut Flowers’, blending the memoir and the method to trace her family’s historic love of flora, and how it drew Sarah in...