Podcast Corner: Green fingers and creature comforts

With (hopefully) better weather on the way along with the longer evenings, gardening and nature offer a nice distraction to the news cycle.

There are plenty of podcasts to help you on your green-fingered journey — here are some of the best:

The Critter Shed

'A Podcast with legs': Collie Ennis produces this superb podcast on Irish wildlfe and other animals.

This delightful nature podcast returned for its second season at the start of March.

Hosted by Collie Ennis, a science research associate with Trinity College Dublin, and audio producer Colette Kinsella, it usually eminates from the former’s titular critter shed and is crammed full of interesting facts and titbits about everything you might find outside, from tadpoles to bees to snakes.

The first episode of season two, ‘Of Bunnies and Beetles’, is emblematic of its charms, as it begins with Ennis snuggling with a rescue bunny.

“It’s not doing much for my heavy metal, rock n roll, snake-loving image, but I absolutely adore her,” he confides, before adding that he instantly has to wash his hands afterwards — not because of Covid-19 fears but because if he goes out to his snake shed smelling of rabbits...

It’s a treat for young and old, with all of the crawling around picked up by the mics, though an added visual

element would be nice.

Roots and All

Running since summer 2018, horticulturalist Sarah Wilson is joined by guests each week who offer enough

information to satisfy plant- or veg-leaning garderers alike.

The recent interview with Aaron Bertelsen, about growing fruit and veg in pots, is interesting - keep a notepad nearby for tips on sea kale among much more.

The Sodshow

Landscape garden designer Peter Donegan, from Dublin, has been hosting this show for almost a decade, with more than 440 episodes in the archive.

It might sound daunting but it’s easy to dip into whichever guest/topic takes your fancy.

They’re recorded on location, from the West Cork Garden Trail to various flower shows, and for those cooped up in city apartments right now, the sound of birds chirping in the background and wellies stomping around the grounds might prove comforting.

The RHS Gardening Podcast

This show will probably be known to most avid garderners already, since it’s from the esteemed Royal Horticultural Society.

It’s also got a deep archive to, ahem, dig into for whatever seeds and plants you’ve got to hand or whatever you’re planning next.