Since I covered his Gardeners World debut, I have been reading as much comment and articles as I can since Toby Buckland took over on Gardeners World.
It is hard to be everything to all men and I am sure Toby would still have his critics even if he made potatoes turn to gold.
Reading the Times online interview this morning I must say that I am impressed that he is willing to stand up for himself and not be herded into a corner by those who wish to influence what television programs advise their viewers to do.
I certainly don't want organic gardening rammed down my throat just because someone else chooses to adopt organic methods.
As I questioned in an earlier post, are organic gardeners hypocrites; It does not mean that anyone who used weed killers or sprays in the glass house cares less about the environment.
This two paragraphs from the Times interview need to be digested; there is so much truth in what TB is saying.
“If you look at newspapers or watch TV, you would imagine that everybody is gardening in an organic way, but that simply isn’t true,” he says. “When I go to the garden centre and stand in the queue, most of the customers beside me are carrying bottles and potions of all sorts of things. They are the majority of gardeners, and the programme needs to speak to them and engage with them.”
I have to say that it got to the stage pre Toby Buckland that gardeners dare not discuss chemicals without the fear of being condemned and now, suddenly there is this new light of honesty being shone over the vegetable patch.
If you do use chemicals, read the label and act sensibly and do exactly what is recommended by the manufacturers.

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