What Nature taught Poppy Okotcha about life and death

After walking runways for a living, Poppy Okotcha found herself empty, unwell, and searching for something the fashion industry could never give her. She found it in soil. The regenerative grower, author, and new mother has become one of the UK's most compelling voices in ecological gardening, but her path to homegrown living was anything but straight. From a buddleia bush crawling with butterflies in her mum's modest London garden to a brief stint growing on a canal boat to an encounter with a soil-covered British farmer in an Indian intentional community that changed everything... Now, Poppy runs a free community food garden called Grow Share in Devon, a space where people contribute time instead of money, grow their own produce, and donate the surplus to families in need. In this episode of Connect to Nature with Amy Chapman and Katrina Ridley, she explains why gardening is a radical act, how composting taught her to process grief, and the one decadent crop she says everyone should start with. 🌍 Connect to Nature Season Two is sponsored by the Fairtrade Foundation If you care about nature, climate change and where your food comes from, Fairtrade's *Do It Fair* campaign is calling for a future that's fair on the planet. You can help by choosing Fairtrade products and adding your voice to Fairtrade's petition calling for stronger laws to protect people and the planet. Find out more and sign the *Fair on the Planet* petition at https://action.fairtrade.org.uk/page/186243/petition/1?ea.tracking.id=fair-on-the-planet-connect-to-... Together, we can help build a future that's fair to people and fair to the planet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices