We live in a world where everything needs to be done yesterday. Izwe Nkosi believes gardening offers something very different: the chance to slow down and move at the pace of nature.
Izwe is the gardener behind For Plants Sake, where well over 100,000 people follow his garden and allotment. He grew up in South Africa surrounded by his father's mangoes, avocados, grapes and roses, worked in garden centres himself, and eventually started sharing his own gardening journey online. Then a simple video about growing potatoes reached millions of views and everything changed.
But this isn't really an episode about becoming a successful gardening influencer.
James and Izwe explore why gardening can be such a powerful antidote to the speed of modern life: getting us moving, giving the mind somewhere to settle, reconnecting us with nature and creating opportunities for people to connect with one another.
They talk about burnout and our relentless pursuit of productivity, loneliness and the friendships formed on allotments, gardening with children, growing your own food and why Izwe believes we should think less about constant productivity and more about fruitfulness — recognising that, like nature, human beings also need periods of rest.
Izwe also talks about authenticity online, why he sees people as different plants requiring different environments in which to thrive, and how something as ordinary as weeding has become a form of meditation for him.
And there are plenty of practical ideas to take away too, including the three foods Izwe thinks everyone should grow at least once, what to plant as autumn approaches and some simple ways to begin experiencing the garden differently.
Find Izwe:
Search For Plants Sake on Instagram, TikTok and social media.
Fancy getting moving too? Find us at www.jimsgym.fitness
Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:37 - Meet Izwe Nkosi and For Plants Sake
00:04:17 - How gardening came into Izwe's life
00:05:52 - Gardening at the pace of nature
00:08:30 - Why younger people are rediscovering gardening
00:13:54 - Growing your own food
00:15:39 - Allotments, community and loneliness
00:17:49 - Gardening as movement and exercise
00:20:20 - Productivity versus fruitfulness
00:23:00 - Gardening with children
00:24:57 - The potato video that went viral
00:26:24 - Social media success without chasing influence
00:28:18 - Why Izwe sees people like plants
00:30:13 - Authenticity and staying real online
00:34:38 - Three foods everyone should grow
00:36:44 - What to plant going into autumn
00:39:36 - Kale and eating with the seasons
00:44:29 - Weeding as meditation and how to get started
00:48:01 - Where to find For Plants Sake

Jenny has been dancing in shows since she was 16, spent lockdown making scrubs for nurses with her mum and now runs a crafting business making personalised bunting — alongside the slightly less conventional embroidered toilet roll.

In this member episode, James and Jenny talk about her lifelong connection with dance, her route to Jim's Gym and why finding exercise that works around your life can make such a difference.

Jenny also talks openly about her experience of breast cancer, writing a blog about what she went through, and how her relationship with exercise and staying active has developed through more challenging periods of her life.

Along the way there are stories about fancy dress shops, crafting, Rufus the dog, motorhomes, theatre, costume making and scones — before James puts Jenny through the Inspiring Movement quickfire round.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction: meet Jenny
00:00:58 - Jenny joins James
00:02:07 - Embroidered toilet rolls and Jenny's crafting business
00:06:19 - Running fancy dress shops
00:08:26 - Jenny's history with exercise
00:10:34 - Dance and her favourite Jim's Gym class
00:12:44 - Jenny talks about breast cancer
00:14:22 - Writing a blog about her experience
00:16:55 - Looking back after treatment
00:18:20 - How her relationship with exercise changed
00:20:21 - Rufus, walking and keeping active
00:23:27 - Theatre, baking and costume making
00:26:26 - Quickfire round
00:29:42 - Jenny's advice for getting active
00:31:10 - Outro

Fancy sorting the health side? Find us at www.jimsgym.fitness

Ask a financial planner to name the best investment you can make for later life and you'd expect to hear pensions or ISAs. Dave Southby's answer? Your health. Money buys experiences, time and memories, but only if you're fit enough to enjoy them.

There's plenty of money talk on the way to that answer. James and Dave cover the questions that come up again and again: where to save for the grandchildren, whether to bring old pensions together, coping with the cost of living on a fixed income, how to spot a financial scam, and the inheritance tax allowance that took James completely by surprise. Dave also explains why so many people reach retirement afraid to spend the pot they spent a lifetime building, and why you don't need to be wealthy to sit down with an adviser.

Please note: this episode is general information, not financial advice. Everyone's circumstances are different, so please speak to a qualified financial adviser before making any financial decisions.

Find Dave: www.southbyfp.co.uk

Dave and the Southby & Co team are walking 26 miles from Stonehenge to Avebury and running the Swindon Half Marathon this September for Wiltshire Treehouse, a charity supporting bereaved children and young people. Support them here: https://www.peoplesfundraising.com/fundraising/southby-co-s-summer-of-fundraising

Fancy sorting the health side? Find us at www.jimsgym.fitness

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:02:35 - From Land Rover to financial planning
00:06:07 - Is it ever too late to start planning?
00:09:26 - ISAs and saving for the grandchildren
00:13:17 - Pensions: consolidating and where to start
00:17:51 - The cost of living and the fear of spending
00:20:53 - Inheritance tax and the million pound allowance
00:23:07 - The 2027 pension inheritance tax change
00:29:13 - Financial scams and staying safe
00:31:46 - Why health is the best investment you can make
00:35:26 - Dave's charity challenges