Podcaster Shannon Keary: ‘It’s A Collection Of Conversations About Life In The Garden’
Contributions From SHANNON KEARY
Shannon Keary is a garden blogger who has her own podcast, The Diary of a Lady Gardener, about her experiences with growing in her allotment. She is currently one of the founders of the Mini Gardeners Club, an association aimed at encouraging young children to take up horticulture. Shannon also runs her own small-scale cut flower farm in Devon.
From being gifted an allotment as a Christmas present with no experience of gardening, to now running her own horticulture podcast, Shannon Keary has had quite the journey.
Shannon also runs beginner gardening workshops up and down the UK and is in the process of developing The Mini Gardener’s Club, an organisation that aims to get young children immersed in the world of horticulture.
I spoke to Shannon about how her love of gardening has changed her whole life.
Imagery in this article has been provided with permission from Shannon Keary.
How Did You Get Into Allotment Growing? Did You Have Any Prior Gardening Experience?
“I was given an allotment for Christmas in 2018 and I had no idea what I was doing,” says Shannon.
“I’d joked about how wholesome it would be to grow our own vegetables a few months prior, but when I was given the plot with a couple of books, I honestly had no idea where to start.
“I’d always had a gorgeous garden as a child, but was never really into gardening as such, and at the time I took it on we were living in a house with an astroturfed garden – which fills me with horror now!”
You Now Have Your Own Podcast – Diary Of A Lady Gardener. Can You Give Us An Idea Of What It’s About?
“My podcast is a collection of conversations about life in the garden,” she explains.
“It features most of the people I’ve met through the Instagram gardening community and they have such amazing stories to tell, be it hobby allotmenteers, successful plant-based business people or garden TV personalities.
“There’s such a range of incredible people featured on the podcast and we talk about all different kinds of growing.
“I think gardening is often perceived as something that isn’t for everyone, but you can grow microgreens or mushrooms on your windowsill, herbs in window boxes or an entire market garden full of veg.
“It doesn’t matter at what scale you’re growing, there is always something that you can adapt to any lifestyle or growing space.”
Who Has Been Your Favourite Guest On The Podcast?
“It’s so hard to pick just one person. Every single guest has inspired me so much.
“A few that really stand out for me include The Wolves Lane Flower Company, an amazing business growing cut flowers in urban London. Their story is just incredible and I’ve taken so many learnings from them.
“I also loved chatting with the Land Gardeners about soil science, as I think it’s something we all still undervalue somewhat and I’m on my way to becoming a complete soil geek.
“Then there are people like Emma Jo Real-Davies and Izzy (@justizzybee) who are such down-to-earth, passionate plant people and are also hilarious and lovely. A lot of our listeners fed back on those episodes saying how they felt like we’d all been there drinking coffee and chatting about plants like old friends.
“Lots of plant people don’t know other people in their local area with a similar interest in plants, I certainly didn’t when I started the podcast, so that’s exactly what I’d wanted to create in the digital world.”
How Important Is The Online Gardening Community To You?
“The online gardening community is so incredibly important to me,” Shannon shares.
“I’ve made quite a few true friends for life through Instagram – I even attended my first wedding of an Instagram pal this year!
“Everyone is so open, friendly and willing to do everything they can to help you succeed. I feel like we all find so much joy in celebrating each other’s successes and laughing when things go wrong on the most epic scale.
“It’s been amazing to see such a movement online of creating a positive environment for young people who just love plants.”
What Advice Would You Give To Aspiring Gardeners?
“Get growing as soon as possible!
“I wish I’d found gardening sooner because it has totally transformed my life. It’s been a year since I quit my corporate job in marketing, an industry I’ve been in for the last 10 years, and the last year has bought me more happiness than I could’ve ever imagined.
“The benefits a hobby (or career) in gardening can bring are immeasurable – there’s no joy quite like harvesting your very own crops that you’ve nurtured from seed right to the plate on your dinner table.”
What’s Next For You?
“This year is all about growing The Mini Gardeners Club, a project which started as a 6-week gardening program in summer 2022 and has turned into an absolute beast,” she says.
“Our aim is to inspire people of all ages to get outside and get growing, with our current focus on families with primary-aged children.
“It’s been such a rewarding project and we’ve had the privilege of working on so many amazing projects in schools and at various locations across the UK.
“We’re now on the hunt for a permanent space where we can host growing workshops for people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds in North Devon, so there is a lot of excitement still to come!”
