1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:04,480 Welcome to Gardening with Ben, the podcast where we dig into the soil of 2 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:09,160 our gardens and the depths of our green funds. I'm your host, Ben, 3 00:00:09,359 --> 00:00:12,839 here to guide you through the joints of gardening, from sowing seeds to 4 00:00:12,919 --> 00:00:18,280 reaping bountiful harvests. Each episode will explore tips, tricks, and tales from 5 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:24,800 the garden and allotment, sharing insights from ourself and stories from our own back 6 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:29,719 garden adventures. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just getting your hands dirty for 7 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:33,960 the first time, there's something here for everyone, So grab your brew and 8 00:00:34,039 --> 00:00:40,719 gardening gloves and let's get growing with Gardening with Ben. Hello, and welcome 9 00:00:40,759 --> 00:00:47,600 back to Gardening with Ben for another podcast of this week. Well today it 10 00:00:47,679 --> 00:00:54,240 is Friday, the weekend is nearly here. And yeah, hopefully the snow 11 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:58,520 has gone by the time this podcast clout. As we were talking in yesterday's 12 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:03,880 podcast, the snow has been falling. But I've recorded this straight after the 13 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,319 other one. I don't know if the snow's gone yet, but I'll be 14 00:01:07,359 --> 00:01:11,200 in bed because I've been on night shift, so I'm recording these podcasts in 15 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:17,840 advance. Oh yeah, just keep you up to day and keep you with 16 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:21,920 something to listen to, because now that I've got back into doing them again, 17 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,599 I'm getting the messages from people saying, oh, I love listening to 18 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,359 your podcast, thank you for bringing them back, and everything like that. 19 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:34,519 So I do appreciate that people have been giving me good feedback on them. 20 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:41,079 And if you've not left a review or rating on these podcasts, please do. 21 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:44,359 It should be either on Spotify or Apple. You should be able to 22 00:01:44,439 --> 00:01:48,120 leave a review. And the more people that do it, the more people 23 00:01:48,159 --> 00:01:51,239 that will listen to them. So it does help me get out there. 24 00:01:51,239 --> 00:01:55,480 But thank you for everyone that does support me so far. So yeah, 25 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:59,840 what are we up to today? Well, we're going to be talking about 26 00:02:00,599 --> 00:02:02,840 we're gonna have our weekly catch up each week. I like to do a 27 00:02:02,879 --> 00:02:07,960 weekly catch up of what we've been getting up to on the allotment recently. 28 00:02:09,319 --> 00:02:13,599 So what have we been up to on our allotment this week? Well, 29 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:19,840 this week it's been absolutely really busy down on my plot because I've been trying 30 00:02:19,879 --> 00:02:24,120 to get I'm trying to work as hard as I can and get things ready 31 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:29,919 for the springtime because, like I said, the last year in my allotment, 32 00:02:30,039 --> 00:02:34,680 it was absolutely rubbish. It was the worst year of my allotment life 33 00:02:34,719 --> 00:02:39,199 down out of the sixteen seventeen years that I've had my allotment, it was 34 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:43,520 the worst time. But this one's going to be the best one. I 35 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:46,919 can feel it. So I'm trying to put as much effort into getting my 36 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:52,719 allotment looking absolutely fantastic for this year, for the gardening year. And it's 37 00:02:52,759 --> 00:02:57,639 taking a lot of work because I've not really improved my plot a lot over 38 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:00,759 the last five years. Each I like to do a little improvement to my 39 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,879 plot, make it look a bit better, spend a bit of money on 40 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:09,120 it, and improve it. But I've had so many things to improve this 41 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:15,919 year, I've ended up improving them all in one year. Like obviously, 42 00:03:15,159 --> 00:03:20,919 I've rebuilt all my shed and got all that rebuilt and refixed and stripped out 43 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:25,000 all the inside of it, put on new shelving and really gutted it out 44 00:03:25,039 --> 00:03:30,879 and started from scratch with the shed. Then my polytunnel got ripped from the 45 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:35,080 wind and everything like that, so I had to fix all that and seal 46 00:03:35,159 --> 00:03:38,080 it all. Then I put wood chip around all my rhubarb but my fruit 47 00:03:38,159 --> 00:03:44,520 trees, so that all looks nice now. And yeah, it's looking really 48 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,840 fantastic, and so I'm moving on to my main part of the plot, 49 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:53,439 and that's why I do all my growing and all my vegetables, and yeah, 50 00:03:53,719 --> 00:03:58,439 I'm trying to improve all that. And a lot of the beds hered 51 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,159 deteriorated over the last few years. It'd rotted, so they'd all come apart, 52 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:06,039 and all the posts what they were fastening to and all rotted. So 53 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:11,039 I've had to repair all them. So I've rebuilt all my beds, and 54 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:15,759 it's about like I've got about sixteen beds in total, so I've rebuilt all 55 00:04:15,879 --> 00:04:19,399 them. And some of the paths were wider and thinner each other, and 56 00:04:19,439 --> 00:04:24,279 I've made them all wide enough to fit paving slabs down them, so that 57 00:04:24,319 --> 00:04:27,519 if I ever get any paving slabs, I can just shove the paving slabs 58 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:32,120 straight into the path if you get me, and make it proper out of 59 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,959 paving slabs. Each year, I keep finding some of our paving slabs, 60 00:04:35,959 --> 00:04:41,000 and people keep giving back, so we keep filling those paths in. Eventually 61 00:04:41,079 --> 00:04:43,879 it'll all be paved. I'm not paying for the paving slabs because it's so 62 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,480 expensive now to buy it's unbelievable so any of that I get for free, 63 00:04:47,639 --> 00:04:53,399 I will use on my plot. And yeah, all my paths are all 64 00:04:53,399 --> 00:04:57,319 looking good. And I've used black membrane in the past for the past to 65 00:04:57,439 --> 00:05:00,319 keep the weeds out and stuff, but it it starts to get a bit 66 00:05:00,439 --> 00:05:04,399 ripped in, a bit ragged and horrible after a while. So what I've 67 00:05:04,439 --> 00:05:11,439 done is I've wood chipped all the paths, which obviously will rock down after 68 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,759 a couple of years, but it's all wood chipped and it'll keep all the 69 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,720 weeds down and it's easy to walk on. It's not slippery like mud like 70 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:26,000 the other paths were. So they're all looking fantastic now. And the figure 71 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,319 is with wood chip. Like I say, it'll rot down, but I 72 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,720 can just keep adding some to it every single year. Just keep adding to 73 00:05:31,759 --> 00:05:35,879 the wood chip paths and it'll keep the weeds down and it'll keep it looking 74 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:40,800 nice and posh. And wow, it does look posh at the moment. 75 00:05:40,959 --> 00:05:44,000 It looks a lot better than it did. If you've not followed me on 76 00:05:44,079 --> 00:05:46,560 Instagram, go and have a look on Instagram and you'll be able to have 77 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,360 a look at my plot. My profile is gardening with Ben, So make 78 00:05:50,399 --> 00:05:54,199 sure you go and have a look at that. We've got eleven thousand followers 79 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,759 now and we've got the Bluetick verifications, so you know it is actually me. 80 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,040 So we've got that all sort of. So all the paths are done. 81 00:06:02,319 --> 00:06:08,160 The next job will be to get all the beds painted. I like 82 00:06:08,199 --> 00:06:13,079 to paint them a nice green every single year. You don't have to paint 83 00:06:13,079 --> 00:06:15,959 your beds, but I like to do it to try and stop the beds 84 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,439 from rotten as fast, and it makes it look a lot nicer. Once 85 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:23,000 we're all painted, it makes it all look fresh for the year ahead. 86 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:28,319 So we'll be going out and getting some wood paint soon. I'm not going 87 00:06:28,399 --> 00:06:31,240 to probably paint them until March time when the weather's got a bit better, 88 00:06:31,319 --> 00:06:36,839 because it does wash off after a while. It doesn't stay really green that 89 00:06:36,959 --> 00:06:42,160 long, so we need the weather to improve before I start painting on them. 90 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,759 And I actually really hate painting, so it's not a job that I'm 91 00:06:45,759 --> 00:06:48,720 looking forward to doing. But we'll get them done. We'll get them done 92 00:06:48,759 --> 00:06:54,920 eventually. So we've got all the beds to paint. We've also got all 93 00:06:54,959 --> 00:06:58,680 the fencing to fix down the side of the plot. But that's my last 94 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,720 job, as it's not as important as getting all my plot ready, but 95 00:07:01,759 --> 00:07:05,160 we'll somed be moving on to that fencing. Because all my plot is nearly 96 00:07:05,199 --> 00:07:10,160 finished. It's all nearly ready for this year. I can't believe how much 97 00:07:10,199 --> 00:07:13,600 I've done. And then obviously I need to dig over all my beds, 98 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,480 get them are prepared, and we've add some food into the beds to make 99 00:07:16,519 --> 00:07:23,680 them more richer and more better. But yeah, so hopefully we're going to 100 00:07:23,759 --> 00:07:29,920 have some great looking vegetables growing in there this year and some flowers. Obviously 101 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:32,800 I'll be having a lot of sunflowers on my plot this year, so stay 102 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,560 tuned for that. So we've done all that. I've also fixed a couple 103 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:42,639 of beds near my entrance where some of my speaking pulps workers. Again they'd 104 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,040 rotted. But I've got that much wood on my plot it's unbelievable. So 105 00:07:46,519 --> 00:07:48,879 I'm making use of all the wood that I've got rather than burn it or 106 00:07:48,879 --> 00:07:54,079 throw it away, just to improve it all and make it look better. 107 00:07:55,279 --> 00:07:59,319 So I've been doing all that. What else have we been doing down at 108 00:07:59,319 --> 00:08:03,560 the plot? I don't think I've really been doing a lot more because we've 109 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:09,319 been getting this main plot area already for this year. Hopefully next week the 110 00:08:09,319 --> 00:08:13,079 weather will be better and the snow will have gone and it will be a 111 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:18,240 bit warmer again. Hopefully. Mind you, we've not had bad days over 112 00:08:18,279 --> 00:08:20,879 the last few days. It has been pretty warm, so hopefully it'll be 113 00:08:20,959 --> 00:08:26,360 nice next week. And yeah, I want to finish off doing my main 114 00:08:26,399 --> 00:08:30,800 plot area getting the best. I've got a couple more beds to build, 115 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:33,919 some more rubbish to clear. I've cleared that much rubbish off my plot this 116 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:39,240 year. I don't know where I've accumulated it all from clear, I must 117 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:43,720 have got rid of about thirty big bag falls of rubbish off my plot. 118 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:48,679 It's just amazing how much you cubulate and how much crap you get down there. 119 00:08:48,279 --> 00:08:52,720 Trust Me, if you've got a lotment you will know the same feeling. 120 00:08:52,039 --> 00:08:56,559 But we've got rid of absolutely loads of rubbish, so we've got all 121 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:01,960 that sort and once I finished my plot, hopefully fingers Crossed will be on 122 00:09:03,039 --> 00:09:07,279 to sorting out the fencing afterwards, so we might get onto that next week. 123 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:09,440 We'll see, We'll see. We've only got three days off next week 124 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,360 because when I swap from nights to day, so I only get three days 125 00:09:13,399 --> 00:09:18,080 off, so I'll probably be concentrating just on my plot area, and then 126 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,879 I might do my fencing the week after, so I'll have to stay tuned 127 00:09:20,919 --> 00:09:24,720 for that. The fencing work's going to be a lot of hard work compared 128 00:09:24,759 --> 00:09:30,320 to doing the plot as I'm never good at putting fencing up. I put 129 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:35,600 fencing up a week after it'll I fell down again. I'm no good at 130 00:09:35,639 --> 00:09:39,799 they trust me, I like doing it. I'm just rubbish it it. 131 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,799 I like giving things a go. I'm just really rubbish at the IY. 132 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:48,919 Maybe I need to go on a little course on how to do they, 133 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,960 So if anyone wants to send beyond one, please feel free to. But 134 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:58,960 yeah, also thank you for everybody that looked at my Amazon wish list as 135 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,440 well. If you've not checked it out. It is in the description of 136 00:10:01,519 --> 00:10:05,480 a few little extra bits that I'm hoping to get from my plot. I've 137 00:10:05,519 --> 00:10:07,320 been getting a bit of trouble down there with kids going in my shed and 138 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,039 stuff like that, so I've put a couple of those wildlife cameras in there, 139 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:18,279 just hopefully to catch them and send the footage to the police. But 140 00:10:18,399 --> 00:10:22,279 yeah, hopefully we'll get some of the stuff on the wish list. I 141 00:10:22,279 --> 00:10:24,240 know quite a few people have said, how can we help towards your allotment, 142 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:28,720 So I've set up that wish list and pop some things in it. 143 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:35,360 But yeah, hopefully we'll have another podcast tomorrow. Obviously, tomorrow's Saturday, 144 00:10:35,879 --> 00:10:39,799 so hopefully you can get lots and lots of stuff done down at the allotment 145 00:10:39,919 --> 00:10:43,960 and hopefully it's decent weather for it. So have a great day everyone. 146 00:10:43,399 --> 00:10:48,519 Remember, keep smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening with Ben. Everyone, 147 00:10:50,799 --> 00:10:54,879 And that wraps up another episode of Gardening with Ben. Thank you for 148 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:01,120 joining me in this journey. Remember, every seed plan hunted is a step 149 00:11:01,279 --> 00:11:05,799 towards a greener world, and every day is a chance to grow something beautiful. 150 00:11:05,399 --> 00:11:11,759 Keep nurturing your gardens and your souls. Until next time, I'm Gardening 151 00:11:11,799 --> 00:11:16,080 with Ben, reminding you to let your garden be your sanctuary. Happy gardening, 152 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:22,240 and see you in the next episode. Remember, keep smiling, keep 153 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:26,080 shining, and keep Gardening with Ben.