1
00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:06,719
Hello, and welcome to Gardening with
Ben. You'll go to a podcast for

2
00:00:06,839 --> 00:00:12,039
all things green and growing. I'm
Ben, your allotment guide and here to

3
00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:17,079
help you cultivate your garden and your
passion for plants. Whether you're a seasoned

4
00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:22,440
gardener or just starting out, this
podcast is for you. Each episode will

5
00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:26,920
dig into tips, tricks, and
techniques to make your garden and allotment thrive

6
00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,679
from planting, sewing, and growing. We will share all the tips and

7
00:00:31,719 --> 00:00:37,399
add advice. We will also have
regular episodes talking about what we have been

8
00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:42,159
up to on the Allotment. So
sit back, grab a brew and enjoy

9
00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:50,039
today's episode. Hey everyone, and
welcome back to Gardening with Ben for brand

10
00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:54,479
new episode. In today's episode,
we're going to be talking about how to

11
00:00:54,520 --> 00:01:00,079
protect those strawberries from pests. Yes, a very important subject at the moment,

12
00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,879
as all the strawberries will be starting
to get ripe and get ready for

13
00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,640
picking soon. And if you like
me, you don't like sharing them with

14
00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:15,799
anyone, especially other people and pests. I like to have them all for

15
00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:21,040
myself. I don't share my strawberries
with anyone. But before we start with

16
00:01:21,079 --> 00:01:25,879
that episode, I just want to
say, can you all make sure you

17
00:01:26,239 --> 00:01:30,280
check out my YouTube channel as I'm
starting to post a lot more videos again

18
00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:34,599
now on there. I've posted about
three in the last couple of days.

19
00:01:34,879 --> 00:01:38,079
I did a tour of my allotment
in yesterday's video. The sound quality is

20
00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:42,599
not brilliant on that one, but
I do apologize. Hopefully I fix the

21
00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:47,879
sound issues in my latest video.
So I'm going to be posting more regular

22
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,400
content on the videos. As you
know, over the last year, I

23
00:01:51,439 --> 00:01:55,560
took a step back on my social
media side of things, and I've brought

24
00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,280
back my podcast. Now the podcast
is back up and running and we're getting

25
00:01:59,319 --> 00:02:05,519
great views, great listens to and
next up is getting my YouTube channel back

26
00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,159
up and running, as I want
that to be like a main source of

27
00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:12,639
sharing what I've been getting up to
down there, videos from the plot,

28
00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,639
sharing tips and advice on what I
do down at the plot, and yeah,

29
00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:21,159
just sharing bits and bobs with you
down there so that you can actually

30
00:02:21,199 --> 00:02:23,560
watch and see what I do.
And they're not often long videos to just

31
00:02:23,599 --> 00:02:29,719
short little videos. So if you
just check out Gardening with Ben on YouTube,

32
00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,280
hit the bell on it as well
so that you get notified when your

33
00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:37,080
videos come up. And I hope
that you enjoy them, and as always,

34
00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,919
please do leave comments on them,
as it does help the algorithm push

35
00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:46,759
my videos out and get more people
following me. So let's talk about today's

36
00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:53,360
episode. So today's episode is all
about how to protect strawberries. Now,

37
00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:58,879
there's many different ways out there tried
and tested, and some work, some

38
00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:04,439
don't work, but it's all about
trying to protect them as much as possible.

39
00:03:04,759 --> 00:03:08,800
Now, everything loves strawberries, whether
it be birds, whether it be

40
00:03:08,879 --> 00:03:14,039
wood lies, whether it be wasps
and bees, whether it be mice,

41
00:03:14,439 --> 00:03:23,879
ants, humans, But yeah,
everything loves strawberries. And more often than

42
00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,599
not, when I've been growing strawberries, when they're turning ripe and you pick

43
00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,400
them up and turn them over and
it's got a massive hole in it form

44
00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:37,159
a woodlice, what's been eating them? And obviously the birds love them.

45
00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:39,840
And I'm having a few shoes with
the birds at the moment. The birds

46
00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:45,199
have eaten all my gooseberries, and
yeah, I'm not happy at the moment

47
00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:51,599
with how many goosberries it's eating.
I call the not pigeing the blackbird in

48
00:03:51,639 --> 00:03:55,319
action today trying to eat bits and
bobs from my goosberry plants. So you've

49
00:03:55,360 --> 00:04:00,240
got to make sure that we do
protect and from the birds. So what

50
00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:02,240
I will be doing tomorrow is I
will be covering them over with netting.

51
00:04:02,759 --> 00:04:09,319
However, this doesn't stop from slugs. It doesn't stop the wood lies from

52
00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:14,080
eating them. So there's other ways
that you can stop certain things from attacking

53
00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,560
them. So one of the ways
that, obviously it is not a very

54
00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,959
good way, is using slug palettes, as obviously people are against that,

55
00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:27,759
but I must. I do use
them myself around certain things because I don't

56
00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:34,879
want them getting attacked and eaten.
And yeah, also there is another way,

57
00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:43,519
and that is to paint a rock
red and paint it like a strawberry.

58
00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,519
I don't know how true and if
this actually works or not, or

59
00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:51,800
whether it's a successful thing that works, but I've seen it all over the

60
00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:56,639
internet. People share it like mad. And what it's meant to do is

61
00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,480
that the red rock on it is
meant to out like strawberry. Birds will

62
00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:02,639
come down, they'll peck on it, they'll realize it's not a food,

63
00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:08,160
and they'll learn not to eat the
strawberries. How birds learn not to eat

64
00:05:08,199 --> 00:05:11,839
the strawberries, I don't know.
But if you've tried it and it works

65
00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:15,399
for you, let me know.
I would love to know if it's worked

66
00:05:15,399 --> 00:05:20,000
for you, but I wouldn't go
off that alone personally. Obviously, the

67
00:05:20,079 --> 00:05:26,000
netting is the main thing to stop
the birds from doing it. Now,

68
00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,399
how do you stop insects from eating
the fruit? Now, I've seen another

69
00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:40,279
fantastic idea which looks really useful.
Successful, can be expensive, but it's

70
00:05:40,319 --> 00:05:44,240
worth it if you want to protect
those strawberries, and that is to purchase

71
00:05:44,439 --> 00:05:48,519
wedding favorite bags. Yes, wedding
favorite bags. Now, wedding favorite bags

72
00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:55,720
are quite small and there they've got
tiny holes in them, so let's see

73
00:05:55,720 --> 00:06:00,639
air through and lets the breathe.
So what you're doing, put the clump

74
00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:05,040
of strawberries what they're growing, inside
the wedding favor bag and tie it while

75
00:06:05,079 --> 00:06:11,000
they're obviously still growing. This will
stop any ant. It will stop the

76
00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,600
wood lies from getting in. The
only way they get in is through the

77
00:06:14,639 --> 00:06:18,279
gap in the top if you've not
tightened it enough. And yeah, it

78
00:06:18,439 --> 00:06:24,720
looks a really successful idea. Like
I said, it's obviously expensive, but

79
00:06:24,879 --> 00:06:28,680
once you purchased the wedding favor bags
the last three years, the last three

80
00:06:28,759 --> 00:06:34,000
years, and it will be worth
it for the good strawberries. So if

81
00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:40,079
you're wanting ultimate protection, I suggest
getting some wedding favor bags. I don't

82
00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:42,759
know if I'm going to do it. I might order some. We'll give

83
00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,600
it a try, show you how
it's done. But yeah, I might

84
00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:50,079
actually try that. I might order
some actually straight after this podcast and give

85
00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:54,920
it a try and see what happens
if it does protect them or not.

86
00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,199
So stay tuned for that, and
then I'll do a little video on it.

87
00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:05,360
But there's obviously you can grow strawberries
in pots which are off the ground,

88
00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:11,120
which prevent a lot of little animals
that crawl around on the ground eating

89
00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,480
them. Obviously, they'll still get
attacked by birds and stuff, so you

90
00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,519
still need to cover them with netting, but it reduces the risk of them

91
00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,360
getting to eatn because they're not on
the ground. And the only thing with

92
00:07:21,439 --> 00:07:26,639
growing them in pots is that they
will dry out a lot faster, so

93
00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,040
you'll have to make sure you keep
them watered on a regular basis. And

94
00:07:30,439 --> 00:07:36,839
obviously the strawberries run hang over the
sides so it's easier to pick as well,

95
00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:42,360
so that is a good option.
So yeah, there's quite a few

96
00:07:42,439 --> 00:07:47,519
options out there on how to protect
your strawberries from the birds, the insects,

97
00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:51,360
the animals, and let me know
if you've got any good methods on

98
00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:57,360
keeping pests away from eating your strawberries. So please do get in touch.

99
00:07:57,399 --> 00:08:01,800
Obviously, you can get in touch
with me by my Instagram age and get

100
00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,120
in to us there. So if
you're not following me on Instagram, do

101
00:08:05,199 --> 00:08:09,160
give me a follow. I'm on
Instagram, I go live regularly on TikTok

102
00:08:09,279 --> 00:08:13,160
at night and on my allotment and
chatting to people on TikTok, so feel

103
00:08:13,199 --> 00:08:16,639
free to follow me on there.
And I hope that you've enjoyed this episode.

104
00:08:16,639 --> 00:08:20,480
It's a little different to usual.
Usually I'm talking about what I've been

105
00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:22,439
up to around at the plot,
but it's good to share tips and advice

106
00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:26,279
as well, and I know people
enjoy that. So if you've enjoyed this

107
00:08:26,399 --> 00:08:31,480
episode, please do give it a
like, leave a comment or question in

108
00:08:31,879 --> 00:08:37,440
the podcast, and please feel free
to share it to a friend or two

109
00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:41,639
as obviously the more people that listen
to it, the more it will get

110
00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:46,679
out there. So until tomorrow's episode, remember keep smiling, keep shining,

111
00:08:46,879 --> 00:08:54,600
and keep gardening with bet everyone.
Thank you for joining me on this episode

112
00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,399
of Gardening with Ben. I hope
you've have found some useful tips and inspiration

113
00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:03,679
for your own gardening and a lotment
journey. If you have enjoyed today's episode,

114
00:09:03,879 --> 00:09:09,799
please make sure to follow and subscribe
to the podcast so you'll never miss

115
00:09:09,879 --> 00:09:11,879
a new episode. And if you
have a moment, I'd love for you

116
00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:18,399
to leave a review and share the
podcast with fellow gardening enthusiasts. Your support

117
00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:24,480
helps us grow this community and continue
bringing you great content. You can also

118
00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:30,039
follow us on social media on every
platform, or Gardening with Ben for daily

119
00:09:30,279 --> 00:09:35,240
gardening tips and both days happy gardening, and until next time, remember keep

120
00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:39,399
smiling, keep shining, and keep
Gardening with Ben