Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - Prince William’s Letter & Celebrity Traitors

Episode Date: October 8, 2025

This week, Jo and Zoe catch up on their time on The Weakest Link - and want to know, have you ever been on a TV game show with a great story? Get in touch, we’d love to hear it! They’re also buzzing for Celebrity Traitors, which kicks off tonight (if you’re listening on Wednesday). Plus, Mike the Gardener shows us how to make a mini wildlife pond that’ll bring your garden to life. 🐸 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE SUBSTACK Stay up to date with Dig It — new updates every Friday straight to your inbox. 👉 https://digitpod.substack.com/subscribe GET IN TOUCH 📧 Email us: [e-mail] 📱 Text or Voice Note: 07477 038795 💬 Or tap here to send a voice note or message on WhatsApp:⁠ ⁠https://wa.me/447477038795⁠⁠ GARDENING EXPERT: MIKE THE GARDENER 👨‍🌾 Gardening guru Mike Palmer (aka Mike the Gardener) shows how anyone can create a mini wildlife pond — even in the smallest space. Using a simple whisky barrel and a few plants, he explains how to attract frogs, dragonflies, and birds while adding a beautiful focal point to your garden. A little effort, a lot of life. 🐸 Follow Mike on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mike_thegardener/ SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS This episode is brought to you by QVC, Eight Sleep and Airbnb. ✨QVC - Click below to discover QVC’s range of menopause products and support. And don’t forget to use the code QDIG10 for £10 off your first purchase (minimum spends apply, see QVC website for full terms and conditions) - https://www.qvcuk.com/content/menopause-your-way.html?cid=PR-PR-Digit&e22=Digit 🛏️ Eight Sleep — Tired of being tired? Sleep smarter with the Pod 5 Ultra — the mattress that keeps you at the perfect temperature all night. Get up to £350 off at https://www.eightsleep.com/digit with code DIGIT. 🌍 Airbnb — Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at https://www.airbnb.co.uk/host/ CREDITS Exec Producer: Jonathan O’Sullivan Assistant Producer: Eve Jones Technical Producers: Oliver Geraghty Video Editors: Danny Pape and Jack Whiteside Dig It is a Persephonica production

Coming up on Diggett. Prince William wrote to me when my mom was poorly. Wow. And it meant the world to her. Oh my God. You know what today is, don't you, Joe? Celebrity Traitors starts today. Of course it is.

I cannot wait. What the hell? You're tiny. His head is really tiny. I told you. All of that right after this. At Harrison Healthcare, we know that lasting health starts with personalized care. We're not just a close.

clinic, we're your partner in prevention, helping you achieve your health and longevity goals. Our expert team combines evidence-based medicine with the compassionate, unhurried care you and your family deserve today and for many years to come. When it comes to your health, you shouldn't settle for anything less than exceptional. Visit harrisonhealthcare.ca.ca.com.com. Hi, Zoe. Happy hump day. Happy hump day, my darling. Happy to get day. How are you? I'm not feeling too humpy this. I'm not feeling too humpy this week. I'm still, I'm still riding high on a lovely weekend. You did such a nice post and it was like, oh, this is, this is exactly the medicine you needed, the tonic you needed. I did. I could tell that you needed this in your heart. I hadn't seen Woody for weeks

and Nelly had been with her dad for a couple of weeks. I got a fix of everything I needed this weekend. It was, I went to a gig. I went and saw the beta band at the Roundhouse. They were so good. I absolutely loved it. It was incredibly nostalgic. So I got a bit of, you know, almost like date night. And then I had Brandy Carlisle on my show on the radio who I adore her so much. She's great. And she was with her wife, Catherine, and they were just flat. She changed her flight so she could come and chat about a new album.

And I love her. And we had a good old chat about Jenny Mitchell as well. So I had that. I came home. I watched strictly. And then I had both my kids in the house. Woody had come back from Abitha. We'd been playing in Abitha where he'd had an amazing time.

He was like, mum, I was hanging out with your mate Josie. I was like Josie. And he meant Josie Gibson from this, she does this morning. You know, lovely Josie? She was in Big Brother. Oh, my God. He was just telling me about how much fun she is on a night out, which does not surprise me at all. But you also told me that they'd gone to Universe because he was playing in the Looves at Universe, which apparently a bit of a vibe.

And Josie couldn't get in because she didn't have the right footwear on. and her fella didn't have the right footwear. So he lent his shoes to Josie Gibson to get into universe. Didn't have the right footwear. Well, hang on a minute. What are you supposed to wear on your feet? I think they turned up in flip-flops. Apparently you can't get into a club in flip-flops.

Okay. So I was like, oh, that's my boy, lending his big, stinky shoes to Josie Gibson to put her beautiful dainty little feet into so she can get into universe. But yeah, so he was home. He was home. He played a gig on some. Saturday night in Brighton and he played alongside my mate, Emma B. You'll know Emma B.

Oh, of course, Emma B from Radio 1. Yeah. Back in the day. I love her. And E.D. Her daughter is a DJ as well and they played the same gig. We're like, honestly, I don't know where they get it from. Oh, wow. So they played in Brighton.

And they were home and then my dad and my lovely stepmom die came down on Sunday and we had a roast and we had a giggle. And I just, my heart is so full. I got a tick, tick. of all the things I needed most. It's so rare for me to have both the kids home now. I love the photographs. You just, there's one of you snuggled into your dad's arms and you just look like a 14 year old girl, but really happy. And also no one really wants to take photographs. My family are like, oh, mom, please. I'm like, no, because I see you all so rarely. And I hate being in

photos, Joe, you know I do. Yeah. But I was like, come on, we'll do them from all the different angles. And let's just record this happy scene. Oh, you have to. don't you? Yeah, you do. We saw my mum and dad and the boys came with us. And just as we were leaving, my dad talks about dying a lot. And he just went, they were just going and he went, oh, June, take a photo quick. It might be the last time we're together. Jude was like, oh, now you've said that, I've got to take the photo up. And I imagine if you do die and then I haven't taken the photograph and then look at how bad I'd feel. It was a very funny moment. Yeah, you've got a laugh about those things, but they're absolutely, yeah. You don't know when you'll be together again.

And it's like I always say, you know, a pig could fall from the sky and crush me in the street. I always talk about having a comedy death with my kids. I'm like, I'd quite like to have a comedy death, a death where people are like, that's actually really funny. Because obviously death can be so depressing. But like if you had a comedy death, what would that be? Where people would go, oh, that's the way she would have wanted to go. You know, I don't know, crushed by a falling piano.

I don't know where the piano would be falling from. Sort of like an Acme style, roadrunner style death. Brum, splat. Anyway, how was your weekend? We had a nice weekend. We're kind of paying lots of attention to mum and dad at the moment because they need it. So the boys came. But I was thinking of you because Barbara Streisand, they had a bit of a tribute to Barbara on the TV.

Saturday afternoon, BBC 2, I think it probably was. And Easter Parade was on and we watched Hello Dolly. And Michael Crawford, like really, really young Michael Crawford from some mothers do have him and Barnum and all those things. I'd forgotten that he was in it so prominently. I know, put on your hat and code when you feel. down and out. And all the songs, love it. Oh God, the costumes were amazing.

And we had really, we were talking about how these films are really long and expansive and they seem to go on forever. And the kids were saying, Jude in particular, was saying, God, it's so nice for everything to be at a slower pace and just to concentrate and luxuriate in the thing that's unfolding on the screen as opposed to everything being manic and frantic and sound bites and, I don't I don't know, screenshots and goodness knows what. It was really lovely because that's what life was like then. Everything was just so much slower.

And it was very, very good for the soul. It was very calming and very peaceful. And just what we needed this Saturday afternoon. My dad was saying to Nell as he was leaving, it's like, just make sure you read some books. Read some books. He said, because, you know, it doesn't matter what the books are on. They can be fiction books.

They can be gossipy books. They can be about science or art or whatever it is that you're into. but read some books because it's so good for your head and your language and your soul. And then afterwards, we'd got out and he went, oh, I feel bad now for having a... It's like, no, you weren't having a go at her, and you're just encouraging. And he said it just worries him that people don't read books in the way they're used to anymore. And the thing is, I know there's lots of people who do read books, and I love getting lost in a good book. But life can be so fast, because we want everything to be so fast in our lives.

And I said, Dad, don't feel bad. It's good. You should encourage all of us to read. a good book. Although buying a book for my dad is really hard because he's read enough. If you're loving Dig It, make sure you hit the follow on Apple or Spotify. It means that you'll never miss an episode and they'll download to your phone as soon as they're out. I did a lot of mumming this weekend. I don't know if you can relate to this, but Jude had his wisdom tooth out and he's out loads of orthodontic work in the past and he's what, 27 now.

Poor guy. And so we had to go to the dentist and it was just like, I felt like I was going back in time to when he was what, eight, nine, ten years old and he had his brace fitted. And I sat with him for the whole of the procedure. And this is like someone, I think it's Dino, well, who works on our show, when I sent this picture through on our WhatsApp group, he was like, oh my God, I'm getting the Vic Hope placenta vibes when you showed us this photograph. Oh, no, you're going to show us the two. Jude's extraordinarily long tooth with three roots. I think they normally only have two prongs at the end. God, that's gross. He's got three and they kind of curved down so that they were hooked into his gum. And it was his upper tooth.

So they're not supposed to be so tricky to get out. But the poor dentist, James, he was going for about 20 minutes trying to get this tooth out. So trying to extract it. He was pulling. He kept having to stop, wipe the sweat off his body. He was trying to let his arms were cramping. And Jude was just lying there in the bed being thrown around. It was really traumatic.

And then he got given the tooth to take home. And it was in those little tiny pockets that just says, please put this tooth under your pillowcase and see what the tooth fairy brings. What did the tooth fairy bring, by the way, for Jude? I think 25 quid for that beast. A massive great big meal yesterday at Soho Farmhouse. But anyway, but the whole weekend, so I bought him home and I went to the supermarket and I bought soup and I bought custard and I bought super noodles and spaghetti hoops. All those things that he used to absolutely love when he was a little tiny kid and anything that he could take that wouldn't upset his tooth.

Because he got dry socket last time when he had his wisdom teeth out, which is the most painful and horrendous thing to have in your head, in your mouth. It's awful. So this time was all about avoiding the dry socket. It's been really nice just looking after him all weekend because he's quite a frantic manic person who's always busy, always onto the next thing. And just to see him lying on a sofa, reading a book and being looked after.

I really loved every second of it. And then I made everyone watch strictly. So we had a real, I know you love it with all your heart and soul. I love it. And I've embraced it because Coco and I love doing it. And India now really likes it. But the men in the house, they really hate it.

So when it got to Saturday night, I cooked a big paella and we all sat down And they were all just like, oh, God, do we have to watch this thing? And I was like, no, no, you're going in the other room. It's absolutely fine. But they all just wanted to be together. Together. All the kids were here together.

All the partners were here together. And they just wanted to just be on the sofa. So they all sat through Strictly and just critiqued the whole thing through. It's quite fun, though, when you watch Strictly with people who don't normally watch it. Because the commentary from, it's like, I mean, you would make an amazing goggle box, you and your gang. Yeah, we would. Yeah, we would. Next series of goggle bolts get the whole family on the sofa.

You need a very wide camera. Yeah. So did you watch The Weekest Link, Radio 2 special? No, I didn't tell anyone it was on. I just tried to gloss over it as quickly as possible. We started to watch Alan Partridge instead. Oh my God. So you didn't watch it.

Do you know what? I can't bear to watch myself on anything. No, me neither. But I had so much fun doing it that I really enjoyed watching it. Sally, who does the traffic at the weekends, has such. a funny relationship with Dermott and Ramesh and Ryland and they take the Mickey out of her and she takes the Mickey out of them and she can give as good as she gets that girl. She was hilarious on it. There were so many gold Sally traffic moments including this one. The word chow used to say goodbye

is borrowed from which European language? Chinese. Italian. Oh my god. There were so many of her answers that properly made us all laugh and then so Michael would start laughing and then Romish would have to talk and then it would go round and Ryland and we just couldn't stop laughing at all. Her and Tony were brilliant weren't they? Tony Blackburn. They were they were so lovely. Yeah. There was an amazing moment as Tony was voted the weakest link where he's leaving the stage and Ryland says, mind the step Tony as he goes off.

Romish just, he's so quick. Romish just went Tony the step. That's his mafia name Tony the step. I tell you what, seeing Ramesh. I love Ramesh so much. We all do. He is so sharp and so fast. In fact, my dad, when he got here this weekend was like, he'd watched it. He was like, Ramesh is one funny guy. I'm like, he is. And Michael won. I wasn't there, Zoe. I wasn't there. I wasn't there. I obviously. I was on a train home by that time. I was the second weakest link. So I was long gone by then. I don't think I would have got the one right that you were asked. What was it? It was about bingo. Oh, my God. Yeah. No, because my sister. is obsessed with bingo and I've played a lot of bingo in my life and it was a bingo question and I absolutely thought I should have got it but it was in bingo which number is represented by dancing queen I mean I actually had no idea even when they I found out the answer I've never heard that before in my life I was thinking too fat ladies I was going to build the ducks or whatever

it's 11 yeah so um so it was it was absolutely fair that I was kicked out on that that question but it's a really surreal feeling being on a quiz and if people are watching this now if any of our diggers have ever been on anything whether it's mastermind or who wants to be a millionaire or countdown maybe someone listening now has got their own experience of being on a quiz. Blockbusters.

Blockbusters, yeah. I'll have a bee please, Bob. What was it like? Have you got any stories? Yes. Because I was so freaked out by being on the floor I just couldn't think of anything at all. I was like, this is weird.

It is the pressure, is it? My family went on family fortunes, but we call it family misfortunes because we were so bad. But I am actually doing deal or no deal soon. And it's for charity. So I've got loads of my family and friends are coming on it. And I've invited Sally Traffic to come on because she's such good vibes. I'm like, Sally, will you be in my deal or no deal squad? If anyone's got any tips on how to do deal or no deal, I mean, I'm assuming it's just total luck.

I had this conversation with the family yesterday because my dad's coming on, Woody's coming on, and I've talked loads of my friends into it. And it's funny because I assumed, because you need a really big team to do it. I was like, oh, loads of my mates will want to do this. And I forget that loads of my friends are actually quite shy. I'm like, no, I can't think of anything worse going on television and also being put under pressure to win loads of money for a charity. I'm like, oh yeah, okay, fine.

I'm so jealous. Deal or no deal is my quiz. It's the one that, as a family. we have been obsessed with from the days of Noel Edmunds. From my dad, when my dad used to look after the kids, we just used to watch every single day. Jude has applied to be on Deal on No Deal several times. Has he?

And has never got on, yes. I'll tell you what, if Jude wants to come and be on my team. Oh my God, can he? They do these new versions. They do like, celeb ones or whatever. And then you have sort of five of your celeb mates. And it's lucky because I've got Woody and my dad. I've got Sally Traffick.

I've got Ian Wait, my lovely dance partner, if I'm strictly doing it. And Tina Dehili, that's my school. squad. Yeah. And then I've got loads of friends and family and we're doing it for pancreatic cancer and the hospice when my mum was. So I've got a few of my mum's friends coming to do it and stuff like that. It felt like a really nice thing to do, you know, in her memory. It's like, please let us raise some money for charity. But they do it. So you should definitely do it because you could do it as a family. If they ask me, I'll do it in a heartbeat. You can get

Lamo on. You can get, you know, Michael Stipe. Who would I get? I get Russell T. Davis. I'd go for him. He'd be good, wouldn't he? Snow Patrol. Yeah. Russell T. Davis would be amazing. He'd be very good. You know what today is, don't you, Joe? Celebrity Traders starts today. Of course it is. I cannot wait. I am obsessed with traitors. All my friends keep telling me that the Irish traitors that's just gone out has been unbelievable. But they've got such a good lineup. I mean, there's so many entertainment favorites in there. You've got Stephen Frye, Celia Imrey, Paloma Faith, Alan Carr. It'll be interesting to see people that we know and love from everyday culture and there's

sports people in. I think Tom Daly's doing it. There's all sorts. And Joe Wilkinson, who I completely adore, he makes me laugh so much. So you're going to see these people, are they going to be good at being traitors? It's like trying to guess who they're going to choose as traitors in the first place. Like Stephen Frye, would you have him as a faithful or a traitor? He kind of wanted to be a traitor, don't you, I think?

Surely he's going to be excellent in lying? he's an actor. I want Joe Wilkinson to be a traitor. I think I also love him so much. I just look at his face and I start laughing. I think he'd be great because people wouldn't believe it. You mentioned Alan Partridge there. He sent me a cake to work. It was this beautiful cake with Alan Partridge's face on with a little note. It was made at, I think, Norwich's finest cakes. And it was with a little note saying, I'm sending you this and the hope that you will mention my show on your social media. I love Steve Coogan and everything he does. I am such a fan of Alan Partridge, and I'm really looking forward to seeing this. This is Alan Partridge making a documentary about

mental health. It's Alan Partridge. How are you? That's what it's called. How are you? I loved it. I absolutely loved it. I watched it Saturday morning. Is it laugh out loud? Laugh out loud. Honestly, there are so many brilliant touches. I'm like you. I couldn't love Steve Coogan more in everything that he does. But the looks to camera, there's one. where he goes to help out in a homeless shelter and the way he's treating people he's serving the soup to the way he puts his apron on it's just every single frame on TV every single second every bit of dialogue he says is on point it's actually really hard when you work in radio not to have alan partridge moments yes you know i've had so many alan partridge moments where you've said things

and just thought i just literally want to turn to the camera right now and start seeing cuddly toy also tell you what else i really liked it's called the reluctant traveler and it's Eugene Levy. I don't know whether you know Eugene Levy from American Pie, dad of Dan Levy. I love his demeanour and he's done this like travelogue thing where he's travelling all around the world and he came to the UK and it was all over social media his interview with Prince William.

It's such a lovely, gentle, fascinating watch. Prince William really opens up because he's talking to this like fatherly figure and also he's a massive, massive fan of American Pie. When Eugene's like, well, why did you want to do this interview? And he went, I just love American Pie. It's like, wow, that's how you get an interview with royalty. So it's a really, really lovely thing to watch. It's very gentle, but also, as I say, very insightful him talking about his role as

future king and his role as a father within the family and the difficult year that they've had and his vision for the future. That was interesting. And then he did this tour of Windsor Castle and he wanted it to be seen as the queen would want it to be seen. So they're walking around and he walks towards this suit of armour. And so I sit up and I pay attention and I hear him say, And this is Henry the 8th suit of armour. And I was like, oh, right, it's going to be massive

because obviously his six foot two, as disco Steve told us. He's six foot two. Let's watch what happened. And this is the lantern lobby. This is Henry VIII's armour, which I always think is quite amusing because he's not that big. He had a big historical presence and a big historical narrative around him. But actually not a particularly tall man, slightly round.

Wow. Yeah. He loved a good meal. He loved a good meal. Yeah. A chunk of venison. What the hell? Tiny!

Disco Steve, where are you getting your facts? Look how small that a suit of armour is. It's tiny. I mean, it's got the belly. We knew he liked his food. He's got a girth, but... He looks tiny. His head is really tiny.

I told you. I guess if the future monarch is saying King Henry is small, then you have to kind of go with that. We've looked everywhere to try and find out how tall he actually was and we can't really find it. out. I mean, obviously Steve is hell bent on getting confirmation that he was six foot two. We need Lucy Worsley, don't we? We need Lucy Worsley to give us some facts. Because I remember at the time when we talked about this and I was talking about, I was convinced I'd seen Henry

the 8th's bed. And so after that I did, because I was like, six foot two. I'm not sure I believe this. So I'd done a bit of a deep dive and was reading all about how Henry the eighth's bed is not actually there anymore because all the different places he said, his bed doesn't exist anymore. So I have not seen Henry Oates' bed, but there are lots of beds that represent the kind of bed he would have had. And they're not very big. But I think I read that part of this family, because Henry's daughters were 5 foot 11 and 5 foot 10, so he must have been quite tall. So I was like, yeah, fair enough. Disco Steve's obviously right.

But now we've seen the armour. Something does not add up. Maybe this will mean I've won the quiz after all. Maybe this will be the deciding factor. Maybe I did win the family quiz. Oh, poor disco Steve. He's now really good. Mortified is the word.

He's mortified. If we can get Lucy Wersley on, she will be the definitive answer. She'll give us a definitive answer. So let's hope that can happen. Okay. We've got Jonathan, our amazing producer, is on it. And poor disco Steve, is he right? Or is he?

I nearly fell off the sofa. I was laughing so much. How tiny that suit of armour is. Can I just say Prince William wrote to me when my mum was poorly. Oh my God. And he wrote the most beautiful letter and he wrote to me again after we lost mum. And there was a really amazing moment where mum was really, really poorly. And I went up to see her.

And my brother was there and I was like, Mom, we've had a letter. And I read her Prince William's letter. And at the time he was, you know, going through his own difficulties with both his father and his lovely wife going through their cancer journey. And I thought it was so kind of him to take the time to write. And it meant the world to her. And she loved that letter. He's a good person, right? I think he's an amazing, amazing chap. We're going to take a quick break for some ads. If you'd like these episodes ad free, then why not become a subscriber to the potting shed and you will? You'll get

longer episodes, bonus content and access to our members chat room where we can share tips. And also early access to live shows. But most importantly, you'll be supporting the show. To subscribe, head to digitpod.com.ukuk. UK or tap the link in the show notes. This episode of Digit is sponsored by 8 Sleep. Lately, I've really come to appreciate the wonder of a good night's sleep. And God, I wish I was like you. I am such an incredibly light sleep. One dog barking and I'm wide awake for the rest of the night. Honestly, I'll do anything for an extra hour of good sleep. And that's exactly what I got with Eight Sleep's new Pod 5.

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it adjusts each side independently. Amazing. Head to 8Sleep.com slash dig it. Use code digit and get up to 350 pounds off the Pod 5 Ultra. That's code Digit for up to 350 pounds off the Pod 5 Ultra. If you're tired of being tired, sleep better with 8 Sleep. This episode of Digit is brought to you by QVC. So I thought I was ready for perimenopause, but it still caught me off guard. The anxiety, especially, really not me for six. Mine was brain fog. That was definitely one.

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So we've got a garden, a lawn, and then we've got a mini field behind. And the field is lush and green and gorgeous. And the lawn has lots of brown patches and just looks really, really scrubby and horrible at the moment. But I have this wonderful lawn lady called Karen, who listens to this. And Karen, came and she did what she had to do and she was like you cannot cut the grass for three weeks so at the moment it just looks horrible but the idea is that the grass seeds are going to start to germinate and then eventually I'll actually have a green lawn again which will be very exciting so the robots have been turned off the robot in the field is doing an amazing job I cannot recommend your robot lawnmower highly enough my robot lawnmower but what I've been doing lately over the past week is I've been

going to garden centres and buying lots of stuff for my pots because we were talking about bulbs plants and bulbs and putting violas and pansies. And I thought, I'm going to go for winter colours and get some evergreen things and put those in pots instead. Good idea. I feel like it's kind of growing up as a garden because I would never have wanted that in the past. I just want flowers all the time. But I thought, I'm going to learn, I'm going to be a grown up and I'm going to try and get some flame-colored evergreens in my pots. And I've bought a load and they look really good as well as the ferns that are in pots. So this is my mission at the moment. It's just to have all my pots with the bulbs underneath, but then with some really beautiful bushes and trees and

the kind of stuff that you see when you go to fancy houses. I'm trying to replicate that. Okay, oh, good luck with that. I've been really admiring this time of year. I love all the prunus trees that just go those. I don't know, it's a particular prunist that has sort of all these beautiful individual leaves that come off each sort of branch. And they go this incredible flame red. And every autumn I look and think, I really need to get one of those.

We worked really hard last week, Tabitha, who comes every couple of weeks, to helping the garden. She's like this ninja, garden ninja, who I love. And we had this one day where it was all about moving everything in the long border and putting it into the right positions because everything had grown in the wrong place. So we did a quarter of the border because it was really hard work. But it was really exciting, just moving stuff around and just like, it's like painting a picture, just going, I know how I want it to look. So I've got to move all of these things out of that place. And now I'm trying to think, Sanguasorba, my sanguasauber, grew to about eight feet. And I don't think it's supposed to be eight feet, but you couldn't see anything.

It's just like this wall of Sanguosovo. So they've come out and we are trying to put them somewhere else. And the al-Kamele mollis, oh my God, I've got like 5,000 plants. So I've had to take out lots of those and distribute them elsewhere in the garden and give them way to anybody who's passing. But they're really lovely, but they do spread. They do spread. I know that's the thing.

I've just got a section of my garden that will need some attention next year. That it just nothing seems to be doing very well in it. So I guess I'll just wait until the spring and then maybe. give it a good feed and put some good mulch down there and I don't know just it might need some love and I can't work out it's whether it's because of a breeze or sunlight or whatever it is but nothing that's gone in there it's like oh nothing's doing very well in this section oh how disappointing I wonder why but if we are looking for more garden inspiration we've had a question from Toby who says hi Joe and Zoe I've had my garden for about a year now and it's coming along nicely I've got a few beds going

and even planted some trees at the back. Since my kitchen extension, I can see so much more of it, which I love. But there's not much wildlife around. I'm thinking about adding a pond or a mini water feature to attract more life. Is that complicated or expensive to do or can you start small? Well, we need an expert, don't we? Because that's not, it's not my area of expertise. I've got a stream which defeats me every single year.

It's really hard to maintain because it's either flooding or it's dried up. But Mike Palmer is an expert. So he's sending us this little bit of advice. Hello, Joe and Zoe. I'm Mike the Gardner. And today I'm going to show all of the diggers how we can all have water in our garden, no matter what its size.

Come on, let's go shopping. Well, here I am at the garden centre. I don't know where Joe and Zoe have got to. Somebody said they'd nipped up for a coffee and a cake. Anyway, as you can see, there's a good range of these oak barrels here, all different sizes, ranging from about 30 to 60 pounds but do shop around.

Now you can either sink them into the border or you can have them freestanding on a patio. So come on back to mine now and I'll show you what I've done. Once you've got your whiskey barrel home, it's a good idea just to wash it out with some hot water to make sure there's no residue of whiskey left in there. Then find somewhere that's not too sunny and not too shady so partial shade is perfect

and dig a hole as wide and as deep as a barrel and lift it in. here is my water feature which has been here for about three years now. You'll see the top of the barrel is level with the top of the soil and I've put a beach of pebbles on one side so wildlife can crawl in and out safely. And talking of plants I put a selection of plants around the outside including geraniums, ferns, astelbees and helibores and there's lots of snowdrops that come up in the spring. I used water from a water butt to fill my water feature but if you use tap water that's fine

but just leave it longer so that all the chlorine settles out. After a few months, the water will be wildlife friendly. And before you know it, you'll have frog spawning, dragonflies flitting in and out, and a host of wildlife visiting the garden. Thank you, Zoe and Joe. Great podcast. I love it. Oh, Mike, we adore you. That's so perfect.

Mike Palmer with his beautiful flowers. Oh, that's made me so excited. You could do that in your area that's not flowering particularly well. Maybe a whiskey barrel. Yeah. Do you know what? Maybe that's exactly what it needs. I don't think I could dig down a whole barrel,

but I could probably find something a little bit smaller on a similar tip because I know that my garden doesn't go down that deep, obviously because it's quite new and we didn't dig down that deep. But I will find maybe a smaller barrel. And it looked absolutely beautiful. Yeah, it really did, didn't it? If you want to see Mike's whiskey barrel ponds, then, watch on YouTube and Spotify. We've got a water feature in our patio area. So just outside the

kitchen, you can look out and you can see. And the idea is that it's a bit of a water fountain. It's only ever a trick alone. That just has not worked for us at all. But it's been there for years now. And every year, so much wildlife comes to it. So it's not on the ground so that you can't get frogs and things in. But birds, we have so many different birds coming to drink throughout the season, throughout the summer. So there's a pair of pigeons, wood pigeons that come. The dogs always go there. I mean, they have bowls of water. in the kitchen they can come and drink, but they don't. They choose to go and drink the manky water.

It's lovely, like little, you know, all kinds of blue tits and sparrows and robins and blackbirds. They just all swoop in and they have a little drink and then they go off. So it really, really does bring us a lot of joy and happiness. We've all become birdwatchers and twitchers because of it. It's just really nice to see nature so close in action. There you go, Toby. Hopefully that's a little bit of inspiration for you because the more wildlife you get, the more magic you get to watch in your garden.

And I'm really excited because the robins have rediscovered where the worms are hanging. And I've got them a little bird cage that they can get into, but the squirrel can't. Because the squirrels are eating all the lovely fat balls that I get for the birds. They're still around. Yeah, they're still around. I'm just going to live with the squirrels. It's fine. I don't think it's sensible for me to put tulips in the ground because they're just going to eat them.

But I'm going to try with a few aliums this year and see if they leave them alone because apparently they don't like the alium, the onion family. So I'll see how that goes I'm not going to put loads in because I just don't want them to dig them all up but it's like okay squirrels you can have the fat balls but the worms are for the birds so I've got them one of those little bird feeders where they can get in

I bet you talk to them as well don't you I chat to it's ridiculous the things that you chat to I know you're chatting we've got heron that lives nearby and every morning I'm like hi Mr Heron I love that you give the heron the respect you form a relationship with the regulars in your garden in the end and they feel like extended part of your family. It's great digging time, Joe. What delight do you have behind you this week

that we can all check out? Okay, well, I still want to shout about the Biffy Cliro album, which is called Futeek. That's the one that's in the background if you are watching this. They win for me on many different levels. If you go and see them live, they are phenomenal. If you get to meet them or interview them, they are the loveliest, funniest, kindest people you will get to have in a studio with you. They made me laugh so much when I had them on the show recently. We had such a good time. And then they really excel at doing those massive, great big rock, impassioned ballads. There's a song on this new album, Futeek, which is called Goodbye. And it's just brilliant. It's absolutely beautiful. And it just makes you have all the feelings. So yeah, I want to shout out Biffy and the album Futeek. If you

haven't heard it yet, it's well worth listening to. And then Geese, there's a band called Geese who have been around quite a long time. They've supported Vampire Weekend in the past. They have a very charismatic frontman called Cameron Winter, who he speaks, he's got the deep. deepest voice in the world and he's quite serious, but he's also some kind of visionary. He's amazing. The music they make is wonderful. The album is called Getting Killed. And I, I mean, they're going to be touring the UK next year. Tickets will sell out. It'll be really hard to get tickets. And I think loads of people are going to be getting into them. More and more people are going to be getting into them. And it's going to be quite a frenzy next year, I think,

for Geese. Everyone's talking about them. Great. So, yeah, getting killed by geese, one album and Biffie Clareau and Futeek. That's my other album. I went to a gig on Friday, I got to go and see the beta band, who I'm a huge fan of. I was laughing as we're walking into the gig. I was like, this is mainly men at this gig, mainly men of a certain age. Yeah, men of a certain age. But I tell you what, I have always been such a fan of theirs, and they have not played together for about 20 years. And I, when the dates were announced, it's like, all my friends were in a frenzy trying to get tickets. And I know some of my friends managed and some didn't. But can I just say,

it may be 20 years since they played together, but they were phenomenal. And it was at the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, which is, I used to live down the road from there. So it was quite funny being near the marathon bar and all the old haunts from back in the day when Amy Winehouse and the Libertines and people like that were hanging out down that way.

That candid scene in London, yeah. Yeah, the scene. I used to have a flat that backed onto Supernova Heights. So we used to do Gallagher Watch out with the window where Noel and Meg lived there. and there was always something going down. They were great times. Anyways, it was lovely to be back in the area

and to go and see them. And, you know, Steve and John McLean and Robin and Richard, they are such great musician. Steve's voice was unbelievable. Their harmonies. And they all play so many different instruments. And John scratches at one point. And at one point, they're all playing some kind of percussion.

Steve and Robin are on drums. They had like two drum kits next to them and then the boys are bashing. anything they've got. It was incredible. The atmosphere was amazing and I rushed. I did actually say to my mate at one point, I was like, I've got to go to the merch shop. So I sort of picked a particular track. I was like, if I don't go to the merch shop now, it's going to be, the merch shop was making a killing. Can I say? I've actually got my look. I bought beta band socks. I bought t-shirts. Then all the sizes had sold out. And I bought the three EPs, look, and they've signed it. You could buy

signed copies of the vinyl and they've done all their dates in the UK now and I was laughing with my friend Phil who'd been to see them because there's so many of their records have been sort of anthems for me at certain points in my life and dry the rain is one of those and everybody was singing it together and it's I will be your light I will be your light and the whole place was lit up and everyone was singing it back but I always used to sing to myself I will be all right I will be all right when I was going through really tough times in my life yeah so I used still sing I will be all right but it is of course they'll be your light but I have to say

boys that was such an amazing show and I think they're off to America now but don't leave it another 20 years because they're just so good and I loved it and I yeah and so this is the three EPs oh I'm glad it lived up to what you wanted it to be oh it really did if you want to find

all of the song selections in one place our Digit playlist is part of our weekly substack newsletter which will be in your inbox every Friday covers so much so it's what we've reading, what we've been wearing, what we're listening to, and the link to subscribe is in our show notes. I'm all about paint colours and soft furnishings at the moment, so we might be documenting that in the subsequent future weeks. Always looking for inspiration. Yes, that's all we've got time for

today. Back again on Monday to dig in and hear what you've been saying. If you've got any question, tips or general thoughts, perhaps you'd like to let us know what you're listening to at the moment as well. Do contact us. and our email address are in the show notes. And also, if you're loving the podcast, please leave us five stars on Apple or Spotify with a little review because it really helps other people to find the show. Simple. Right, I'm off to buy a barrel to make a water feature.

I'm off to get some paint samples to see what I want my kitchen to look like. Okay, oh, put it on your social so we can all help choose. That's a really, really good idea because I am the most indecisive person. So yes, I'll do that. All right, tell him. All right. Speak next week, speak Monday. See ya.

Love you. Digit is a Persephonicah production.