the happy garden podcast

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!
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. We'd love to hear from you too! If you have suggestions for topics or features you'd like to hear, or any garden related questions you have, drop us a line at thehappygardenpodcast@gmail.com. It would be fab if you could rate us and leave a review too if you've got the time, many thanks!
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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!.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. We'd love to hear from you too! If you have suggestions for topics or features you'd like to hear, or any garden related questions you have, drop us a line at thehappygardenpodcast@gmail.com. It would be fab if you could rate us and leave a review too if you've got the time, many thanks!
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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)
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. We'd love to hear from you too! If you have suggestions for topics or features you'd like to hear, or any garden related questions you have, drop us a line at thehappygardenpodcast@gmail.com. It would be fab if you could rate us and leave a review too if you've got the time, many thanks!
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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!
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. We'd love to hear from you too! If you have suggestions for topics or features you'd like to hear, or any garden related questions you have, drop us a line at thehappygardenpodcast@gmail.com. It would be fab if you could rate us and leave a review too if you've got the time, many thanks!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.