Seeds Mix #2: A Mixtape to Gather Seed Pods with Sally Rodgers

It serves as a sonic herbarium, carefully pressed and preserved for your listening pleasure (we are on fire!).

Listen and read the interview below:

Who are you?

I’m Sally Rodgers, I’m one half of electronic music producers A Man Called Adam, a DJ and sound artist.

Why are you here?

I’m here because my friend Tia asked me if I’d do an ambient mix and because I love plants, wildlife, gardening and nature.

Do you consider the emotional connection humans have with nature when creating music or mixtapes?

Because I work in sound, I’m always recording and listening very closely to environmental sound, and that often finds its way into my mixes, whatever music we’re making or sound art project we’re working on. So, the sounds of nature are very much part of my practice, which of course is an expression of my emotional life.

How does your music composition change for day versus night phases in a plant’s life cycle?

Hmm. We’ve been deep in the ambient zone on our new recordings recently and that means connecting with nature in meaningful way. I can hear the sea from my house and especially at night.

How do you approach creating music that mirrors the slow, steady rhythm of plant growth?

Like I said, it’s a masterful art and you have to strive for it… 10,000 hours and all that. It’s a discipline that takes a lifetime to master.

When are you happiest?

I’m happiest out with friends or alone, walking my dog in nature, a windswept beach, a quiet woodland, the countryside (I love the N Yorkshire moors, the Dales and the Lake District).

How long ago did you start taking drawing classes & what’s been your favourite medium so far?

I started drawing classes in earnest around September time. I’d like to expand my sound practice to include visual and sculptural elements so I thought I should really learn how to draw.

Could taking drawing classes improve a bird watcher’s ability to document and record field observations more accurately?

Naw. I see birders up here all the time. They have some really fancy kit. Its techy not organic like drawing and painting.

You mentioned you’ve got a wildlife garden! What did you grow this year & what kind of animals did you see in it?

Well, I have to say I’m not an expert gardener but I have a small garden about 10 meters by 12 meters and I really try to grow things to attract wildlife. My little house is on a 1930s estate of semi’s close to the sea so it’s birdlife mostly. I’ve had hedgehogs but not every year. I have a tiny pond and get Mayflies but no frogs yet. I do try to make it somewhere that insects can find places to nest and feed.

What are your favourite plant species for creating a diverse habitat that attracts multiple types of pollinators and wildlife?

I read somewhere that the best thing to do in your garden to attract wildlife is ‘not much’ but I try to plant things they will like, like lavender and clover. I don’t mow all the lawn and leave big patches of dandelions, wild grasses and flowering rosemary.

Another thing I read is to treat a lawn like you would a rug. Just patches for you and patches given over to wildlife. I’ve a big clematis that flowers and flowering ivy. The birds like the raggedy blackcurrant bushes. I’ve tried planting wildflowers but it’s a coastal climate and clay soil here so nothing really delicate ever survives. The plant the pollinators adore most in my garden are these giant leggy scabia plants. They’re really hardy and flower for months. You can see dozens of bee species and butterflies on them. They must be yummy!  In winter I don’t cut them back completely because, apparently, ladybirds and other insects like to shelter through winter in their hollow stems.

Can a wildlife garden be so effective that locals start filing noise complaints about overcrowding?

I’m officially the crazy wildlife lady in my street. Because it’s a coastal town I attract corvids – crows and jackdaws and starlings that are a pretty noisy lot.

Is there a mathematical formula for calculating the exact point where a well-intentioned wildlife garden transforms into a controlled chaotic ecosystem?

It has to be a bit chaotic and you have to put any tidy OCD to one side (which is tough). But I get excited by the insects, butterflies and moths, or the birds that visit my garden. It’s very rewarding.

What’s the most unconventional way to attract birds to your garden and have you got any tips on how to attract more wildlife to your garden?

If you want birds, a birdbath was a game changer for me. I bought an 80 litre waterbutt and I put clean, rain water out for the birds every day. They use it to drink, wash, soften the seed and food I put out. Its a big dish on the ground and they like the mud around it  – its like a birdy lido. I also put fruit out for them – my local greengrocer sells bags of ‘bird apples’ for a £1. I also feel if the insects come the birds will too so I do things like slit overripe bananas and leave them to rot (apparently insects like to lay their larvae there. I let things overgrow and leave the stems dead foliage for spiders and put upturned egg boxes out for moths and butterflies.

When was the last time you brought a plant/seeds & what was it?

I bought a couple of succulents for the house a few weeks ago, and for my drawing class. I’ve been trying to grow some things from seed and a couple of red chillies I planted have turned into gorgeous houseplants, I’m amazed!

What types of plants do you enjoy growing the most, and why?

Indoors I have succulents mostly. It all started with a huge aloe vera plant I’ve had for 20 years or more. It makes babies and I give them to people as gifts. We’ve been through a lot together. It’s the lowest maintenance plant ever. I’m not good with the names of them but I love to see them glossy and thriving (which is not always the case). The garden is tougher but I love my bay tree, mad scabia, rosemary and lavender. I planted a new tree this year. A Hawthorn. My friend Neil, an arborist, picked it for me and I rang him recently to say it wasn’t growing much – he said for the first few years all the action will be going on under the soil while it settles in. I love that idea, and like learning new things about plants.

What do you find most challenging about caring for new plants?

Like everyone I have my successes and failures. One day everything is thriving and the next day some nice plant has pegged out. I had a beautiful big red cyclops plant that was thriving but it hated the central heating so I left it outside longer than I should. A bastard frost got it, I tried to rescue it but watching it die was hard – haha.

Do you have any plants that hold special meaning or remind you of a certain time or place?

The aloe is very special. It was found in a gutter a long time ago by someone I loved who’s no longer here. In a weird way they live on in that plant.

Have you ever used music or other sensory experiences while tending to your plants?

In the summer I like to open the studio door and listen to ambient music, a bit of contemporary classical when I’m out there.

Are there specific genres or styles of music that naturally complement the act of planting seeds?

Well I like to listen to peaceful, zen-like music and quite serious serialist and minimal music like the works included in my mix. Or esoteric jazz and soundscapes. Minimalism is much harder to achieve in music than you’d think. You have to be a master and I like to experience those artist’s mastery when I’m planting seeds or tending my plants.

What’s the maximum number of bee hotels you can install before your garden officially becomes an insect luxury resort and at what point does attracting pollinators become less about ecological support and more about hosting the neighborhood’s most exclusive winged networking event?

Ha! I’m definitely a ‘superhost’ on air bee n bee (sorry!)

Have you noticed any particular methods or tricks that help your seeds grow better?

Nope. It still all completely hit and miss.

If a bird watcher accidentally sketches a warbler mid-flight during a drawing class, does that count as ornithological field research or artistic improvisation?

I expect a birder would be very bird-centric so that’s a fairly likely scenario.

Do you have any mirrors in your garden?

I just put one in because someone said that once they put the mirror in their garden the crows started leaving them gifts. Life goals!

How many obscure bird calls can you name?

I know a few. I went to fly hawks this summer. I can recognise a Goshawk call.

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