Audience Questions for upcoming Going to Seed Podcast episode

General Discussions
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Hello Shining Happy People

I am starting a new feature for the Going to Seed podcasts- gathering questions from the audience for upcoming guests.

My next scheduled interview is for Richard Paul Watson from New Zealand. A quick summary of his work is attached below, so go for it and let me know if you have questions to incorporate into the episode.

Firstly my situation - I work with a 800sqm garden that is mostly non dig. A loam soil that has no clay below, only river shingle. Climate here would be considered as unpredictable but not extreme, root crops can be left in the ground during winter. I like to base my gardening on hand tools only. I only make cold compost that is animal manure free.

https://www.sentinelsgroup.co.nz/ This is our website which is a CoOp vender type system

Three generation into a NZ sourced heirloom and F1 super sweet corn cultivar mix.

Into my second round of a carrot mix, all orange colourd, a mix of old cultivars and F1, sown spring 2023 (

First year mix of both older cultivar and F1 Cabbages, (7 cultivars) .

First year mix of summer radish mass sowing (6 types) again F1 and older types, I sowed a mass block of seedlings in summer to expose the early bolters which by winter I expect 99% will be pulled

Did a red beetroot only mix 6 years ago, will be doing another mix cross adding some F1’s some time soon by adding 10 more to a sowing come September

Did a Maxima squash grex mix 15 years ago, slection process on going since.

Leek mix carried out around 10 years ago from Canadian and NZ cultivars.

Other projects are working with true seed from garlic, potatoes and camotes/sweet potato.

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Sounds like an interesting interview. Exciting! Primarily no-dig, That’s really wonderful!

Ruth Stout nailed it…Rhizomous Grass and Field Bind are most definitely the bane of the no till gardener. Truth!

Any insight/advice on how to manage invasive grasses and persistent weeds that threaten to overtake vegetation?

I appreciate and enjoy the podcasts! Thanks for the opportunity to ask a question.

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That right there is MY FAVORITE FEATURE! YESSSSS THANK YOU.

My Questions

  1. How does he garden with just Hand tools? Isn’t it faster using things like Lawn Mowers & Chainsaws when the job requires it? Or is just more fun to work with your hands?

  2. Why does he call Muskmelons Rockmelons? What do these melons have to do with rocks?

  3. Is it easy to grow tropical Plants in New Zealand so long as you provide winter protection? He said he could over winter many vegtables. I’ve heard people push the zones of Pineapples just by planting them under trees.

  4. Has he found Zespri Red Kiwi’s in grocery stores? If they sell them there, take the seeds & grow them because I Would love to see a Kiwi Landrace of Red, Yellow & Green all mixed in to make fruit so sweet it taste like Candy. Then Incorporate all the other Kiwi Species like Hardy Kiwi into the landrace.

  5. Has he tried incorporating Sugar beets into the Red beet group? It should make the red beets even sweeter right?

  6. How would Summer Radishes work? Would Incorporating Brassica nigra genetics for heat tolerance into radish do the trick? Also what about Landracing for raddish greens instead of the root?

  7. Leeks & Garlic Belong to the same Subgenus and Theoretically can Hybridize, has he tried this? Crow Garlic (Allium vineale) is also in this same subgenus and could cross too!

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That is a great set of questions. I plan to send all of them to the guest before the episode and let them pick out the ones they want to respond to (since there would probably be too many to talk about all of them).

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I love how you open up the podcast to the community Shane, wish i had time to dive into it and be of help.

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Very interesting indeed. My overall question is about what his “old” grexes (beetroot, maxima, leek) have gone through and what he did in relation to them? So to say the choices he made, his surprises, If he feels like his breeding work has been succesful so far, or not, and why. What he would change in his prior breeding work.

Also, what part of his gardening practises he would love to teach the young generations about ? Does he feels that is soil practises are his signature, or more his breeding work? What is his first motivation?

Also: is he seen as a “strange person doing strange things in his garden” or the exact opposite, his local community understanding well what he is doing and its usefulness? Are NZ 100% stuck with heirlooms, or equivalent conservative mindset as regard to seeds? Is there a growing interest in his way of doing things?

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