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Welcome to Gardening with Ben, the
podcast where we dig into the soil of

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our gardens and the depths of our
green funds. I'm your host, Ben,

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here to guide you through the joys
of gardening, from sowing seeds to

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reaping bountiful harvests. Each episode will
explore tips, tricks, and tales from

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the Garden and Allotment, sharing insights
from ourself and stories from our own back

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garden adventures. Whether you're a seasoned
gardener or just getting your hands dirty for

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the first time, there's something here
for everyone, So grab your brew and

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gardening gloves and let's get growing.
With Gardening with Ben. Hello, and

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welcome to our episode of what jobs
need doing in the Garden and Allotment in

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February. So this podcast is going
to talk about all the different jobs that

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we need to be getting done ready
for the springtime and ready for the things

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to start growing. If you didn't
listen to yesterday's episode, make sure you

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do have less to it because we
was talking about all the things that you

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can start to grow in February,
So make sure you go back and listen

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to that episode after this one.
So as the winter chills linger and the

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first signs of springs began to emerge. February stands as a pivotal month for

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gardeners and allotment holders alike. It's
time of preparation, planning, and early

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planting, a month where the groundwork
laid can set the tone for the fruitful

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months ahead. In this episode of
Gardening with Ben, we delve into the

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essential gardening and allotment jobs that beckon
our attention in February, from the wakeful

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stretch of the dormant beds to the
promise held within each seed packet. February's

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tasks are as varied and as they
are vital. We'll explore how to protect

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your budding aspirations from lake frost,
the art of chitting potatoes in anticipation of

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their planting, and the precise timing
to sow the seeds of success For early

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vegetables and flowers. Pruning takes precedents
as well, with fruit trees and bushes

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needing careful attention to shape that year's
growth. Meanwhile, the soil itself calls

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for enrichment, whether through edition of
well wrotted manure or careful planning of crop

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rotation and showing your land remains fertile
and production. Join us as we guide

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you through these February tasks, sharing
tips advice from our own tales of the

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soil. Whether a seasoned gardener or
beginning to cultivate your green from, this

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episode is packed with the insights and
help your garden will thrive for the coming

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year. So sit back, relax, and grab yourself a brew and a

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notepad and we'll get talking about what
we need to do down at the allotment.

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So, as I said, the
best thing to do is have a

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notepad ready because we'll be talking about
all the tasks what need to be done

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at the allotment and garden in February. And as you know, I do

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like to make a note of things
so that I could tick them off once

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they're completed, and then you know
you've done them. You know you've got

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them out of the way, and
then jobs are done and then you can

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concentrate on all the other jobs that
need doing down at the allotment and in

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the garden. So we're going to
talk about what jobs need to be done

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this month down at the allotment and
garden, and we'll do it in three

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sections. What needs to be done
in the vegetable garden, what needs to

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be done in the fruit garden,
and what needs to be done in the

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flower garden. So yeah, let's
delve into today's episode. So there's not

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much to be done in the vegetable
garden because there's not much growing at the

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moment and there's only a few little
jobs that we need doing so this month,

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if you're growing asparagus, you need
to put some multu around them.

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Adding multu will give them that extra
start to the year and give them that

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extra struck in growing and getting some
fantastic crops from them. So put a

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bit of mult around them to give
them the fruit into the soil of what

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they need to get growing. Next
up is beds. Prepare your allotment and

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kitchen garden beds by weeding them,
turning them over and covering them with plastic

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to warm them up ready for growing
this year. And once you've got them

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all weeded, you can hopefully keep
on top of them with a hole and

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keep them weed free if only.
Next up are potatoes. If you've not

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started chating your potatoes, then now
is the perfect time to be doing so

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on the allotment and garden for the
year. So yeah, I usually start

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cheating my potatoes because it gives them
the actual little start ready for planting out

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in Good Friday, because I always
plant my potatoes out and Good Friday.

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It's a rule I stuck by.
It's an old gardener's tail, but it's

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something that I've always stuck by.
So that's everything that you need to do

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in the vegetable garden this month.
Like I said, not many jobs,

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but I usually use these monsters preparing
ready for the monks ahead. Next up

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is fruit trees and fruit bushes.
So if you've got apple trees, these

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can still be pruned. While the
trees are still dormant. They'll start waking

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up in March April time, so
now is the time to prune them back.

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Black currants, prune these if you've
not done so, ready for the

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year's growth. Fruit bushers. If
you've got fruit bushes, add some potassium

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fertilizer this month on your fruit bushes
for great growth this year. Gooseberries,

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if you've not pruned them again,
you can still do that this month.

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Same girls. For pear trees,
get them pruned as well. Raspberries.

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This is the last month that you
can prune your raspberries. Autumn varieties can

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be prune to the ground sum of
the varieties. You leave last year's growth

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for the fruit, but prune the
canes which had fruit on them last year

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and trim off the tops of your
new growth to make them bush out more.

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Red currants and black currants can both
be pruned as well this month.

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Rhubob If you're wanted an early crop
of rhubob, why not try forcing it.

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It's not something I do. I
let mangrow or natural and yeah,

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if you wanted an earlier crop,
try forced it. Strawberries. If you

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wanted an early crop of strawberries,
cover them with a clotch. That will

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start them growing faster. Not something
I do. I just usually wait until

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the ready, But if you wanted
an earlier crop, cover them with a

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clotch to keep them warm. Stone
fruit protect blossoms on nectarines, apricots and

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peachers from cold weather with a fleece. So that's all the jobs which you

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can do in February in the fruit
garden. Again, not too many jobs.

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I usually had a winter wash on
my fruit trees as well, which

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protects them from the moths and from
insects and It just gives them that little

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bit extra protection from them being nibbled
and eaten away. So what can we

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do in the flower garden? Again, there's not many jobs to be done

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this month in the flower guard.
There's not many jobs to do in the

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garden at the moment at all.
But the jobs that need doing in the

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flower garden are clematists. These can
be pruned back now ready for the months

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ahead. So pruneus summer clematists back
this month. Futures these can be prone

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back to two buds on each shoot
this month, ready for the month ahead,

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and heathers can also be pruned back
as well. If you're going pans

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is, make sure you keep dead
heading them because the more you deadhead them,

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the more they'll carry it on flowering. If you let them grow and

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you're not deadhead of them, they'll
go to seed and then they'll start dying

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off for the year ahead. So
make sure you're deadheaded and it will keep

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the continuous growth growing on the allotment. So that's everything that can be done

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in the flower garden. Like I
said, not many jobs to be done

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at all down at the allotment this
month, but I usually use this month

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as a time for preparation for the
ear head. What I will do is

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I'll repair all the beds, I'll
get them all painted, I'll tide it

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by paths up, any fencing that's
blowing down or any rotted posts, will

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replace all them, get them all
ready. There's always plenty of jobs to

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be done down at the Allotment,
and the same goes for like any greenhouse.

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You can be washing your plant pots, your seed trays, disinfecting it

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all, killing off any bugs that
may be hiding around, and any diseases

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as well, because you wouldn't want
any disease us in your new plans.

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So get them all washed and get
them all ready because next month is going

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to be a very busy month of
doing it. So this episode has been

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a very short episode on all the
jobs what he'd doing in February in the

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Gardening and Allotment. I hope you've
enjoyed it. Make sure you click that

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follow button, make sure you click
that subscribe button, and then you'll be

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able to stay up to date with
all these episodes that we put up here

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on the Allotment. And yeah,
make sure you go back and listen to

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all the other episodes as well,
because there's plenty of episodes on here.

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I hope you've enjoyed it. Remember
to leave a review, as that does

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help push out the podcast, So
make sure you come back tomorrow for tomorrow's

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podcast. And remember, keep smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening with

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Ben. Everybody, and that wraps
up another episode of Gardening with Ben.

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Thank you for joining me in this
journey. Remember every seed planted is a

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step towards a greener world, and
every day is a chance to grow something

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beautiful. Keep nurturing your gardens and
your souls. Until next time, I'm

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Gardening with Ben reminding you to let
your garden be your sanctuary. Happy gardening,

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and see you in the next episode. Remember keep smiling, keep shining,

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and keep gardening with