Why Women Grow

Mary Keen has worked in, documented and designed gardens all over the world for decades. But it’s the garden she’s made at home, during her ninth decade, that she writes most affectionately about. 
In her seventh book, Diary of a Keen Gardener, she reflects on both a life shaped by plants and her more recent years, when she has weathered grief, illness and aging. It’s an honest love letter to what makes a garden. And it’s here that we meet Mary, on a breezy spring day, to take a studied tour around her Gloucestershire garden.
Diary of a Keen Gardener is available in hardback now, and you can follow Mary’s exploits on instagram: @keenkeengardener.
This podcast is inspired by my book, Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival, which is available in all good bookshops. We’ve also been photographing our guests and their gardens and you can see the beautiful images captured by India Hobson on my website and instagram account @⁠⁠alicevincentwrites⁠⁠. Thank you to our friends at ⁠⁠⁠Niwaki⁠⁠⁠. You can get 10% off your order with the code WHYWOMENGROW.
If you’re new to the Why Women Grow podcast, do check out our previous episodes, including guests such as Sarah Raven and Ula Maria. And if you’ve enjoyed this episode, it would mean so much if you could rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you’re listening in on, or share it with someone you think may enjoy it.
This episode was produced by Holly Fisher. The theme music is by Maria Chiara Argiro.

When singer-songwriter Yazmin Lacey found herself adrift after the release of her first album, Voice Notes, she discovered an unlikely muse in the earth. And she decided to study for her RHS Level 2 qualification in horticulture at the Walworth Garden in London. What started as an unlikely affinity bloomed into a new way of living and creativity  - and in turn inspired others to stop and listen.
Teal Dreams, her second album, is a testament to growth - literal and personal. And so we meet Yazmin at the place where she uncovered gardening.
We are so grateful to Yazmin Lacey and the team at the beautiful Walworth Garden. Teal Dreams is out now and makes for a gorgeous summer listen. You can also find Yazmin on Instagram @yazminlacey. 
This podcast is inspired by my book, ⁠⁠Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival⁠⁠, which is available in all good bookshops. We’ve also been photographing our guests and their gardens and you can see the beautiful images captured by India Hobson ⁠⁠on my website⁠⁠ and instagram account @⁠⁠⁠⁠alicevincentwrites⁠⁠⁠⁠. Thank you to our friends at ⁠⁠Niwaki⁠⁠. You can get 10% off your order with the code WHYWOMENGROW.
We’ll be back later in the year with more episodes. 
If you’re new to the Why Women Grow podcast, do check out our previous episodes, including guests such as Michelle Ogundehin and Daisy Johnson. And if you’ve enjoyed this episode, it would mean so much if you could rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you’re listening in on, or share it with someone you think may enjoy it.
This episode was produced by Holly Fisher. The theme music is by Maria Chiara Argiro.

I’ve long been fascinated by roots - and the crossover between our families and the land that we are raised on. And it seems I’m not alone: Maggie O’Farrell was drawn to the Wild Atlantic Way after hearing stories about her heritage. Years later, and her latest novel, LAND, is inspired by her own family history and the potent mythology of the Irish landscape. 
Maggie O’Farrell has sold more than four million novels internationally over a 25-year-long career, winning The Costa Novel Award and the Women’s Prize along the way. Earlier this year she earned an Oscar nomination for the screenplay of her novel Hamnet, which is also preoccupied with women, growing and the powers of the earth. 
And it’s in the midst of this career-defining year that we meet Maggie, on the morning of her  book launch, in between sunshine and showers in a woodland, to talk about writing, womanhood and what keeps luring her back to the soil. 
Thank you to Maggie O’Farrell. Land is out now, and I heartily recommend you read it.
This podcast is inspired by my book, ⁠⁠Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival⁠⁠, which is available in all good bookshops. We’ve also been photographing our guests and their gardens and you can see the beautiful images captured by India Hobson ⁠⁠on my website⁠⁠ and instagram account @⁠⁠⁠⁠alicevincentwrites⁠⁠⁠⁠. Thank you to our friends at ⁠⁠Niwaki⁠⁠. You can get 10% off your order with the code WHYWOMENGROW.
If you’re new to the Why Women Grow podcast, do check out our previous episodes, including guests such as Michelle Ogundehin and Daisy Johnson. And if you’ve enjoyed this episode, it would mean so much if you could rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you’re listening in on, or share it with someone you think may enjoy it.
This episode was produced by Holly Fisher. The theme music is by Maria Chiara Argiro.

The sun is high, the ground is warm, and we’re inviting you to take a moment to pause this summer with the Why Women Grow podcast. This season, we’re speaking to women who have boldly ventured beyond what’s expected of them - and made incredible things happen in the process. From writing to floristry, soul music to garden design, our guests have trodden new paths to do things the way they want.
Join me, Alice Vincent, for all-new episodes of the Why Women Grow podcast, with Maggie O’Farrell, Yazmin Lacey, Mary Keen and Cynthia Fan, launching on 23 June. Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

For many around the world right now, the green spaces that hold so many memories are caught in conflict. 
This is the case for the activist, writer and chef Olia Hercules, who has seen the garden her mother made occupied by Russian soldiers during the invasion of Ukraine. 
Now based in East London, Olia has built a garden of her own that she feels has an ancestral connection to the one she knew as a child. Together we drink tea brewed from the plants that Olia has grown here and talk about how, after war has affected every generation in your family, the earth can point to a kind of future.
Olia's memoir Strong Roots is out in paperback now. Olia is also on Instagram @oliahercules. 
This podcast is inspired by my book, ⁠Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival⁠, which is available in all good bookshops. We’ve also been photographing our guests and their gardens and you can see the beautiful images captured by India Hobson ⁠on my website⁠ and instagram account @⁠⁠⁠alicevincentwrites⁠⁠⁠. Thank you to our friends at ⁠Niwaki⁠. You can get 10% off your order with the code WHYWOMENGROW.
We’ll be back later in the year with more episodes. 
If you’re new to the Why Women Grow podcast, do check out our previous episodes, including guests such as Michelle Ogundehin and Daisy Johnson. And if you’ve enjoyed this episode, it would mean so much if you could rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you’re listening in on, or share it with someone you think may enjoy it.
This episode was produced by Holly Fisher. The theme music is by Maria Chiara Argiro.