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 --> 00:00:31,679 from planting, sewing, and growing. We will share all the tips and 7 00:00:31,719 --> 00:00:37,399 i'd advice. We will also have regular episodes talking about what we have been 8 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,640 up to on the a lotment. So sit back, grab a brew and 9 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:50,600 enjoy today's episode. Hi everyone, and welcome back to Gardening with Ben for 10 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:55,320 another episode. I hope you enjoyed yesterday's episode. Wow, I didn't realize 11 00:00:55,359 --> 00:00:59,119 how much I were talking on for That's probably one of the longest episodes I've 12 00:00:59,159 --> 00:01:03,079 done in a long time. But I hope you enjoyed it and that you 13 00:01:03,239 --> 00:01:08,319 found out all about my favorite flowers, my favorite vegetables, and my favorite 14 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:14,599 fruit down at the allotment. And yeah, today's episode, I think we're 15 00:01:14,599 --> 00:01:19,920 going to talk about what our favorite gardening tool is. What gardening tool can 16 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:26,079 we not live without I posted this question again on Instagram and Facebook yesterday, 17 00:01:26,239 --> 00:01:30,159 so I hope that you managed to answer it, and if you have not, 18 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:34,599 please do a go over to my Instagram or Facebook and answer this question 19 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:42,400 as which is your favorite gardening tool and what can you live without down at 20 00:01:42,439 --> 00:01:49,719 the allotment. Now, gardening tools can be expensive or they can be cheap, 21 00:01:49,799 --> 00:01:53,319 but obviously if you buy cheap versions, they might not necessarily last and 22 00:01:53,719 --> 00:02:00,560 they might just see you out for a few years. But are with somebody 23 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:05,280 like me that puts your garden tool down and then ends up looking for it 24 00:02:05,319 --> 00:02:08,560 everywhere, can't find it, You go out and buy another one, and 25 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:14,080 you buy another one because you keep losing them. I must have about ten 26 00:02:14,159 --> 00:02:17,479 trowels all around my allotment, and I end up buying more every single year, 27 00:02:17,759 --> 00:02:23,159 end up losing them, and then I don't end up finding them until 28 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:28,680 it gets to the wintertime when all my allotment's cleared and there's no plants hiding 29 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:34,400 anything, and the ball I'm like, no where were you? How many 30 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,800 ever got on here? But yeah, definitely, I hope that you're like 31 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,759 the same as me, and it's not just me that puts stuff down and 32 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,280 ends up losing it on the allotment. And the same with secretares as well. 33 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:51,400 I can put secretares down and end up losing them and end up having 34 00:02:51,439 --> 00:02:57,840 to buy more because the secretares they've usually rusted and the head that I can't 35 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:00,759 use them again, whereas trowels and a little forks you can use again. 36 00:03:01,599 --> 00:03:07,400 They don't seem to us too bad then. But yeah, what tool can 37 00:03:07,439 --> 00:03:14,879 you not live without on your allotment? Now? My favorite go to tool 38 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:23,479 on my allotment would have to be my wolf garden cultivator. And this is 39 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:28,280 an expensive tool. Now, I've got a wolf garden handle, so you 40 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,400 can detach it and put on different heads to what gardening job you're doing down 41 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,879 at the allotment. Now, this wolf garden head, I think it costs 42 00:03:36,879 --> 00:03:40,680 me like forty to fifty pounds where I purchased it. And it is some 43 00:03:42,039 --> 00:03:49,120 tool And basically it's a hoe and like a cultivator rotivator type thing that you 44 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,560 push up and down and it chops all the soil up and grinds it all 45 00:03:53,639 --> 00:03:57,919 up. It also pulls out the roots and weed pretty well. It's pretty 46 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:02,240 good where it's like a proper rotivator chop all the roots up and disintegrate them, 47 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:06,479 and you'd end up with loads more roots, so be careful when using 48 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:11,759 a proper motivator. But yeah, this tends to pull up the roots and 49 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:16,519 the weeds quite well and does really well, So that has to be my 50 00:04:16,639 --> 00:04:20,759 best gardening tool out there. Again, like I said, it's an expensive 51 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,439 tool, so I don't leave it down at the allotment. I take it 52 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:29,199 back home with me just in case, because I don't want anybody pinching that. 53 00:04:29,439 --> 00:04:31,319 I don't mind leaving my forks and stuff down there. If somebody wants 54 00:04:31,319 --> 00:04:34,439 to pinch them, they can pinch them, but I wouldn't leave my wolf 55 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:40,519 garden tools down there. So that has to be my favorite tool of all 56 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:45,720 time for down at the allotment. And my other tools which I can't live 57 00:04:45,759 --> 00:04:49,600 without are obviously my trowel and my fork because you need them all the time. 58 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:56,639 You end up using them all the time and digging over and doing planting 59 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:02,000 with them and etc. Etc. I don't tend to use a proper spade 60 00:05:02,399 --> 00:05:06,959 or a proper big fork often down at the allotment. I'll only use that 61 00:05:08,079 --> 00:05:12,120 probably at the end of the year when I'm turning everything over and doing that. 62 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,160 But yeah, I don't tend to use them at all. Really, 63 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,240 I like to bend down and dig things over and pull things out by hand. 64 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:25,079 You should probably actually use a proper fork and a proper spade because it'll 65 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,000 get deep down and it'll get the roots out and stuff like that, but 66 00:05:28,439 --> 00:05:33,720 I like to bend down and dig things over manually. Now, another favorite 67 00:05:33,759 --> 00:05:40,720 tool of mine, which is the cheapest tool of all time, and it's 68 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:46,519 perfect for weeding in between your vegetables and your flower beds and stuff like that. 69 00:05:46,959 --> 00:05:48,680 If you've got loads of stuff in there and you need to be careful, 70 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:56,439 the best thing that I use for weeding is a cuttlery fork. Yes, 71 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,480 a cuttlery fork. Now, if you've got small weeds growing in between 72 00:06:00,519 --> 00:06:03,000 and stuff like that and you can't get your hoe in between, all I 73 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:08,759 use is a cuddlery fort And basically I just scraped the top of the soil 74 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:13,800 off with the cutlery fork and it gets up the weeds and the roots pretty 75 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:15,720 good. Well, it chops them off, but it stops them from growing. 76 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,439 And you just do that every few days. If you can't get the 77 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:24,480 hole, get them out pretty easy, just use the cutlery fork. Trust 78 00:06:24,519 --> 00:06:28,319 me, it's a game changer. Don't use your best silver one as well, 79 00:06:30,519 --> 00:06:34,120 just use your cheap ones. But yeah, it's to go too. 80 00:06:34,639 --> 00:06:40,279 If you've never tried using a cutlery fork for weeding in between your veg try 81 00:06:40,319 --> 00:06:44,079 it and it's just a case of just scraping, scraping the soil and it'll 82 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,759 get the little weeds out and sorted for you. And trust me, it 83 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:54,839 does work. So that is another go to tool. And then obviously I 84 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:00,480 do love a pair of Secretaris, but can anyone please recommend a pair of 85 00:07:00,519 --> 00:07:04,800 secretars that don't break after about a few months. Every time I buy a 86 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:11,519 pair of Secretaries, they end up broken, the springs pop out, the 87 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:19,199 bend, the rusties. Obviously that's from me leaving them out. But I've 88 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:25,319 never had a pair of Secretaries that have lasted me at least a year. 89 00:07:26,079 --> 00:07:32,639 And I'm attempted to buy a really expensive pair of Secretaries and get some with 90 00:07:32,639 --> 00:07:38,079 a guarantee on and then if they don't survive, then I can ask for 91 00:07:38,079 --> 00:07:41,639 a new pair. Wolvegtten are very good with their tools. They offer like 92 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:47,040 up to twenty five years guarantee on some of their tools, so if they 93 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,560 do break, they will replace some, which is fantastic. They're guaranteeing that 94 00:07:51,680 --> 00:08:00,319 they'll just fix them and be fine and perfect. And yeah, I am 95 00:08:00,399 --> 00:08:03,439 looking for decent pair of secretars. So if you've got a pair of secretars 96 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,639 that I've lasted, you, please do send me a message and let me 97 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:13,639 know which brand you have got, as I would love to And if there's 98 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:18,199 any companies out there to listening to this, please do get in touch, 99 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:24,319 as I would love a pair of secretars that do last. And probably the 100 00:08:24,399 --> 00:08:28,480 last tool out of a lot would have to be a pair of loppers. 101 00:08:28,839 --> 00:08:33,240 You can't not have a good pair of loppers down at the allotment. And 102 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:37,039 obviously every year you prune your fruit trees back at the end of the year, 103 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:43,639 you plum tree and your cherry trees, prune them around now so that 104 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:48,080 you don't get silver leaf. And yeah, I do love a good pair 105 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,600 of sloppers when it just slices us through that branch and it comes tumbling down 106 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,679 and hits you on the head like it always does with me. But yeah, 107 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:03,080 those are pretty much my favorite tools of the allotment. So my favorite 108 00:09:03,159 --> 00:09:09,399 has to be my song Wolfgarten soyl Miller, which I use for digging over 109 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,759 my beds and motivating them and clearing them or getting them all ready for the 110 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:22,200 year ahead. And then i'd have to be a cuddlery fork, which would 111 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:28,440 cost du less than probably about fifty pence. But yeah, that has to 112 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:33,039 be one of my favorite of all time. So let me know what your 113 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:37,399 favorite tool is. Go over to my Instagram page after this podcast, all 114 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:41,919 my Facebook page and leave a comment. Let me know what your favorite tools 115 00:09:41,919 --> 00:09:46,399 are, as I do love to hear from everybody that's listening, and they 116 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,360 are going to be more interactive some of these podcasts now they're going to be 117 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,200 talking about what we're posting on our Instagram and Facebook so that you can get 118 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:56,840 involved in leave a comment and get involved in the daily topic of the day. 119 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,320 So I hope you've enjoyed this PODCAS for Today, and if you're new 120 00:10:01,399 --> 00:10:05,720 to listening to this podcast, please do give us a follow, Please don't 121 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:07,519 give us a like, and remember to click the bell so that you get 122 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,759 nudgefied when new podcasts come up. 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