Jack First

Since the 1960s, Jack First has dedicated his life to working the land. His long and varied career has included time on upland and lowland farms, developing school growing projects, and teaching gardening skills in adult education centres. An avid collector of rare gardening books, Jack unearthed a bygone method of producing early vegetables using Hot Beds in one of his historical texts. In days gone by, people survived challenging winter months by preparing, sowing, managing, and harvesting Hot Beds from October to spring and beyond. So successful were Jack's Hot Beds that the BBC Gardener's World team came and filmed them in 2012. The episode went on to win a Garden Media Guild Award for best film. Of all the various methods of producing vegetables that Jack has tested, Hot Beds have been the most interesting and rewarding for him. He's sure that anyone who takes on a Hot Bed will undoubtedly come to the same conclusion.