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 --> 00:00:09,080
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 tails 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 --> 00:00:40,520
gardening gloves and let's get growing.
With Gardening with Ben. Hello, and

9
00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:45,679
welcome to the catch up with Gardening
with Ben, the podcast where green funds

10
00:00:45,679 --> 00:00:50,079
and gardening beginners alike gather to share
their love for all things green and growing.

11
00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,240
I'm your host Gardening with Ben,
here to guide you through the wonderful

12
00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:59,320
world of gardening. Each episode will
dive into the latest gardening trends, offer

13
00:00:59,359 --> 00:01:04,680
tips for every season, and answer
your burning horticultural questions. Whether you're cultivating

14
00:01:04,719 --> 00:01:11,000
a window box of herbs or managing
your backyard allotment, join us as we

15
00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:15,920
explore the joys and challengers of gardening. So grab your gloves and your coffee

16
00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:19,799
and let's get our hands dirty in
this week's episode of catch Up with Gardening

17
00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:26,280
with Ben. In this episode of
Gardening with Ben, we're going to be

18
00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:30,719
talking having a little catch up,
just letting you know what we've been up

19
00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,799
to down at the allotment and at
home really and how we're preparing for this

20
00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:42,560
year in the gardening world. So
what have we been up to recently?

21
00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:48,959
So, as you know, the
weather has been absolutely horrendous over the Christmas

22
00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,319
period and the beginning of January.
It's been windy, it's been maining.

23
00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,640
We've not had no frost or snow, but the weather has been absolutely terrible.

24
00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:02,120
So every time it's been raining,
I've been off work, so I've

25
00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,760
not been able to go to the
allotment. I could go in my shed,

26
00:02:05,799 --> 00:02:07,159
but I've done everything that needs to
do with in my shed at the

27
00:02:07,159 --> 00:02:12,759
moment, So it's a case of
sitting it out and waiting for the decent

28
00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,800
weather. And today, as I
record this episode, it was one of

29
00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:23,039
the nicest days that we've had so
far this year. And this episode is

30
00:02:23,039 --> 00:02:28,280
recorded a few days in advance,
so it is it's been absolutely gorgeous down

31
00:02:28,319 --> 00:02:32,199
at the a lotment today. Yes, the ground has been absolutely soaked and

32
00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,639
wet, but we're still being able
to manage to get on and do some

33
00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:42,159
work because obviously it's nice and easy
to weed. The ground will be heavy,

34
00:02:42,599 --> 00:02:46,800
but it's easy to dig those weeds
out and get them all up and

35
00:02:46,879 --> 00:02:50,000
out of the ground, which is
what we're wanting to do. We're wanting

36
00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:54,199
to get all my main plot area
cleared now and we're wanting to get it

37
00:02:54,240 --> 00:03:00,319
all ready for this year. I'm
hoping to get all my main plot area

38
00:03:00,439 --> 00:03:06,080
done by the end of January,
which it's quite a long time giving myself,

39
00:03:06,199 --> 00:03:09,439
but it does need a lot of
work doing to it. So hopefully

40
00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:14,599
we can get on the main plot
area cleared, all the beds to rebuilt,

41
00:03:14,759 --> 00:03:19,159
all the paths laid, and it
looking good for this year, so

42
00:03:19,199 --> 00:03:23,000
we'll see how we get on.
Fingers crossed with manager. Hopefully the weather

43
00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:27,800
will be nice tomorrow as well to
get back down and do some more.

44
00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,680
And yeah, we've set ourselves a
bit of a mission this year, but

45
00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,319
we are going to smash it and
we're going to crack it this year.

46
00:03:36,639 --> 00:03:38,800
It's going to be a good year
down on the allotment. I can tell

47
00:03:39,199 --> 00:03:44,680
that for sure this year, but
we'll see how we get on, so

48
00:03:44,759 --> 00:03:50,319
hopefully things will progress. What else
have we been up to? Well,

49
00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,719
all the bulbs are starting to pop
through on the plot now. I went

50
00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,800
down today, like I said,
and I've had a look around. All

51
00:03:57,879 --> 00:04:01,400
my sping bulbs are starting to pop
through. Now. There's absolutely loads of

52
00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:06,280
bulbs planted in my lot, from
tulips to crocuses, to daffodils, to

53
00:04:06,479 --> 00:04:14,439
hire simps to irises. It's gonna
look absolutely beautiful comes springtime. That's if

54
00:04:14,719 --> 00:04:18,519
the squirrels haven't eaten all the bulbs. Fingers crossed, they've not, and

55
00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,519
we do get a beautiful display down
there. Every year, I keep buying

56
00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,639
some more spring bulbs to plant because
they do take them. I do know

57
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:31,040
they do take them from a plot. But every year we keep planting more

58
00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,959
and more. And I've got a
plan of where I'm going to plant from

59
00:04:34,959 --> 00:04:40,480
next year, the areas that I
wanted to plant them, and I've planted

60
00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,720
them this year, but next year
we've got another area to get them in.

61
00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,360
So we're going to start saving us
pennies ready for next year to plant

62
00:04:48,399 --> 00:04:54,959
them all and hopefully we'll continue to
add the beautiful display that I have down

63
00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:00,240
at my plot on my lotment and
make it look absolutely beautiful. And I

64
00:05:00,319 --> 00:05:03,160
do love the spring bulbs on the
plot, and every year I always say

65
00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:10,480
we all need plant spring bulbs on
this plot to encourage the bees. And

66
00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,600
it's the first thing that the bees
see when they wake up from hibernation,

67
00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:16,639
and it's the first bit of food
that they can get to give them the

68
00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:21,519
energy that they need to get started
ready for the year ahead. And without

69
00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:26,279
the bees, we wouldn't get any
pollination. So we need the bees down

70
00:05:26,439 --> 00:05:31,759
on our plot. So the bulbs
are coming along really really well. And

71
00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,839
in regards to my shed, you
know that I've been doing a lot of

72
00:05:34,879 --> 00:05:42,240
work on my shed recently. Last
year I had a lot of it collapse

73
00:05:42,519 --> 00:05:47,560
and get destroyed through the winter,
through the winds, through the awful winds,

74
00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:56,040
and I've literally stripped it all back
to its framework, rebuilt half of

75
00:05:56,079 --> 00:06:02,079
the shed where it all collapsed,
so I've got bigger shed again and literally

76
00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:09,079
put new plastic on it while recycled
plastic and got all them got all that

77
00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:15,279
sort of got it looking ship shape. I stripped out all the shelving.

78
00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,360
I stripped out all the cupboards out
of the shed. I cleared all the

79
00:06:19,439 --> 00:06:23,399
rubbish out. They must have been
about twenty backs of rubbish in that you

80
00:06:23,439 --> 00:06:29,120
don't realize how much stuff you're store
in your shed of rubbish. Every week.

81
00:06:29,199 --> 00:06:32,160
I kept chucking some bags away,
But we've cleared that much rubbish off.

82
00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:38,439
My allotment is I can't believe that
much I had, even from like

83
00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:43,959
Brooken plant ports and compost bags and
stuff like that. We've chucked absolutely loads

84
00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:48,399
away. So we literally stripped it
back to its core. We've built new

85
00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:55,519
shelving. We've made it all out
of wood. All the shelving before there

86
00:06:55,519 --> 00:06:58,519
were metal shelves and stuff like that, and they were too heavy and they

87
00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,959
kept collapsing and falling down. So
we've made all nice new wooden shelving using

88
00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:08,120
all the wood that I've recycled off
my plot from the shed which I took

89
00:07:08,199 --> 00:07:12,920
down. So hopefully when it starts
to get a bit warmer, I might

90
00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:16,120
get all painted inside the shed.
But that's a job for the backlog.

91
00:07:16,319 --> 00:07:20,600
It's not an important job that needs
doing. It's just a job that's there

92
00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,639
if I want to do it,
just to make the shed look nicer,

93
00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:28,079
but it's not an important job.
So we got all the shed ready,

94
00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:30,680
and that was one of the main
jobs I wanted to get done over the

95
00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,879
winter period because last year I didn't
have my shed, so I couldn't start

96
00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:38,920
all my seeds off and get all
of them growing. I had to purchase

97
00:07:38,959 --> 00:07:43,959
plants and stuff like that. I
couldn't start the seeds off myself, which

98
00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:50,199
made me not do as well on
my plot totally because without the shed,

99
00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:57,160
I weren't able to get it all
growing myself. So I didn't grow much

100
00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:03,800
last year at all. So yeah, hopefully we can get it all started

101
00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,879
again, all the seeds in the
springtime, so we'll have to see about

102
00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,879
them and see if we can get
them all growing. And I've got some

103
00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,639
big plans for some seeds this year. I want a good crop from the

104
00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,279
harvest off my plot this year.
I want to be able to stand proud

105
00:08:20,319 --> 00:08:22,319
and say, yes, I grew
all this on my allotment. Look what

106
00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:26,600
I've grown. So I want to
be impressed with what I do get to

107
00:08:26,639 --> 00:08:33,159
grow this year. So hopefully we
do get some stuff, and yeah,

108
00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:35,960
and please with have the shed to
look in. It was one important area

109
00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:41,759
of my plot that needed fixing.
I'm still looking at my polytunnel thinking I'm

110
00:08:41,759 --> 00:08:46,679
going to have to replace the skin
on there eventually, but it is going

111
00:08:46,759 --> 00:08:50,720
to be pricey. If anyone wants
to give me a free polytunnel skin who's

112
00:08:50,799 --> 00:08:56,440
listed a sponsor, feel free.
But the worst bit will be digging it

113
00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:00,600
out of retunneling it all and putting
it all back on again. That will

114
00:09:00,639 --> 00:09:03,159
be the hardest job. I have
to keep sealing it back up where it's

115
00:09:03,159 --> 00:09:07,039
splitting and everything. But one of
these days I'm gonna go and it's gonna

116
00:09:07,039 --> 00:09:11,440
all be off, so we'll have
to see. Fingers crossed, we might

117
00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:16,039
get it through another year and then
start saving for new polytonal skin ready for

118
00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:20,559
next year, but we'll see how
we get on with that. But yeah,

119
00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:24,480
and pleas we are, it's coming
on. We've got all this fruit

120
00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:28,320
trees sorted, they're all pruned back, all looking good and in shape for

121
00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,840
this year. We put wood chip
down all around my fruit trees, around

122
00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,720
my rubarb, all my rubbarbs popping
through our ready, which it shouldn't be.

123
00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:43,039
It should be asleep, but yeah, it's all popping through and it's

124
00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,559
looking really healthy. So we might
get a really good rubarb crop this year,

125
00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:52,399
so we might be doing a lot
of crumbles and pies and stuff like

126
00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:58,320
that. But hopefully we'll get a
lot of rhubarb off my allotment and into

127
00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:05,159
the cooker. But we'll see how
we'll get on with that. So we'll

128
00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:09,840
keep working hard. We'll keep working
on and getting it all together. And

129
00:10:09,279 --> 00:10:18,360
yeah, talking of seeds, I've
been out and purchased some smarter seeds.

130
00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:24,320
Well, I've not purchased tomater seeds. I've purchased it to marts themselves.

131
00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:28,480
And if you'll have seen my Instagram
post on my Facebook post recently, the

132
00:10:28,519 --> 00:10:35,679
way that I start my tomatoes off
is from the tomatoes at a supermarket.

133
00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:41,720
I don't buy the seeds anymore.
I purchased tomatoes and scoop the seeds out

134
00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:46,120
and then just shove them straight into
composts and let them grow. And when

135
00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:50,159
they started growing, then I'll separate
them out grow them on and then I'll

136
00:10:50,159 --> 00:10:56,320
plant them outside in the ground.
Because they did absolutely fantastic last year growing

137
00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,679
in the ground outside. I couldn't
believe how well they did. I was

138
00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:05,080
thinking I might not get any tomatoes
on them because they shop bought to Martars,

139
00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:11,279
but they was the best Martares that
I've ever grown. And I grew

140
00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:15,720
them outside this year, well last
year, rather than inside because the year

141
00:11:15,759 --> 00:11:18,440
before we'd had the heat wave,
so it was struggle to keep them watered.

142
00:11:18,519 --> 00:11:22,639
So off, I'll plant them outside
where it where there'll be moist and

143
00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,600
keep well watered with the water,
what's in the soil and stuff like that.

144
00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:33,480
And yeah, I couldn't believe how
well they actually did. They did

145
00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:39,720
absolutely fantastic. We've got a fantastic
crop tomatoes. We got red cherry ones,

146
00:11:39,759 --> 00:11:45,480
we got yellow ones with orange ones
growing and they were all fantastic.

147
00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:52,519
It was just a multipurpose pack of
different colored tomatoes and I just scooped them

148
00:11:52,519 --> 00:11:56,840
out, put them into a plant
pot of compost and let them grow.

149
00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:01,960
And I did label them upside you
which color or in each plant pot from

150
00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:07,879
the tomato that I took the seeds
out of. And they did absolutely fantastic.

151
00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:11,039
So I've gone along them lines this
year and for what other stuff can

152
00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:16,679
I try from the seeds of supermarket
plants? So I've been and got some

153
00:12:16,799 --> 00:12:22,519
beef tomatoes as well. I'm thinking
of, Oh, the beef tomatoes might

154
00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:26,200
have to be grown in the polytunnel
because they are bigger, they'll take longer

155
00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:31,879
to ripen, so we might have
to try those in the polytunnel rather than

156
00:12:31,919 --> 00:12:35,840
actually growing growing them outside. So
we're going to give them a try in

157
00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:41,000
the polytunnel. But we have got
some beef tomatoes. And again with the

158
00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:46,600
beef tomatoes, like I think it
costs me like fifty pence for the beef

159
00:12:46,639 --> 00:12:52,679
tomato. And when you go to
buy the seeds from the shop or from

160
00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:56,720
the catalogs, you won't get many
seeds in the packet and it'll be expensive

161
00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:01,200
to buy, so overall it is
cheaper. I don't even dry the seeds

162
00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:05,120
out, which everybody used to say
that you used to have to do.

163
00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:07,679
You have to dry them out,
and then to start them off, I

164
00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:13,240
just leave them in their goo and
I just get a teaspoon, scoop it

165
00:13:13,279 --> 00:13:18,279
out and shove it straight in the
compost. And it worked. So there

166
00:13:18,279 --> 00:13:20,279
you are. People, if you've
been drying them out, don't drive out,

167
00:13:20,399 --> 00:13:24,080
just put them straight in the compost
and it will, trust me.

168
00:13:24,399 --> 00:13:28,320
I had a fantastic crop last year, so we've got them to try.

169
00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:35,200
We've also got some peppers to try. I thought I'll give peppers a try.

170
00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:39,960
Seeing as I've done tomatoes and they
work fine, I'll try peppers.

171
00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:43,879
So we've got some peppers to try. I've got a red, a yellow,

172
00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:48,519
and a green one to try.
And again, you get lots of

173
00:13:48,519 --> 00:13:52,879
seat in a pepper when you cut
them open, so we're going to be

174
00:13:52,919 --> 00:14:00,000
trying to do that as well.
And the next thing that I tried is

175
00:14:00,039 --> 00:14:03,279
it's because I've grown peppers in the
past and sometimes I've struggled with them.

176
00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:09,039
I saw a multi pack of very
small peppers, just really small peppers,

177
00:14:11,039 --> 00:14:13,639
so for they'll be better. They
could grow better than the big ones,

178
00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,799
so I purchased these small ones.
They're in a multipack. They like yellow

179
00:14:18,879 --> 00:14:24,600
and red colors, so we're going
to give them a try and see how

180
00:14:24,639 --> 00:14:26,000
well we get on with them.
So you'll have to stay tuned for them

181
00:14:26,039 --> 00:14:30,240
once and see how we'll well we
get on. I don't know whether I

182
00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:35,759
should grow them indoors or whether I
should grow them outdoors. I might try

183
00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,159
some indoors and some outdoors and see
how well they both do. Compare them.

184
00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,879
I do like comparing stuff, seeing
which works better. I once did

185
00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:50,759
that with seed onions. And with
the onion bulbs that you can buy,

186
00:14:52,279 --> 00:14:56,279
and the seed onions did better than
the onion bulbs that you can buy.

187
00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:00,919
But obviously it all goes down to
the soil and the condition of your allotment.

188
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,240
But I do like trying different methods
and trying different ways of growing stuff.

189
00:15:05,759 --> 00:15:09,279
So we've got them, and then
we've got some melons to try as

190
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,000
well. I'm going to try some
melons because obviously you get a lot of

191
00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:18,120
seeds in them. So yeah,
we're gonna have some fun this year.

192
00:15:18,159 --> 00:15:22,120
People, Gardening with Ben is back. Last year we had a disaster with

193
00:15:22,159 --> 00:15:26,120
the plot and we didn't do much. We didn't do no social media,

194
00:15:26,159 --> 00:15:30,039
we didn't do podcasts or anything like
that. But this year, trust make

195
00:15:30,159 --> 00:15:35,039
Gardening with Ben is back, bigger, stronger, and better. And I'm

196
00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:39,240
glad that you've all stuck around and
that you've all started coming back and listening

197
00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:41,960
to these podcasts again, because it
is good to hear, well, not

198
00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:46,360
hear you, good to see you
all listening. I can see from the

199
00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:50,480
stats of the podcast how many people's
listening and where people listen as well.

200
00:15:50,519 --> 00:15:56,240
It's always good to hear see that
people are listening in different countries all around

201
00:15:56,279 --> 00:16:02,320
the world and enjoying the podcasts.
So we've got a lot to do over

202
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:07,480
these coming months, but we are
well ahead. We've done a good start

203
00:16:07,559 --> 00:16:11,360
to the year. We're going to
have a good year. Down at the

204
00:16:11,399 --> 00:16:15,080
plot, I can feel like it's
going to look the best it's ever a

205
00:16:15,159 --> 00:16:18,399
lot to my plot, and I'm
certainly going to be enjoying sharing it all

206
00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:23,519
with you this year down on the
allotment. So as always, thank you

207
00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:29,159
for listening to today's podcast. If
you haven't hit that subscribe all that follow

208
00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:33,480
button, please do hit the follow
button and subscribe button. You can also

209
00:16:33,639 --> 00:16:37,759
leave a comment now on Spotify on
the podcast, so feel free to leave

210
00:16:37,759 --> 00:16:42,039
a comment and it helps push it
out as well. So thanks for all

211
00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:48,799
the support everyone. Until next time, Remember keep smiling, keep shining,

212
00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:56,000
and keep Guardening with Ben everybody,
And that wraps up another episode of Gardening

213
00:16:56,159 --> 00:17:00,360
with Ben. Thank you for joining
me in this journey. Remember, every

214
00:17:00,399 --> 00:17:04,839
seed planted is a step towards a
greener world, and every day is a

215
00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:11,039
chance to grow something beautiful. Keep
nurturing your gardens and your souls. Until

216
00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:15,759
next time, I'm Gardening with Ben
reminding you to let your garden be your

217
00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:22,880
sanctuary. Happy gardening, and see
you in the next episode. Remember keep

218
00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:26,920
smiling, keep shining, and keep
gardening with Ben