the happy garden podcast

With the UK government telling us to stockpile food for a national crisis, we're launching our own "Be ready" campaign. This episode outlines how to get prepared to be more food self sufficient. How to eat your garden in an emergency!

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Happy Halloween garden gang! Let's head down Darren's larder to muck about with pumpkins...

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Mollie and Darren impart crucial advice about safety in the garden. There are surprising hazards in surprising places as Mollie found out when she ended up in hospital this week! Daz also has a pumpkin growing masterclass and a squirrel expert drops by for a chat too.

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Buglife Paul explains why spiders are reaching the size of a satsuma this year! He also gently explains why we should love them and let them be. Darren finally has his masterclass on planting bulbs for spring and Mollie, as always, steers the podcast ship safely through another episode ;-)

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Well don't say we don't bring you variety! Mollie has a chat with our friend Kevin McCloud about his apple orchard and whether or not his blossom dropped off this year ;-) We catch up with giant veg grower and podcast favourite Neil hands. Find out about the World Conker Championships this weekend with King Conker himself. With more laughs than you can swing a conker at...

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The Malvern show is finally here! After 8 months of growing, has the stress of growing a giant vegetable been worth it? Mollie enters her extraordinarily long chillies, find out where she comes. She chats to lots of fabulous growers too, what a fab bunch of people. Oh, and Mollie also gets her melons on the local TV news 😂

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Darren is still semi in charge of the podcast this week!

Did you know a lawnmower can reach 69mph?! Mollie chats to Emma from the West Midlands Lawnmower Racing Association to find out about their history and goal in supporting the West Mids Air Ambulance. Andy Lound also has the history of the mower.

Darren brings us his second classroom chat about plants for health and wellbeing. Lots of laughs along the way :0)

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Mollie is back from Gibraltar but whilst away her laptop bost meaning she couldn't do any work towards this week's episode. So Darren is in charge. What could possibly go wrong? ha ha...

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We chat to Andrew Baker, founder of Soil Acoustics. Soil acoustics is a new and exciting branch of ecoacoustics – the science of listening to sound made by the natural world. The team at Soil Acoustics has taken these methods and developed a unique recording device for listening to the soil. You'll be amazed by what they can hear! A healthy soil is a noisy soil.

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We've reached our 3rd birthday! Lots on the pod this week, we hear from local farmer Richard from Poplars Farm Shop in Nuneaton to find out how his crops have done this year and most importantly how the pumpkins are doing as we go in to Autumn. Having forgotten to include Rupert meeting Princess Anne in the last podcast, we rectify the mistake and include him this week - soz Rupe ;0)

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Hear about Pete Waterman's job at the banana factory in Coventry, he used to sell the stowaway monkeys at school! We hear from listener Rupert who had a one to one with Anne, the Princess Royal, at the Norfolk show and Mollie and Darren head down the larder to discuss ways of using flipping courgettes and asking when they cross over to being called a marrow! Usual laughter and singing along the way...

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Mollie and Darren are back together after a couple of summer specials. Mollie chats to the fabulous Wendi Peters (AKA Cilla from Corrie) about her love of her garden and the different spaces she's creating in a relatively new home. Darren tells us why our hostas are getting attacked this year and Paul Hetherington from Buglife explains why it might not be unheard of to find a tarantula or snake in your garden in years to come!

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Mollie heads down to Suffolk for the annual trip to Mr Fothergill's. The company is having to change and adapt to the new climate conditions that we're experiencing every year. Find out more...

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A lovely catch up with a lovely man. We met giant vegetable grower Neil Hands on the podcast last year. Mollie has a chat with Neil to see how the continual heatwaves have been affecting the growing season in the run up to the giant veg championships in September. We also get a rather unusual tip for unbending the end of a bent leek...🤣

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Another very jolly episode. Mollie visits farmer Steve at his heritage plum orchard in Pershore to see how the trees and the crop have fared this summer. Darren has lots on polyculture this week too. Learn how to future proof your garden and plot not only to conserve water but how to actually pick the right plants to grow going forward in to a new era of gardening.The Hose Plant Band make a welcome return with a good old sing song too. Warning...Darren provides several manly interjections!

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Darren explains Hügelkultur, Hügelkultur (meaning "mound culture" in German) is a centuries-old gardening and permaculture technique where raised beds are built by piling logs, branches, and woody debris at the base, and layering them with compost, turf, and soil. It seems to be just what our plants need to survive these drought conditions! Hear a bit of Mollie's chat with Soil acoustics, a new and exciting branch of ecoacoustics – the science of listening to sound made by the natural world. The full podcast on Soil Acoustics is coming soon!.

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Mollie catches up with Paul Hetherington from the charity Buglife to discuss the effects of the continuing heatwaves on our insects in the garden. It's also Flying Ant Day soon too, although they await the rains which we of course don't have at the moment! Darren suggests 20 heat tolerant and drought resistant plants for your garden and hear a very merry Mollie chatting to her festival friend about winning in Petersfield in Bloom :0)

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As we enter yet another heatwave in 2026, how are your plants coping? Darren has plenty of tips to try and keep everything alive. Mollie has a chat with Georgie Guernsey from the Packington Estate about being the new home of Gardener's World Live, exciting times ahead!

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Mollie meets Joffrey Watson, a UK chainsaw sculptor, who creates bespoke wooden sculptures from fallen trees using chainsaws and wood tools. Based in Shropshire, Joffery is also a town crier! A fascinating and funny guy. A pleasure to introduce you to Joffrey...

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It's all over for another year! We have a look back at the show and have a chat with Kate from The Folklorian Garden and also Stan from Craighouse Cacti to find out what they won and how they found the show. We also hear how one of the groups had their van stolen the night before the show which had all of the plants and sculptures for their display. What happened next was nothing short of astounding. Find out more, just press play!

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Mollie heads off to the NEC as the build begins for the show gardens at GWL 2026. Meet show Director Bob Sweet and hear from Alice as well as Kate Patrick who has designed the Folkorians garden. The feature garden this year is called The Evolution Garden and it's been designed by Prof. Alice Roberts and Dr. David Stevens and our very own Darren has the job of planting it! All goes swimmingly until a digger hits a water pipe and then it turns in to the wrong kind of swimming!

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Psychic medium John Edward has a chat with Mollie ahead of his UK dates in September. We chat about how nature, gardens and trees demonstrate that energy never dies, it just changes form. We also meet Aqua culture, a fabulous company who transform waste seaweed into powerful, natural fertiliser that feeds plants, enriches soil, and helps regenerate our environment.

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A tomato based podcast! Mollie met Simon Conway, chair of the British Tomato Growers Association at Farmfest. They had the most spectacular stall promoting British growers. Hear their chat. Do you know what you should be doing with your toms right now if you're growing your own? Darren has all the advice you need. Andy Lound has the history of the tomato and there are a few tomato based jokes too... We also find out all about Open Farm Sunday which takes place on Sunday 7th June. Lots of giggles along the way as always. Press play!

Phew! What a scorcher of a week it's been. Record breaking temperatures to contend with in your garden. The warmer climate could see all sorts of insects becoming the norm in our gardens. Paul from Buglife tells us more. We're also in conversation with the fabulous garden designer Matt Keightley as he launches his new AI-assisted platform Spacelift, which debuted at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026. Mollie has a chat with Spudman too as she bumped in to him at Farm Fest!

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Come with Mollie as she heads down to Press Day at The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026. Hear from Miriam Margoyles, Kerry Godliman, Richard Austin and lots of other celebs chatting about their love of horticulture. You might be surprised at some of the exhibits this year, wait until you hear about the splash that Lovehoney has made! Get your packed lunch packed and join Mol on a road trip to London...

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Hello! Welcome to a bright and breezy episode.Mollie chats to the National Trust to talk about their Sky Gardening Challenge. Even the smallest balcony space can provide a vital pit stop for insects. Darren talks us through some key considerations of balcony gardening too. Oooo and there's some VERY exciting news from Darren!

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We chat to Plantlife about the benefits of No Mow May. Darren answers some of you gardening question and Mollie struggle on with a high fever...

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Our good friend Chris Baines has been presented with the Victoria medal of honour by the RHS. We have a good natter with Chris about just how proud he is and how proud his Mom would have been. He also talks us through the origins of International Dawn Chorus Day, it's a fabulous tale!

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A quick catch up with Mollie and Darren and a few jobs for the week ahead before we chat to Chris Cooper-Hayes from eternna with more on human composting. Another fascinating insight in to terramation.

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Mollie and Darren are back together to answer lots of your gardening questions and to have a giggle with you. Oh, and you won't believe what Mollie has found in a hedge...

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A fascinating chat with Kristoffer Hughes from eterrna. As interest grows in sustainable end-of-life solutions, eterrna is positioning itself as the flagship company driving the legal introduction of terramation in the UK, terramation being the transformation of a human body into pure compost. Find out about this incredible journey of transformation in this week's episode.

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We turn orange this week! We are joined by the carrot growers association talking about their new competition for primary schools to get involved in. Mollie shares a carrot recipe you're guaranteed not to have heard of before and Darren has more carrot facts than you can shake a stick at.

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Podcast favourite Neil Hands has a chat with Mollie this week. Neil grows giant veg and has broken world records with his giant specimens! A few jobs for the week ahead as always with our Darren too.

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Even with shingles, a herniated spinal disc and a nasty rash between them, Mollie and Darren still bring the giggles....

Mollie chats to professor David Stevens who is this year's designer of the headline show garden at GWL at the NEC. The Evolution garden encapsulates 4 billions years of history! We have 2 tickets to the GWL Spring show for a lucky listener too.

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We hear from Leigh who has found solace and comfort in her garden after a really tough few years.

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Why did the toad cross the road? To get to its ancient breeding ground of course! Mollie chats to Froglife about Toad Patrol, your chance to help these beautiful creatures negotiate the tricky business of crossing roads.

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Welcome, welcome! Darren has a very important slot this week explaining why we should NOT be tidying the beds and borders at the moment. For example 70% of our native bees overwinter in hollow stems, and leaves are full of larvae too. It's imperative that we leave dead stems and foliage alone for a few more weeks.

Mollie chats to Garden Organic about their huge citizen science survey which reveals that we simply can't grow the same veg that our grandparents grew. Our exaggerated seasons mean we now have to change our growing crops and habits.

Welcome to a jolly episode! Did you know that aphids ride the thermals and come over from France at this time of year? Buglife Paul tells us more and we find out how the insects in the UK will be coping with this wet weather. Your gardening questions answered, lots of snowdrop chat...oh....and lots of Darren in the shower. You don't get this on any other gardening podcast. Buckle up and press play :-)

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Liza Frank joins Mollie for a good old chinwag about garden folklore. Liza has written a fascinating book called Everyday Lore which explores the myths and legends surrounding your plants, your garden and those little visitors you may or may not encounter. If you think fairies are kind, gentle souls that flutter around your rose bushes saving butterflies from your bird bath, then you may be shocked. It's said they sacrifice a human every 7 year. Find out how to stop yourself becoming their next victim. This podcast might just save your life...

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An hour or so of gardening and giggles. Find out what happened to listener Rupert when he accidentally grew cannabis on his allotment (hint; the police arrived!) Lots of your questions answered and lots of other bits and pieces discussed. Press play and have a smile...

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