Val Bourne has been a fanatical organic gardener since the age of five. In her twenties she had a lowly post in vegetable research, and she has always grown her own fruit and vegetables. She has a large allotment, and fruit and vegetable patches amongst her extensive flower garden in the high reaches of the Cotswolds. Val also serves on several RHS panels, judging flower trials, and she's an Ambassador for The Hardy Plant Society. She lectures in this country and abroad and writes regularly for The Daily Telegraph, Saga ,The English Garden, Garden Answers, Amateur Gardening and for the Crocus website. Her book The Natural Gardener won Practical Book of the Year from The Garden Media Guild in 2005 and her latest book, The Living Jigsaw, explains how to have a lovely garden without using chemical props, something she's pioneered. Val was has won multiple awards and is winner of the Dr David Hessayon Columnist of the Year award at the Guardian Media Awards 2018.