Luckily I had bought a scarf with me, as the bench with this amazing view is still a little damp as I settle down, to sit on the scarf, with my laptop.   My friend has encouraged me to try new working spaces.  She’s a photographer so light is key which is how I find myself on this bench at 8am, as she heads off into the distance with her camera.

I have set myself the task of working out whether I can document my podcasting journey, by writing a weekly blog.  I am hoping that by sharing the exciting bits and the more challenging bits, I can begin to build a community of other gardeners or plant lovers who might want to listen to the end product next April: Our Plant Stories.   This way I also figure we might start with more than 3 listeners.

This podcast has had a few titles along the way, including Every Plant Tells Someone’s Story and Every Plant has a Story, Plant People, Plant Lists.  I’ve settled on Our Plant Stories because I hope that along the way we will build a diverse community of listeners who will share their stories, so it will truly be ‘our’ plant stories.

For 2 and half hours I sit on the bench.  People come and go.  A couple who have come to see if they can spot Shore Larks, the man in the car park has told them where to go.   I google the larks and discover they are very rare visitors to Britain.    A lady sits on the other bench with her dog George who’s deaf, waiting for her husband and daughter, who not wearing wellies, have had to go the long way round.  The birdwatchers return, breathless (their car parking is about to run out) and so happy to show me their photographs – they found a group of six Shore Larks.  There is no question this is a more interesting place to work than at the kitchen table, though perhaps only possible because it is such a mild October day.

My friend returns and we head for coffee.   Hilary spots someone she used to work with, neither of them local to this place.   We all talk about what we are doing and suddenly I’m hearing the most amazing plant story, it involves a great great uncle who was a gardener and an English garden abroad; a story that the owner has wanted to unpick and unravel for a long time.  Watch this space.

Is there a lesson in this?  Well only you can judge whether the style of blog posts I settled upon whilst sitting on that bench will encourage you to join Our Plant Stories journey.  But my friend is right, it’s good to try new working spaces.

I’d love you to join me on this journey. As I prepare to launch the podcast, I’ll share the behind the scenes story of getting it up and running. All the content is free and if you like it do share this blog with a friend so we can build our plant story community ahead of the launch!

This is another of the earliest recordings I made, sat at my kitchen table with a cup of tea and my lovely neighbour Judy.

Some of you may have caught the beginning of the word Ribena at the end of that recording, sometimes you just switch off the record button a moment too soon because there is more to this blackcurrant story.