With 1.3 million Instagram followers, Jamie is doing an incredible job of changing the way we think about horticulture, food and the environment. Here, he tells us what makes him tick.
Where do you call home?
Home is a patch of land in North Yorkshire — part garden, part living experiment in ecological growing. It’s a mix of cultivated spaces, intentional wildness and seasonal flux. The boundaries are soft and shared with wildlife, and the planting is as much for the soil, insects and birds as it is for food. It’s not a perfect garden, but it’s a place of constant learning, connection and change — and that’s what makes it feel like home.
What is your favourite season of the year?
It’s a close decision between spring and autumn. Spring brings the return of life and momentum, and after a long winter there’s something hopeful about watching everything unfurl. But in the end, I’d choose autumn. It’s a season of reflection and resourcefulness — a time for saving seed, building compost and appreciating the full cycle of the growing year. The colours deepen, the air shifts and the garden feels both generous and grounded.
Of the things you grow, what do you most like to eat?
Tomatoes are a favourite — grown in pots, guild beds or up the sides of the polytunnel. I like to eat them fresh, when they’re still warm from the sun. But I also enjoy them cooked down slowly with homegrown herbs and alliums, turned into simple sauces or added to one-pot meals that reflect the mixed harvests of polyculture planting.
Which living gardener do you most admire?
I really admire Charles Dowding. No-dig or no-till gardening is a far more sustainable and regenerative approach to growing bed preparation and maintenance. This method was first introduced to me by Charles, who is one of the most influential proponents of the method and has been for many years. Thankfully, this approach is now gaining popularity among home gardeners and farmers alike for its simplicity and ecological benefits.
Where, to you, is the most beautiful place on earth?
For me, beauty lies in biodiverse places that feel full of life and movement – whether that’s a wild meadow in midsummer, a thriving hedgerow or a forest floor in autumn. I’m drawn to spaces where nature is allowed to express itself freely. There’s a richness and honesty to these environments that I find both calming and inspiring.
What is your most prized possession?
My seed tin. It’s a practical object, but it holds years of care, observation and exchange. There are seeds in there that came from my own garden, from fellow growers, from plants saved for flavour, resilience or just because they were beautiful. Each packet tells a story, and together they represent both memory and future — a quiet kind of continuity.
Nettles & Petals
Buy Nettles & Petals here.
