Ep71: A Good Ol' Chit-Chat With... Ben Newell

Hi, Sweetpea.

Hi, Mummy Bear.

We have another chit chat.

We do.

This is episode 71.

That's right, 71, and this is Ben Newell from Worcester Terrariums.

Exactly, and you might remember him from, I think it was back in the winter specials-

Yep

...

when we saw him, and he showed us just a little bite-sized section of how he creates his little terrariums.

Some quite big, actually.

They can be-

Beautiful terrariums

... all sizes.

Yep.

Uh, but where he really creates a landscape in these glass boxes.

Mm-hmm.

And using all sorts of things like little ferns, mosses, and then even little figurines that he'll put in there to create a scene.

That's right, and on this episode, we hear a lot more about how to make those, and also the variety that you can have.

Everything from totally aquatic to-

Mm

... boggy-

Exactly

... to dry desert-type-

Yeah

... terrariums.

And then also creating a terrarium around, uh, living beings, so little insects, little-

Mm-hmm

... uh, gummy frogs, um-

Yes

... all sorts.

Spiders.

Uh, walking fish.

And I saw he did a video on-

Oh, really?

... that recently, so.

Oh, I didn't see that one.

I know.

Crikey.

And even becoming friends with a tiny, uh, hopping spider.

So he-

[chuckles] Right

...

he really goes for it with all things, but he does not like actual frogs.

He doesn't.

Beware.

And we hear about that in this episode.

We also talk quite a bit about how Ben is navigating social media, and so-

Yeah

... how he is creating a career and income through YouTube, for example.

Mm-hmm.

But also TikTok and Instagram, and it's-

Mm

... very interesting to hear how he's handling all that.

Exactly.

Um, it is also influencing where he's moving to-

Mm-hmm

... and plans for his new garden.

Yeah.

And a lot of his dream garden in this episode is based around-

The new-

... his new garden-

Yeah

... which, fingers crossed, he'll be moving into this September.

Ooh, yeah.

Fingers crossed.

So, we recorded this back in May.

We did.

It was a particularly rainy evening.

It was.

And Ben was sitting underneath a skylight.

Yeah.

So in terms of noises, you will hear some full-on rain-

Pounding

... during a bit of a section of this, but otherwise-

Yeah

... it's not too bad.

And he had to go off to football afterwards, so-

He had to run off to the footy, didn't he?

Wasn't very nice for him after that.

[laughs] No.

And we also talked about, uh, a series that Ben did some promo work for.

Yeah, he did.

Creating a terrarium.

Created a terrarium around it.

Mm.

And this, we talked about how the series was based on a book, and it was a book that I've really enjoyed.

I really enjoy the author.

Yeah.

I've read a lot of her books, but I couldn't for the life of me remember the author's name.

So that is Lucy Clark.

Yeah.

And her book is "The Castaways."

The well-known one.

The well-known one.

My particular favorite as well.

Yeah.

Uh, definitely if you want a book-

Ooh

... with twists and turns, then-

More twists than a corkscrew

... grab that book.

It's definitely worth a read.

[chuckles]

Yeah, absolutely.

As always, we link all the recommendations and places mentioned by our guest, and-

Exactly

...

Ben mentioned really quite a few.

I know.

We've got pins all over the map now.

We have.

So if you go to the gardens page on our website, notjustagarden.co.uk, you will find a map there with all the pins of any nurseries that are recommended, our guests' own gardens or gardens visited and recommended.

Exactly.

And with Ben, we get to extend our pins over to the US, to Miami.

Mm-hmm.

And also up to Denmark.

So-

Yeah

... really happy to have those extra pins on.

So check those out on the gardens page.

Very cool.

And if you want to find this episode on our website with more details about Ben-

Mm-hmm

... and also some visuals around s- some of the stuff that we talked about, then head over-

Exactly

... to the chit chats page-

Mm-hmm

... and click on Ben's face.

You'll find all the information there.

Yeah, and that's all under podcasts.

So, Sweetpea, what's the format?

So, for Ben's dream garden, we go garden boundary, shed or greenhouse, five ornamentals, five edibles, one statement tree, pond or pool plus one plant, and finally favorite seating area, drink, and one plant for that area.

And if you have any questions or comments about anything we've chatted about-

Mm

... please do get in touch.

You can do-

Yes

... that through our website, which is-

notjustagarden.co.uk

Go to the contacts page, or you can email us at-

notjustagarden@outlook.com

That's it.

So, shall we get stuck into this episode?

I think we should.

This is episode 71, "A Good Old Chit Chat with Ben Newell."

Hi, Sweetpea.

Hi, Mummy Bear.

We have another chit chat.

We do.

This is episode 71.

That's right, 71, and this is Ben Newell from Worcester Terrariums.

Exactly, and you might remember him from, I think it was back in the winter specials-

Yep

...

when we saw him, and he showed us just a little bite-sized section of how he creates his little terrariums.

Some quite big, actually.

They can be-

Beautiful terrariums

... all sizes.

Yep.

Uh, but where he really creates a landscape in these glass boxes.

Mm-hmm.

And using all sorts of things like little ferns, mosses, and then even little figurines that he'll put in there to create a scene.

That's right, and on this episode, we hear a lot more about how to make those, and also the variety that you can have.

Everything from totally aquatic to-

Mm

... boggy-

Exactly

... to dry desert-type-

Yeah

... terrariums.

And then also creating a terrarium around, uh, living beings, so little insects, little-

Mm-hmm

... uh, gummy frogs, um-

Yes

... all sorts.

Spiders.

Uh, walking fish.

And I saw he did a video on-

Oh, really?

... that recently, so.

Oh, I didn't see that one.

I know.

Crikey.

And even becoming friends with a tiny, uh, hopping spider.

So he-

[chuckles] Right

...

he really goes for it with all things, but he does not like actual frogs.

He doesn't.

Beware.

And we hear about that in this episode.

We also talk quite a bit about how Ben is navigating social media, and so-

Yeah

... how he is creating a career and income through YouTube, for example.

Mm-hmm.

But also TikTok and Instagram, and it's-

Mm

... very interesting to hear how he's handling all that.

Exactly.

Um, it is also influencing where he's moving to-

Mm-hmm

... and plans for his new garden.

Yeah.

And a lot of his dream garden in this episode is based around-

The new-

... his new garden-

Yeah

... which, fingers crossed, he'll be moving into this September.

Ooh, yeah.

Fingers crossed.

So, we recorded this back in May.

We did.

It was a particularly rainy evening.

It was.

And Ben was sitting underneath a skylight.

Yeah.

So in terms of noises, you will hear some full-on rain-

Pounding

... during a bit of a section of this, but otherwise-

Yeah

... it's not too bad.

And he had to go off to football afterwards, so-

He had to run off to the footy, didn't he?

Wasn't very nice for him after that.

[laughs] No.

And we also talked about, uh, a series that Ben did some promo work for.

Yeah, he did.

Creating a terrarium.

Created a terrarium around it.

Mm.

And this, we talked about how the series was based on a book, and it was a book that I've really enjoyed.

I really enjoy the author.

Yeah.

I've read a lot of her books, but I couldn't for the life of me remember the author's name.

So that is Lucy Clark.

Yeah.

And her book is "The Castaways."

The well-known one.

The well-known one.

My particular favorite as well.

Yeah.

Uh, definitely if you want a book-

Ooh

... with twists and turns, then-

More twists than a corkscrew

... grab that book.

It's definitely worth a read.

[chuckles]

Yeah, absolutely.

As always, we link all the recommendations and places mentioned by our guest, and-

Exactly

...

Ben mentioned really quite a few.

I know.

We've got pins all over the map now.

We have.

So if you go to the gardens page on our website, notjustagarden.co.uk, you will find a map there with all the pins of any nurseries that are recommended, our guests' own gardens or gardens visited and recommended.

Exactly.

And with Ben, we get to extend our pins over to the US, to Miami.

Mm-hmm.

And also up to Denmark.

So-

Yeah

... really happy to have those extra pins on.

So check those out on the gardens page.

Very cool.

And if you want to find this episode on our website with more details about Ben-

Mm-hmm

... and also some visuals around s- some of the stuff that we talked about, then head over-

Exactly

... to the chit chats page-

Mm-hmm

... and click on Ben's face.

You'll find all the information there.

Yeah, and that's all under podcasts.

So, Sweetpea, what's the format?

So, for Ben's dream garden, we go garden boundary, shed or greenhouse, five ornamentals, five edibles, one statement tree, pond or pool plus one plant, and finally favorite seating area, drink, and one plant for that area.

And if you have any questions or comments about anything we've chatted about-

Mm

... please do get in touch.

You can do-

Yes

... that through our website, which is-

notjustagarden.co.uk

Go to the contacts page, or you can email us at-

notjustagarden@outlook.com

That's it.

So, shall we get stuck into this episode?

I think we should.

This is episode 71, "A Good Old Chit Chat with Ben Newell."