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 joint of gardening, from sowing seeds to 4 00:00:12,919 --> 00:00:18,399 reaping bountiful harvests. Each episode will explore tips, tricks and tails from the 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:25,399 garden and allotment, sharing insights from ourself and stories from our own back garden 6 00:00:25,559 --> 00:00:29,839 adventures. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just getting your hands dirty for the 7 00:00:29,879 --> 00:00:34,520 first time, there's something here for everyone. So grab your brew and gardening 8 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:40,759 gloves and let's get growing. With Gardening with Ben. Hello and welcome to 9 00:00:41,079 --> 00:00:47,000 Saturday Gardening, the podcast of green inspiration and advice, and Gardening with Ben, 10 00:00:47,119 --> 00:00:51,200 your guide through the wonderful world of plants, flowers, vegetables, and 11 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:55,520 all things gardening. Whether you are a seasoned green form or just starting our 12 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,759 first pop plant, this is the place to share tips and tricks and joy 13 00:00:59,799 --> 00:01:07,519 of growing. Today we're diving into gardening and allotments, exploring everything from basic 14 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,439 care to creative ideas for our garden space. So grab your gardening gloves, 15 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,280 pull yourself a cup of tea, and let's get our hands dirty in the 16 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:23,840 delightful world of gardening. Let's grow together with Gardening with Ben. So welcome 17 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:29,680 to this Saturday episode of Gardening with Ben. The podcast is a bit later 18 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:34,000 than usual in the day, but we have been busy today, and yeah, 19 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,120 we have been to the allotment today. Today was the first day that 20 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:42,480 I've actually managed to be able to get some work done down there after the 21 00:01:42,519 --> 00:01:48,200 big cold spell that we've had. It's been absolutely freezing and apparently we've got 22 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:51,840 a storm coming tomorrow, so who knows whether I'll be able to get down 23 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,439 to the allotment or not, but fingers crossed I'll still be able to get 24 00:01:55,480 --> 00:02:00,840 down and do some bits and jobs, because today I've just started with my 25 00:02:00,959 --> 00:02:06,799 next project down at my plot, and that is sorting out all my allotment 26 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,840 beds, taking them all apart, realigning them all, straightening my path out 27 00:02:10,879 --> 00:02:15,680 a bit better, and sorting out my flower boarders, which is going to 28 00:02:15,719 --> 00:02:21,680 be a massive job. Even though it wasn't as cold today, it's still 29 00:02:21,719 --> 00:02:24,960 been rock hard the soil, so I couldn't do any digging today and all 30 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:30,000 I've been able to do is manage to lift up some of my paving and 31 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:38,039 remove some of my allotment beds and dismantle them and get them ready for rebuilding. 32 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:40,879 And it's going to be a big job this part, as this is 33 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:45,120 my main plot that I'm working on. Now I've sorted out all around my 34 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,759 food trees, around my rood Bob, my strawberry plant area. I've sorted 35 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:52,360 all that out, sorted all my shed out, My polyto tunnel's all being 36 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:55,000 emptied and cleaned out, and now I'm onto my main plot. And we've 37 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:59,039 got till the end of March to get all this done, so we've got 38 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:02,960 plenty of time to get done. And once I've sorted out on a lotment 39 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,960 beds, then I'll be repainting all the wood on the plot to make it 40 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:12,800 look fresh and ready for the year, which'll take a long time. And 41 00:03:13,039 --> 00:03:15,479 I really don't like doing the painting work. That is the worst job on 42 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:20,360 the plot. If that's the old job that you hate, let me know. 43 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,240 It's always good to hear what people think of it. But I do 44 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:27,039 that just to protect the wood and to make it last that a little bit 45 00:03:27,039 --> 00:03:30,479 longer. Because some of the beds they've been built for like ten fifteen years 46 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:36,479 now and they're still going strong and they've not rotted, so giving them that 47 00:03:36,599 --> 00:03:40,360 bit of pain to look after them really does help in preserving the wood. 48 00:03:42,719 --> 00:03:45,800 So we got all that to do. So I went down to the plot 49 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:47,840 today and as I said, it was rock hard down there, so I 50 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:52,560 couldn't do anything digging down there, but I had a look around at the 51 00:03:52,639 --> 00:03:54,759 jobs what I need to do. I looked at my roobarb to see if 52 00:03:54,759 --> 00:03:59,719 if that was still okay from the cold weather, and nope, it has 53 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:04,560 been killed off. I've got lots of rhubarb shotes popping through, which is 54 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:09,159 very early for rhubarb. It shouldn't be growing till March time, but the 55 00:04:09,199 --> 00:04:13,360 cold weather had killed it all off. So it's back into hibernation and hopefully 56 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,879 the shoots will start growing again when it starts warming up. But all the 57 00:04:16,879 --> 00:04:20,519 spring bulbs are popping through the ground. I've got lots of bulbs starting to 58 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:25,680 show, which is a good sign. And yeah, that's all starting to 59 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,160 look good. So I can't wait to start getting some color down on the 60 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:33,199 plot once the bulbs are popping the heads through and showing their faces. And 61 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:39,439 I'm especially looking forward to seeing my tulips and high SEMs as they're my favorite 62 00:04:39,439 --> 00:04:43,800 spring bulbs out of all the bulbs that you can get. And aliums, 63 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:46,839 who I do love alums with big, massive purple heads. If I could 64 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:51,639 have loads more aliums, I would do. But we keep buying spring bulbs 65 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:57,240 every single year and adding some more to our collection. And we've still got 66 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,920 plenty of space to add more spring bulbs. So that's going to be a 67 00:05:00,199 --> 00:05:04,600 more expensive job next year to get all that sorted and get all them in. 68 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:09,040 But that's next year. Well, it's end of this year's job now 69 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:13,399 into the new year, aren't we. So I'll be planting all those around 70 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,560 November time and it'll soon be here before we know it. So we've got 71 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:23,519 them to do. And yeah, macarlic's looking our eyes. It's not looking 72 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:27,519 brilliant, but it's growing, so we'll see how it gets on. If 73 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,720 it doesn't do too well, I'm not too fussed. I just planted it 74 00:05:30,759 --> 00:05:34,519 because I wanted to plant something and get it growing. So we'll keep an 75 00:05:34,519 --> 00:05:39,720 eye on that and see how we get on. The vegetable that I do 76 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:44,399 want to grow well is my sweet corn. If my sweet corn grows fantastic. 77 00:05:44,519 --> 00:05:46,360 I will be happy. If it didn't grow fantastic, I wouldn't be 78 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,839 happy. But we don't plant that till the end of March, the seeds 79 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:55,199 beginning of April, so we've got plenty of time before we start thinking about 80 00:05:55,199 --> 00:06:01,000 the sweet corn. But yeah, I saw lots of down there, all 81 00:06:01,639 --> 00:06:05,360 flying around. It's great to see the robbins out and about, and my 82 00:06:05,439 --> 00:06:09,959 bird feeders are completely empty, so I've bought some more bird teat to take 83 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,319 down to the plot tomorrow. So that's one of my main jobs to mark. 84 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,680 I do love looking after the birds down at the plot. It's expensive, 85 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,839 it's definitely expensive, and obviously I can't watch them from my bedroom window 86 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:25,959 because my allotment's not near my house, so I only see the birds while 87 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,160 i'm down there. So but I do like to keep them fed and keep 88 00:06:29,199 --> 00:06:32,319 them looked after, and especially now that the ground is rock hard, they 89 00:06:32,399 --> 00:06:35,399 won't be able to get their worms out, so I've got to make sure 90 00:06:35,439 --> 00:06:40,439 that we keep looking after them birds and encouraging them to come back. And 91 00:06:40,639 --> 00:06:44,879 it's the bluet, it's that I'm definitely wanting to look out for as I 92 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,199 want them to move into my bird houses again, and I want them to 93 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,120 get some babies flying in there. And it's good that if you get some 94 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:57,920 bluet its living on your allotment, you can obviously get them eating all the 95 00:06:57,959 --> 00:07:02,199 grubs and all the bugs and stuff off your fruit trees and stuff like that. 96 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:05,240 So it's good to have bluetits down at your a lotment. And it's 97 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:09,600 great to see. Like the first time that I had bluet its living in 98 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,600 my blue box, I just sat there and the amount of times is flying 99 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:15,319 in and out, in and out, in and out with all the little 100 00:07:15,319 --> 00:07:18,759 worms and the creepy crawl is it's fantastic to see. And then when you're 101 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:25,079 watching them about to fledge and stuff like that, Oh wow, it's fantastic. 102 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,319 And We've got an allotment cat down there, and I'm like, try 103 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,120 to keep it away, like no, stay away, stay away. I 104 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,920 want these bluebirds blueteds to live. But yeah, it's great to see and 105 00:07:33,959 --> 00:07:39,600 you can even chirping for the parents. They're really noisy when a bit you've 106 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,879 got baby blue it's in your boxes. But we'll see, we'll see if 107 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:48,040 we've managed to get some this year. Fingers crossed, we do so yeah, 108 00:07:48,199 --> 00:07:50,759 I have been busy down at my plot today. I've not managed to 109 00:07:50,759 --> 00:07:55,959 plant my seeds yet. I've still got them lined up to do my pepper. 110 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:59,720 My pepper seeds, they're one job that I do want to get done 111 00:07:59,759 --> 00:08:03,720 in there a couple of days and get them growing. Because now that we've 112 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,839 got us tomatoes growing there, growing fine, my beef tomatoes, we want 113 00:08:07,879 --> 00:08:13,079 to start getting our pepper seeds growing. So hopefully we can start those off 114 00:08:13,079 --> 00:08:16,800 in the next few days. But fingers crossed, we will be down at 115 00:08:16,839 --> 00:08:20,600 the plot tomorrow, come rain or shine. We can actually work inside my 116 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,879 shed if it is absolutely chucking it down and windy, and we can get 117 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:30,360 them seeds planted. And it's just something I love doing. I just love 118 00:08:30,439 --> 00:08:33,960 getting out and about. I don't like staying in my flat all day. 119 00:08:33,279 --> 00:08:39,120 I've got a bit outside in the fresh air, and it's good for the 120 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:41,720 mental health, like I keep saying in my episodes, being down at the 121 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:46,120 plot, so it's better than staying in and not doing anything. And that's 122 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:50,840 why I'm getting this enjoyment of doing these podcasts again because I can talk about 123 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:54,320 my gardening experience and what I'm getting up to around there. And the amount 124 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:58,440 of messages I've received from people listening to these podcasts. Wow, thank you 125 00:08:58,519 --> 00:09:03,360 so much for all their messages. Please do keep sharing them with people and 126 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,840 sharing them to your Instagram stories and stuff like that. The more people that 127 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,519 listen to them, the better they'll take off. And like I say, 128 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:16,799 it all goes back towards my allotment everything that I get from these podcasts, 129 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:20,759 so it's a case of improving them and then we get little bits and bobs 130 00:09:20,799 --> 00:09:24,559 from them, and then I can talk about them in this podcast and stuff 131 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:28,919 like that. So people do love to see what I'm doing. And one 132 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,039 of the main things on my list that I do want to get our hedgehog 133 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:35,240 homes down at the plot, so they're down on my list of things to 134 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:39,759 get at the moment, because I definitely do want to get some hedgehogs living 135 00:09:39,759 --> 00:09:43,600 down in my plot, so we'll have to, hopefully fingers crossed be able 136 00:09:43,639 --> 00:09:50,000 to order some soon. But that's just a little catch up of what I've 137 00:09:50,039 --> 00:09:52,440 been getting up to down at the allotment today. Rather than talking about a 138 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:58,120 generic subject, I just like to talk about what I've been up to down 139 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:01,360 at the plot so that you can step up today and do any jobs that 140 00:10:01,399 --> 00:10:05,200 I've been doing. So hopefully we'll be back down at the plot tomorrow and 141 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:09,240 I'll be able to talk about what I've been up to down at the allotment 142 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:13,960 and share it all with you, and hopefully you'll be able to join in 143 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:20,279 and with what I'm up to and let me know what you're up to down 144 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:22,279 at the allotment. It's always good to hear what people are doing, what 145 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:28,360 people are planting, as I'm always learning from other people the amount of posts 146 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,159 I look out, the amount of videos I look at, and stuff like 147 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:35,679 that. I just get my tips from everybody else. So sharing is definitely 148 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:43,120 caring in the world of gardening. So until tomorrow's episode, remember keep smiling, 149 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:48,120 keep shining, and keep gardening with Ben. Everybody until tomorrow. We'll 150 00:10:48,159 --> 00:10:54,440 see you all later. And that wraps up another episode of Gardening with Ben. 151 00:10:54,879 --> 00:11:00,159 Thank you for joining me in this journey. Remember every seed planted is 152 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,240 a step towards a greener world, and every day is a chance to grow 153 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:09,279 something beautiful. Keep nurturing your gardens and your souls. Until next time, 154 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:15,000 I'm gardening with Ben, reminding you to let your garden be your Sanctuary, 155 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:20,039 happy gardening, and see you in the next episode. Remember keep smiling, 156 00:11:20,519 --> 00:11:24,559 keep shining, and keep gardening with Ben