Bob Flowerdew Brings Organic Wisdom and Wit to The Edge in Much Wenlock
The Edge Arts Centre audience was thoroughly entertained on Friday night as Much Wenlock welcomed Bob Flowerdew, the instantly recognisable voice from BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time.
Over two lively sessions, Bob Flowerdew delivered his “AutobyBOBraphy” — an eccentric blend of autobiography, horticultural know-how, poetry, and song. Wearing a tongue-in-cheek red “MEGA” cap (Make Everyone Garden Again), he charted his journey from strawberry-picking in his youth to becoming one of Britain’s best-loved organic gardening champions at The Edge in Much Wenlock. The atmosphere was warm and convivial, with Flowerdew’s idiosyncratic humour and ready wit carrying the audience along as easily as his anecdotes.
What could have been a niche lecture on gardening was instead a life-affirming performance, full of practical tips, surprising revelations, and philosophical asides. Flowerdew railed against the overcomplications of gardening manuals, urging instead that we approach the soil with joy rather than duty — “not chores but pleasures.” He advocated autumn-sown potatoes (“plant them this weekend”), spoke of nettles as compost gold, and revealed his trick of dispatching weeds in driveways with boiling water from the kettle. Yet his talk ranged far beyond advice: there were digressions on French vineyards, bilingual puns, and the strange truth that “food is always better at funerals than weddings.” Part confessional, part masterclass, and part stand-up routine, the evening was as much about Flowerdew’s philosophy of life as it was about tending plants.
The evening closed in fittingly eccentric style, with Flowerdew sharing poetry he has been writing since his teens — including the poem that saw him booed off the stage at Glastonbury in 1977 — and regaling the room with his self-penned Gardening National Anthem. By the end, the audience left not only with heads full of practical wisdom (always sharpen your hoe; feathers make excellent slow-release fertiliser) but also with a renewed sense of the joy of gardening itself. As Flowerdew reminded us, “the best time to do everything was last week” — but Friday night at The Edge felt like precisely the right moment to celebrate the art of growing, living, and laughing.
Next weekend The Edge Arts Centre hosts tennis star Annabel Croft (Friday 3rd) and folk artists Salt House (Saturday 4th). Buy your tickets from our box office at Penny-Farthing, 5 The Square, Much Wenlock (no fees, cash only), or search ‘Much Wenlock’ at Ticketsource .co .uk
