Meet Sam from ME13 Market Garden

I’m catching up with inspiring people whose lives are filled with plants, flowers and green fingers. From gardeners & growers to florists, herbalists, natural dyers & houseplant specialists. I’m talking to those kindred spirits who’ve made plants a part of their everyday rhythm. I ask about their stories, the things we can all learn from plants and the small rituals that keep them grounded. 

For the second edition of My Life in Plants I feel very privileged to feature Sam, the talented regenerative grower & owner of ME13 Market Garden. Based in Selling, Sam's market garden is truly inspirational, on an acre plot with no dig beds & a polytunnel he grows a huge variety of crops which he harvests & sells to the local community at Faversham market. His partner Anna (pictured) grows beautiful cut flowers throughout the year which are also available at the market. Regenerative growing requires knowledge & a real sensitivity to the environment that means working with not against the soil & seasons.

Tell us a little about yourself - who you are, what you do, and how plants became part of your life…

My name is Sam and I'm a market gardener, working on an acre market garden growing produce using regenerative methods with no sprays or chemicals (currently awaiting our organic certification!) I've always been interested in both the natural world and cooking food, ever since I was a child, so when coming to the point in my life where we start to think about what we want to do for work/as a career, my passion for the natural world alongside my love for food started to lead me down the path of horticulture, specifically the growing of vegetables! A diploma in production horticulture and a subsequent apprenticeship then put me on the path to a life working with plants!

What’s one thing plants have taught you that you try to carry into everyday life?

Plants can teach us so many lessons to carry over into everyday life and the main lesson I feel I have learnt is the fact that everything constantly changes. This lesson helps me stay balanced when life throws us hardships and when we feel like we are stuck and hopeless. I can use this knowledge to tell myself that whatever is occurring internally and/or externally will always change.

Do you have an everyday plant care or self-care ritual that you’d like to share?

An everyday plant care and self care ritual I practice is to getting to the market garden as early as possible, making a coffee and having a slow walk around the crops to check on them whilst the calmness of the early morning makes me feel like there's no need to rush! I consciously focus on the positives in the garden at this time, otherwise it's hard not to focus on what needs to be done/what isn't growing well!

If you could save just one plant in an ark for the future, what would it be and why?

If I could save one plant in an arc it would have to be any member of the climbing bean family! Easy to grow, visually impactful, flowers for bees, can be eaten fresh in the summer or dried and stored for winter eating and easy to save seed from so we would always have beans! 

Can you share a recent moment that reminded you why you love what you do?

I always make the effort (when the weathers nice) to spend at least one evening with my family down at the market garden and harvest and cook a dinner just for us. This summer was the first harvest of our padron pepper, so cooking them up and sitting in the sun with my family makes me realise how fortunate, privileged and lucky I am to work with plants, that makes me love what I do!

Any advice for someone just beginning their own life in plants? 

And for anyone who is beginning to work with plants (specifically growing vegetables) I would always advise patience. As the years progress and the soil becomes more fertile and your knowledge and skill increases you will see stronger and healthier plants and bigger harvests year after year. And if a certain crop doesn't work out one year there is always the next!

"Plants can teach us so many lessons to carry over into everyday life and the main lesson I feel I have learnt is the fact that everything constantly changes. This lesson helps me stay balanced when life throws us hardships"

You can buy Sam's produce at Faversham market every Friday and Saturday till the end of the year, with a short break then starting again in March. ME13 veg is also stocked at Macknade Foodhall too. Follow Sam @me13marketgarden on instagram

Does your world revolve around plants? To be featured in My Life in Plants email me at katy@bohemiaandflower.co.uk with a short bio about yourself...