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 --> 00:00:31,920 from planting, sewing and growing. We will share all the tips and add 7 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:37,679 advice. We will also have regular episodes talking about what we have been up 8 00:00:37,719 --> 00:00:42,799 to on the Alltment. So sit back, grab a brew and enjoy today's 9 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:50,880 episode. Hey everyone, and welcome to Gardening with Ben for a brand new 10 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:55,759 episode. And I think the weather actually listened to my podcast yesterday when I 11 00:00:55,799 --> 00:01:02,000 said West summer, it's certainly here. Wow, been a boiling day to 12 00:01:02,079 --> 00:01:08,640 day, absolutely sweating so much and plenty of sunscreen on while out in the 13 00:01:08,719 --> 00:01:14,840 garden. And yeah, it got to about twenty one degrees. I know 14 00:01:14,879 --> 00:01:18,359 if you're listening to this in a different country you might be used to that 15 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:22,799 weather, but that is good for the UK. And wow, has it 16 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:27,000 been hot. Absolutely glorious weather. And yeah, I spent a few hours 17 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,519 down at the allotment. Today didn't do an awful lot, but I did 18 00:01:30,599 --> 00:01:38,120 plenty as I had hope to get done. And today's jobs have been quite 19 00:01:38,359 --> 00:01:46,560 good. And I've started taking some cuttings from my futures and from my lavender 20 00:01:46,599 --> 00:01:49,480 plants. I may have talked about this in yesterday's episode. I can't remember 21 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:53,359 what I told about, to be honest, but I have taken some cuttings 22 00:01:53,359 --> 00:02:00,920 from my lavender and from my futures. Now my futures or only I only 23 00:02:00,959 --> 00:02:05,120 purchased them this year, and they've grown so well, so I thought I'm 24 00:02:05,159 --> 00:02:08,000 going to take some cuttings from them and give them a try. So I've 25 00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:13,599 taken thirty cuttings from my futures and you might fit. Wow, thirty plants. 26 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:15,719 But yeah, if I could get all these growing, or as many 27 00:02:15,759 --> 00:02:20,879 as possible, then I can have futures all the way down the side of 28 00:02:20,879 --> 00:02:25,599 my borders and it'll look absolutely gorgeous. And that's the plan. Because futures 29 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,879 do spread, they fill out, they have plenty of flowers on, they 30 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:35,599 look absolutely beautiful and hopefully it attract plenty of bees to the allotment. So 31 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:39,280 I've taken thirty cuttings. So I brought them all home, ready to strip 32 00:02:39,319 --> 00:02:44,039 the bottoms of the leaves off and stick them in some water and pray that 33 00:02:44,039 --> 00:02:47,840 they'll take root. But this is the first time taking futures cuttings, so 34 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:53,120 fingers crossed. We can give it a try. We may have a look, 35 00:02:53,319 --> 00:02:55,240 we may not have look. We'll find out. And that's the plan. 36 00:02:57,039 --> 00:03:01,960 And we've also taken some cutting from my lavender plants as well, which 37 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:07,080 I planted this year. I purchased these from Tesco and they're about three pounds 38 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:13,439 fifty each and they again look absolutely beautiful, so I thought, why not, 39 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:16,080 we'll give it a try. It's free plants to end the day. 40 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:21,719 So it took absolutely loads of cuttings off them as well. And I'll watching 41 00:03:21,759 --> 00:03:24,520 a YouTube video because yes, I do look out for tips and advice as 42 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:29,560 well, because again I don't know everything, and I'm quite new to taking 43 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:35,800 cuttings. And they were suggesting the idea of putting them in soil to take 44 00:03:36,199 --> 00:03:39,080 root, but I thought, I want to try them water. So I 45 00:03:39,199 --> 00:03:44,879 brought them home and I'm going to stick them in some water and see if 46 00:03:44,919 --> 00:03:50,479 they take route, see if we get a good amount of lavender cuttings growing. 47 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,639 So next year I could have a load of futures and a load of 48 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,319 lavender growing in my allotment. But we'll have to see. We'll have to 49 00:03:57,319 --> 00:04:00,199 see. It's trial by error, and every day is a learning day in 50 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,560 the gardening world, and that is certainly what I've been up to today. 51 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:11,240 So I've got all them cuttings. I've obviously taken my cuttings from my roses 52 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:15,159 by climbing roses yesterday. They're at the a lot, but they are in 53 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,399 soil, so we're keeping them watered, keeping them hydrated, and we'll see 54 00:04:19,439 --> 00:04:25,079 if we get some climbing roses growing. You never know. I can give 55 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,399 it a try. We'll see how we get on. It's all look of 56 00:04:28,439 --> 00:04:32,040 the drawer, and it's all fun. I wouldn't be bothered if I didn't 57 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,560 get any growing or anything like that. I'm just here to have fun and 58 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:41,720 enjoying myself, experiment and learn something new. Now, ideally I'd love to 59 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,199 take some hydreender cuttings, but my hydrangeres aren't that big yet. But I 60 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:50,279 might have a look again on YouTube seeing how to take hydranger cuttings, and 61 00:04:50,399 --> 00:04:56,000 we may possibly give them a try, as they look absolutely gorgeous to a 62 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:00,680 nice pink color of really, I've got two and the two different pinks as 63 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:05,399 well, so that's nice because it obviously goes off the acid or alkali of 64 00:05:05,519 --> 00:05:11,079 the soil, depending on which ones which, the color of the high grenda 65 00:05:11,639 --> 00:05:15,720 often comes out. So obviously there's quite a bit of acid in my allotment. 66 00:05:15,759 --> 00:05:19,480 That's why they've come out pinky red. And yeah, they look absolutely 67 00:05:19,519 --> 00:05:26,720 gorgeous. So hopefully we might try and take some hydraender cuttings so then we'll 68 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,879 have lots and lots of free plants next year. The case I'll have once 69 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,879 I've planted them all up is to keep them alive until next year. That's 70 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:39,439 my biggest fear. I'm often starting these things, but I never actually see 71 00:05:40,879 --> 00:05:44,519 who else is like that. They'll start like plants off and then they'll just 72 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:46,839 end up killing them all because they've given up or they've not been down to 73 00:05:46,879 --> 00:05:51,199 the garden for a few days. So that's why I brought these cuttings home 74 00:05:51,759 --> 00:05:56,399 to hopefully keep an eye on them at home and see how well they actually 75 00:05:56,439 --> 00:05:59,920 get on and get started, because now is the perfect time to be going 76 00:06:00,079 --> 00:06:03,480 of it taking cuttings, and I want to try and get some cuttings and 77 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:08,720 some other stuff as well and seeing if we can get other stuff growing. 78 00:06:09,079 --> 00:06:11,199 It's worth a try and again, at the end of the day, you're 79 00:06:11,199 --> 00:06:15,759 not losing anything. It's free and you've got lots of plants out of it. 80 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:19,199 And if you've got free cuttings, you can obviously give them friends and 81 00:06:19,319 --> 00:06:24,480 family as well for them to have in their garden, and you could say 82 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:29,720 you contributed to it as well. So we've done all that. We've also 83 00:06:30,199 --> 00:06:34,560 been sorting out some of my tomato plants what are growing outside. They're growing 84 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:39,680 pretty well and pretty fast now. I'm impressed with how well they're actually coming 85 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:47,160 on. These are what I started from seed from Tescos tomatoes mixed variety box 86 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,600 off tomatoes, yellow, orange and red. I started some of those seeds 87 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:56,240 off and then I planted them all outside. I did this last year and 88 00:06:56,319 --> 00:06:59,920 got a fantastic crop. Obviously not as big a crop as what you're getting 89 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,759 Greenou polytunnel. But the reason why I grew them outside is because of the 90 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:09,160 heat wave of the year before last and it killed all my plants off in 91 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:13,480 the polytunnel as it was too hot and there were water restrictions and stuff like 92 00:07:13,519 --> 00:07:15,920 that, so I planted them in the soil and I had good success. 93 00:07:15,959 --> 00:07:19,160 Last year. I got a great crop, enough just for me. So 94 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:24,120 we're doing that again this year, and there's plenty of flowers growing on them. 95 00:07:24,199 --> 00:07:27,680 We'd be putting the canes in, fastening them up, sorting them all 96 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:34,199 out, and hopefully we'll get some decent tomatoes to eat. I've also brought 97 00:07:34,199 --> 00:07:40,879 my beetroot home as well, what I harvested the other day, so I 98 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:46,600 need to YouTube that again. YouTube to see how to cook beetroot in my 99 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,639 airfire. So hopefully we'll be alive tomorrow if we've not killed the stuff. 100 00:07:53,279 --> 00:07:56,079 But we'll give it a try. We'll give it a shot and see how 101 00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:00,240 well we'll get on with cooking some beetroot. It doesn't look that too too 102 00:08:00,279 --> 00:08:03,360 hard in the air fire, but we'll let you know how we get on, 103 00:08:03,439 --> 00:08:07,079 and I may post a photo of what it actually looks like once it 104 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:09,680 comes out of the air fire. And I need to go and get some 105 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:11,560 foil wrap them in. That's one thing that I have read up on, 106 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,480 so we need to get some foil for that. We've also been sorting out 107 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:20,600 some of our climbing beans, as I'd not put up some supports for them. 108 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,480 I didn't think they get that tall, but they have got tolls, 109 00:08:24,519 --> 00:08:26,800 so we put some netting up for them to climb up and for them to 110 00:08:26,879 --> 00:08:33,200 sort themselves out and hopefully get some beans growing on them. And one guess 111 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:37,360 what I've noticed today on my runner beans. I've actually got some beans growing 112 00:08:37,399 --> 00:08:41,039 on them already. They were hiding. I didn't think they'd be ready yet 113 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:46,399 because like it's only July time, and I thought, surely they're usually ready 114 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:50,240 around August September time. But no, We've got lots of runner beans coming 115 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:54,200 already, so looking forward to having them on a Sunday dinner with some white 116 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:56,559 sauce on. So I'm pleased with how well the runner beans are coming on. 117 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:01,639 We've obviously still got loads and loads of piece to come. We've got 118 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:05,080 potatoes left to harvest, so we've still got lots and lots of crops coming. 119 00:09:05,519 --> 00:09:09,320 And my lettis is starting to get to the end of itself now, 120 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:11,279 so we need to harvest as much as that and get it all out of 121 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:16,159 the ground and hopefully get some more in as well, get some more lettuce 122 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:20,279 growing in his place, and obviously I gave it a massive water in as 123 00:09:20,279 --> 00:09:24,480 well today. As I'm working for the next four days, hopefully there'll be 124 00:09:24,519 --> 00:09:28,360 a podcast every single day. I'm hoping to plan to record some for you 125 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:33,399 to listen to. Now. These will be talking about tips and advice rather 126 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:35,039 than what I'm getting up to my allotment because I won't have been to my 127 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,639 allotment for the next four days, so I'm praying that it rains on the 128 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:43,039 days when I'm actually working. Never know, usually it rains on my days 129 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,440 off, but I'm hoping it rains on my days when i'm working. But 130 00:09:46,519 --> 00:09:50,159 yeah, I gave my allotment a really good water in today. I've watered 131 00:09:50,159 --> 00:09:54,519 all my cucumbers what's inside my polytunnel, so hopefully they'll be all right for 132 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:58,840 the next few days. Obviously I should really go down and water the cucumbers 133 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:03,600 in the polytunnel. Even if it rains, it obviously won't rain inside the 134 00:10:03,639 --> 00:10:07,720 polytunnel, so we need to have a look possibly going down and checking on 135 00:10:07,759 --> 00:10:11,759 them later in the week. So hopefully i'll be back down at my allotment 136 00:10:11,799 --> 00:10:18,279 on Saturday, when we'll be back harvesting doing more work and hopefully throwing some 137 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,240 more seeds as well. I didn't get a chance to go to the shops 138 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:26,519 to get some seeds, so I'm hoping to get down there and get some 139 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:31,720 seeds ready for the weekend and hopefully get some planting done. But we've got 140 00:10:31,799 --> 00:10:35,279 lots and lots of stuff growing. I looked at my blackberries today. My 141 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:39,039 blackberries are forming, they're getting already. We've got absolutely loads on my phone 142 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:43,600 less BlackBerry plan. It's doing so well. I'm impressed with how well it's 143 00:10:43,639 --> 00:10:48,919 growing. And my loganberries are throwing out lots of new canes ready for next 144 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:54,799 year. Remember with logan berries will grow on the cane what grew the previous 145 00:10:54,879 --> 00:10:58,200 year, so all the canes what are growing this year, with homet all 146 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,720 the side shoots, they'll have logan berries on next year. So yeah, 147 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:05,240 hopefully we'll get a fantastic crop. And I'm starting to train them all as 148 00:11:05,279 --> 00:11:11,159 well and tie them all up as they're growing everywhere, because I don't want 149 00:11:11,159 --> 00:11:13,720 them growing along the ground. I want them off of the ground. So 150 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:18,000 we've been tying them all up, keeping on tracker, keeping them supported and 151 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:24,480 hopefully they'll survive until next year and we'll get some decent crops. So yeah, 152 00:11:24,879 --> 00:11:28,039 it has been a pretty good day down at the allotment. So I'm 153 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:31,960 going to keep you posted on these futures and these lavender plants. Hopefully they 154 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:35,360 won't die and hopefully we can get them to grow some stuff on them, 155 00:11:35,639 --> 00:11:39,799 some roots on them. I haven't got no rooting powder, so I'm doing 156 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:43,120 it without routing powder. So we're going to try it with ood natural owl 157 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:48,159 water from the council tap. So we'll give that a try and we'll keep 158 00:11:48,159 --> 00:11:52,799 you updated and posted how well they get on. So if you're not following 159 00:11:52,799 --> 00:11:56,279 this podcast, do give it a follower, do give it alike, and 160 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:00,720 be kind enough to share it to your Instagram store as well. There should 161 00:12:00,759 --> 00:12:03,399 be a share button if you're feeling like you want to share it to your 162 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:09,720 followers to listen to. So thanks for all the supporters. Always remember keep 163 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:18,360 smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening with everyone. Thank you for joining 164 00:12:18,399 --> 00:12:22,360 me on this episode of Gardening with Ben. I hope you have found some 165 00:12:22,519 --> 00:12:28,440 useful tips and instegiration for your own gardening and a lotment journey. If you 166 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:33,960 have enjoyed today's episode, please make sure to follow and subscribe to the podcast 167 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:37,559 so you never miss a new episode, and if you have a moment, 168 00:12:37,639 --> 00:12:41,200 I'd love for you to leave a review and share the podcast. But fellow 169 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:48,360 gardening enthusiasts, your support helps us grow as commuter and continue bringing you great 170 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:52,639 content. You can also follow us on social media on every platform for all 171 00:12:52,759 --> 00:12:58,679 gardening with Ben for daily gardening tips and to days happy gardening. And until 172 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:05,200 next time, remember keep smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening with them.