Garden Media Awards 2024
I promised that I would, like last year, share some of the results from the recent Garden Media Guild Awards. Apart from anything else this might just give you some ideas for Christmas presents, as well flagging some of the up and coming talent alongside the established stars of the garden media world.
Plus read on for the chance to WIN a book!
The Savoy is the venue for the Garden Media Awards
I’m going to dive straight in because I am sure you are busy and I want to help you tick something off that list! So let’s start with the books this week because I think they may provide some inspiration for Christmas presents! Who doesn’t like to have a book in their stocking, to give joy when it is cold and dark outside!
The Peter Seabrook Practical Book of the Year
If you are keen to encourage the next generation of gardeners then the winner of this award seems perfect. The Little Gardener’s Handbook - A Beginner’s Guide to Gardening is by Michael Holland. The judges said: “..the winner is a book that showed charm and beauty, whilst displaying no compromise on accuracy….The tone was perfect, un-patronising, and ideally pitched to its target audience.” Reviews promise: “Readers will learn about how plants work, how to grow their own vegetables and the importance of protecting the natural world.” I noticed one review from a reader who especially liked the idea of growing a sunflower in a wellie!
Michael has said: “Throughout my life, I have been constantly impressed and inspired by the lessons we learn from the natural world (and our reliance upon it) and have been passing some of these facts on to people from all walks of life in many different ways through my career of nature-based education. About 5 years ago, while teaching at my former workplace (Chelsea Physic Garden in London) I met someone who said she liked the way I taught and thought I should write a book about plants for children.” If you look at his website you will see this winner is not his first book for children.
The other shortlisted books were:
Beekeeping for Gardeners by Richard Rickitt
Project Mushroom by Lorraine Caley & Jodie Bryan
Hello Tiny World by Ben Newell
The Self-Sufficiency Garden by Huw Richards & Sam Cooper
And now that you are browsing in the gardening section of the bookshop and I don’t know about you but it is the first section I head for even though my shelves are already bulging with such books …..I thought I should follow up with:
Gardening Book of the Year
The winner of this award was Jinny Blom for What Makes a Garden. The judges said:
“The winner of this category is a future classic: every page has long-distilled thoughts and wider life experiences which make you stop, think, and look outside. Some of the pages on why we garden are just magnificent. It was this mix of the practical, the philosophical and the inspirational that made this book stand out to the judges in an extremely competitive field.”
You can read the author’s introduction to her book here.
And again to the other books in this category that were shortlisted:
A Short History of Flowers by Advolly Richmond
The Botanic Garden by Ambra Edwards
Drawn to the Garden by Caroline Quentin
I was given A Short History of Flowers as a leaving gift from the Inner Temple team and I can definitely recommend that one. We’ll return to more of the winners, in different categories, next week. There are social media accounts to follow, photographers to discover and experiments on mulch to catch up on!
Our Plant Stories has now finished its second series and in between making a Christmas cake and writing some cards, I am attempting to keep the research on track for series 3 which will start in February.
HOW TO WIN A BOOK!
I’d love to hear if there is an episode that you have enjoyed. Perhaps you have planted a corokia, ( I am loving the one that Mona gave me) purchased a Monkey Puzzle tree, visited a Silent Space in a garden, grown radishes, saved dahlia seeds, walked the Castlefield Viaduct, bought a cacti, chalked a plant name in Latin or learned about the history of allotments.
I will put the names of anyone who leaves a comment on this blog post in a bowler hat, that I happen to have on the shelf behind me, along with the names of the people who have supported the podcast this year by Buying me a Coffee or joining Our Plant Plugs. The name that gets pulled out of the hat will receive a copy of Lally Snow’s book: My Family and Other Seedlings. That could be a present ticked off the list!
I’m off to bake that Christmas cake. Have a lovely weekend.
Sally
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