Editor Kim Stoddart shares some highlights from her resilient gardening adventuring over the years
This action-packed anniversary issue has been so exciting to pull together, with so many features to cram in, that I’ve squeezed my own pages down to one to accommodate everything else.
As there’s nothing like a big anniversary to make one reminisce and reflect upon experiences and years gone by, I thought I’d take the opportunity and this page to share with you a little bit more about me and my personal take on some of my experiences and significant milestones that have helped inform the entrepreneurial editorial approach I take today.
Making a career out of my love for gardening
I don’t do things by halves, so when I decided to sell my PR companies I became set on doing so to a charity, which happened to be during a recession. A year’s worth of due diligence later and the deal was done, thanks to a timely introduction from Nigel Kershaw at Big Issue Invest. I upped sticks with my family 14 years ago, moving from Brighton to the West of Wales. I’d long wanted to become more resilient and grow most of my own food and years of enthusiastically thumbing through books such as John Seymour’s New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency and watching shows such as River Cottage made me determined to give it a go.
Autism awakening
“Having Arthur, a son with autism, made me realise the potential of gardening to help empower those with ASD and build skills and confidence.”
Through my fantastic younger son I’ve gone on to write for many national publications, including the prestigious weekly medical journal The Lancet, about the benefits of gardening for autism and mental health. I’ve run and set up EU-funded courses with young neurodiverse adults and trained trainers and project leaders through the National Botanic Gardens of Wales.
Since the pandemic I’ve found that a lot of these connections and emotional regulation tools are useful for everyday talks and courses and over the years it has been a pleasure to work with many people from a range of backgrounds, helping to encourage them to garden and grow some of their own food.
Gardening for free for the Guardian
I was keen to see if it was possible to garden at no-cost, and channel some of the thrifty peasant practices of yore such as ‘make, mend and do’ and bartering my way to a healthy garden. It was a challenge and a half, but an incredibly rewarding experience that informed the gardening approach I take today. It led to many opportunities including editing The Organic Way magazine for the leading horticultural charity Garden Organic, writing books and running further projects to help people build resilience through natural methods of gardening.
Coming home
‘If there is a will, there is a way’ has long been one of my main mottos in life, so when I turned 50 last year and was approached by Kelsey to re-launch this fine magazine in record-breaking time, I jumped at the opportunity with gusto. I love a challenge and my entrepreneurial skills have come into play as much as my long-standing editing skills. I ended up thinking up article and contributor ideas in my sleep for the first few months as there wasn’t otherwise enough time in the day!
I feel privileged to be here and I feel passionately about the rich opportunities for AG in the future. In lots of ways I feel like all my past experiences have led me here, and it does very much feel like coming home.
Find more tips, advice and articles like this at the Amateur Gardening website. Subscribe to Amateur Gardening magazine now.
