Jo Readman lives in High Littleton, and is a lecturer in Organic Horticulture and Botany at Lackham College of Agriculture. She has a Ph.D. in Plant Science and is a member of the Soil Association Education Committee.

She is a free-lance television researcher, specialising in gardening, wildlife and the environment, and worked on Channel 4 TV's successful gardening series Loads More Muck and Magic. She wrote the booklet which accompanied the last series of the programme, and she contributes reguarly to the general gardening press. As well as being a wife and mother, Jo also finds time to run a large garden, complete with fruit, vegetables, ornamentals and chickens!