Meeting Chris Beardshaw

When I glanced at Chris Beardshaw's musical choices for the week, I knew we were in for some interesting interviews. On the first day we had Vaughan Williams' Tallis Fantasia - music that's deeply rooted in tradition, just like Chris's own work in landscape and horticulture. The Rachmaninov Vespers, too, have a timeless quality. I bore this in mind when hunting for my Personal Shopper choice for the Friday programme: can't tell you what I chose, but the details will be up on the EC homepage from Friday (the words soulful, deep, and atmospheric were in my mind as I made my selection!) Chris impressed me with the amount of knowledge at his fingertips. I brought my copy of his book, 100 plants that nearly changed the world, into the studio, and he elaborated enthusiastically on many of the entries long after we stopped recording. His story about why witches are believed to gad about on broomsticks held us (me, producer Dominic, and studio manager James) enthralled...it's to do with hallucinogenic herbs bound together with goose fat and smeared onto the broomstick...sending the owner of the broom on a weird trip where they are convinced they've been flying. I highly recommend the book, in fact I was almost in a position to offer free copies, as the book warehouse sent me a hundred of them by mistake. I returned them and kept just one, which Chris kindly signed with the message "Happy gardening!" So that's my motto this week - I'm even being more tolerant towards Basil's infernal digging and frog-catching habits. Hope you enjoy our interviews...and maybe a bit of outdoor listening too, if you can take your radio into the garden. As Chris reveals in our Friday interview, your plants will thank you for it!