1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,560
Speaker 1: Welcome to Gardening with Ben. You'll go to a podcast

2
00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:08,080
for all things green and growing in twenty twenty five.

3
00:00:08,599 --> 00:00:12,160
Whether you're a seasoned gardener, a budding enthusiast, or just

4
00:00:12,279 --> 00:00:16,559
curious about cultivating your own slice of nature, you're in

5
00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:21,039
the right place. Join me Ben as we explore practical tips,

6
00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,760
inspiring stories, and the latest trends in gardening to make

7
00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:29,480
your outdoor space bloom with life, from a lotment adventures

8
00:00:29,559 --> 00:00:32,840
to wildlife friendly gardening. I'm here to help you grow

9
00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,520
your passion and read the rewards. So grab your gloves,

10
00:00:36,679 --> 00:00:39,439
roll up your sleeves, and let's get started on this

11
00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:46,640
year's gardening journey. Hey everybody, and welcome back to Gardening

12
00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:51,280
with Ben. Well, Happy Friday. It is final late Friday,

13
00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:53,520
and it seems funny me saying this. I'm recording it

14
00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:58,479
on Sunday. But happy Friday, everybody, and I hope that

15
00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,840
you're all looking for to the weekend. Well, it's the

16
00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:06,200
last day of January. Finally, it's the end of the month.

17
00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:11,239
January is the month that keeps on giving. It seems

18
00:01:11,239 --> 00:01:14,519
to last forever and ever. And I know, obviously everybody

19
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,439
has that problem with getting paid early before Christmas, which

20
00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,680
is nice, but then you've got to make it last

21
00:01:20,799 --> 00:01:25,120
forever throughout January. But it's finally the end of the

22
00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,680
month and hopefully we will be turning a corner soon

23
00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,519
and heading towards springtime which will soon be upon us

24
00:01:33,599 --> 00:01:40,120
in March. So yeah, what have we accomplished in January?

25
00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,040
This is where we talk about our good things and

26
00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:47,280
are bad things of the month. Well, have we done

27
00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,200
a lot down at the allotment? Yes we have, I

28
00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,680
know we haven't. We feel like we've done a lot,

29
00:01:53,719 --> 00:01:55,920
but we haven't done loads to be honest, but we

30
00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,599
have make up your mind, Ben, have you how I

31
00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,959
haven't you? But yeah, we have had a good month

32
00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,640
down in January. Obviously we've had the snow which put

33
00:02:07,719 --> 00:02:11,240
off us far a few times, but we have managed

34
00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,400
to get lots done. And in January we worked on

35
00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,719
tidying all my shed up and sorting out some shelving

36
00:02:18,759 --> 00:02:22,039
in it, and sorting my pots out, getting all those

37
00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,919
sorted and really giving it a good tidy up and

38
00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:29,680
clearing it all ready for the monthhead because come March

39
00:02:29,719 --> 00:02:33,560
time my greenhouse will be absolutely full to busting with

40
00:02:34,719 --> 00:02:37,639
seeds what we have sown because that's when I saw

41
00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:41,560
all my seats in March time. Obviously we'll be talking

42
00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,960
about what SEATY can go in February tomorrow, but I

43
00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,280
don't do that. I tend to wait till March time

44
00:02:48,319 --> 00:02:51,879
because it's still quite cold where we are, and I

45
00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:56,159
obviously want it to be warmer in my greenhouse. It's

46
00:02:56,199 --> 00:02:58,840
not a heatd greenhouse, so we need to wait for

47
00:02:58,879 --> 00:03:03,520
the warmer weather fit's to germinate the seeds, so we've

48
00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,039
done that. We've also done a lot of tidying up

49
00:03:07,039 --> 00:03:10,520
in my polytunnel, as I've not used my polytonel much

50
00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,000
for the last couple of years, but this year we

51
00:03:13,039 --> 00:03:16,719
are bringing it back into action. Yes, we are bringing

52
00:03:16,759 --> 00:03:21,120
the polytunel back into full potential and getting it used.

53
00:03:21,479 --> 00:03:24,319
We stopped growing our tomatoes in the polytunnel. Now we

54
00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:28,319
grow those outdoors, as they seem to do better and

55
00:03:28,319 --> 00:03:31,599
you don't have to water them as often because the

56
00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:35,120
ground stays damper than it would do in a bucket

57
00:03:35,159 --> 00:03:39,919
of compost. So we grow tomatoes outside. That's cherry ones,

58
00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:42,560
the bigger ones you would need to grow into a

59
00:03:42,599 --> 00:03:45,520
greenhouse because they need a lot more sun to make

60
00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,439
them riper. So big ones will grow indoors if we

61
00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,680
are growing any this year. And obviously my cucumbers, I

62
00:03:53,719 --> 00:03:56,719
grew about three in my polytunnel this year, and I

63
00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,960
had about fifteen plants outside what I got spare plant

64
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,319
left over, and the ones out that side did fantastic.

65
00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,639
They did so much better than the ones in the polytunnel,

66
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,439
which is hard to believe, but yes they did. So

67
00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,240
I'm going to grow my cucumbers outside from now on.

68
00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:14,960
If they're doing that well, I might as well carry

69
00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,720
on doing them like that. And again, they won't need

70
00:04:17,759 --> 00:04:21,040
as much water because the ground stays wet and if

71
00:04:21,079 --> 00:04:24,279
it rains, it waters them, which is a bonus. But

72
00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,759
why are we fetching the polytunnel back into action. You

73
00:04:27,879 --> 00:04:31,360
may say, we are going to be growing peppers in there,

74
00:04:31,399 --> 00:04:34,800
and we're going to be growing melons in there, and

75
00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:37,120
you're probably saying, well, why don't you grow those outside?

76
00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:41,920
But them two things need more sunlight so and more heat.

77
00:04:42,319 --> 00:04:45,120
So that is the reason why we're fetching the polytunnel

78
00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:47,720
back into action this year. So we've got it all

79
00:04:47,759 --> 00:04:49,920
tidied out and ready for them to grow, which we'll

80
00:04:49,959 --> 00:04:54,360
talk about in another episode. So I'm excited to be

81
00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,120
growing in the polytunnel again obviously, I mean I need

82
00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,199
to go down there often and keep things watered. But

83
00:05:00,319 --> 00:05:02,879
it encourages me to get out and about and visit

84
00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:08,120
the plot, which I'm looking forward to. And we did

85
00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:10,120
a few repairs to the shed because we've had a

86
00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,959
few bad storms. The roof blew off some of it,

87
00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,199
so we had to repair that. But I only like

88
00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,519
a body job because my dad said to me that

89
00:05:20,759 --> 00:05:24,079
is going to help me take all the roof off

90
00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,800
and start from scratch and make a better roof. Which

91
00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:30,600
the roof's probably been on for about ten years now

92
00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:35,800
and its perspects and it's pretty strong, but it's starting

93
00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:37,600
to go brittle a bit now so when the wind

94
00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:41,480
comes it just snaps it now, so it's time for

95
00:05:41,519 --> 00:05:44,959
a replacement. It's done its job and it's time for

96
00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,959
a fresh new roof. And hopefully we're going to make

97
00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,680
it waterproof as well, because whether we're in there, there's

98
00:05:51,759 --> 00:05:54,639
dripsqui through where all the screws are because I've not

99
00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:56,600
done it right. I've not like capped it off, I've

100
00:05:56,639 --> 00:06:01,839
not waterproofed them, so it has it keeps getting mid

101
00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:04,199
wet when it's raining in there, so Hopefully we're going

102
00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,600
to make it a bit more waterproof and use stronger

103
00:06:07,639 --> 00:06:12,360
plastic as well. Obviously we've started looking on Facebook Marketplace.

104
00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,639
Facebook Marketplace is a brilliant place if you're wanted to

105
00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:20,160
look for cheap stuff or free stuff, as a lot

106
00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,319
of people just post on there to get rid of stuff.

107
00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,879
So if you're looking at doing work to your allotment

108
00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,439
or sheds or greenhouses, have a look on Facebook Marketplace

109
00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,720
and you'll possibly be able to find some good bargains.

110
00:06:34,639 --> 00:06:36,560
So that is what we're going to be doing soon

111
00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:39,120
when it gets a bit nicer. Obviously, we can't be

112
00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,360
doing it when it's absolutely chucking it down and cold

113
00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:45,160
and freezing because we don't want to be doing that.

114
00:06:46,199 --> 00:06:50,680
So yeah, we've not done much weeding in January. January

115
00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,560
we've not done anything outside as it's been too cold,

116
00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:58,680
the ground's been too hard, and all the weeds don't

117
00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:00,920
seem to be growing much at the moment. So we

118
00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,560
might turn all the bed over in February. That might

119
00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:06,240
be one of our jobs that we do in that month.

120
00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:11,600
But yeah, overall, January has been a pretty decent month

121
00:07:12,199 --> 00:07:16,000
and obviously we're starting to do more content on YouTube

122
00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,519
we're getting more videos out there, and we're going to

123
00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:20,839
film the loads this year, loads of videos for you

124
00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,199
to watch. And obviously we're getting more and more content

125
00:07:24,279 --> 00:07:26,399
out on our Facebook page for you to read and

126
00:07:26,879 --> 00:07:30,879
sharing it in digest. So I hope that you found

127
00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,639
that useful. So yeah, I'm happy that I've been down

128
00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,319
to my allotment in January. Years ago, I never used

129
00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,639
to go down to my plot in January. I used

130
00:07:40,639 --> 00:07:43,079
to finish off my plot at the end of October,

131
00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,519
then not go back down to the allotment until March time,

132
00:07:46,759 --> 00:07:49,040
and I'd be rushing at the last minute to be

133
00:07:49,079 --> 00:07:53,600
getting everything tidied, cleaned up and ready for the months ahead.

134
00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:56,279
So I tend to carry on now throughout the winter

135
00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,040
period so that I've got all these jobs done and

136
00:07:59,079 --> 00:08:03,480
I can concentrate on growing my seeds throughout the March period,

137
00:08:03,519 --> 00:08:06,279
because when I start stating my seat in March, it's

138
00:08:06,319 --> 00:08:08,759
going to be a lot of work. I'll obviously need

139
00:08:08,879 --> 00:08:11,519
so more and then keep them all water and then

140
00:08:11,519 --> 00:08:13,480
we have to prick them all out and pot them

141
00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:16,839
up individually, and yeah, it takes a lot of work.

142
00:08:16,959 --> 00:08:19,519
So that is the reason why I continue doing all

143
00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:25,600
my working throughout October through to February, because you can

144
00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,600
get a lot of stuff done, and it's not necessarily

145
00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:30,959
just digging over. It's like tiding up and getting it

146
00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,840
all clean and ready for the year ahead. So yeah,

147
00:08:34,919 --> 00:08:38,000
January has been a successful month down at the Allotment.

148
00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,440
Hopefully we'll get lots done in February. I'm looking forward

149
00:08:41,519 --> 00:08:44,960
to it. Obviously, the spring bulbs and everything will start

150
00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:49,000
popping through now and start showing the heads and hopefully

151
00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:51,639
start fetching some spring color down at the Allotment, because

152
00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:52,960
that's what I want. I want to see all the

153
00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,399
crouxes out. I want to see the daffodils out. I'm

154
00:08:55,399 --> 00:08:57,639
looking forward to the highs of smells when you walk

155
00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:01,480
onto the Allotment. So yeah, I'm excited for the springtime,

156
00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:05,480
and I'm sure you are all too. So tomorrow's episode,

157
00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,240
we'll be back with a new podcast and it will

158
00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:10,120
be talking about all the things that you can so

159
00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:12,960
in February. Like I said, most things I won't be

160
00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,440
starting until March time. But it's there just as a

161
00:09:15,519 --> 00:09:19,519
guide for anybody that's interested, And obviously it all depends

162
00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,000
on the temperature in your area that you live in.

163
00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:25,720
As well, so thanks for listening to today's podcast everyone.

164
00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:30,440
As always, remember keep smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening

165
00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:36,960
with Ben. Everyone, thanks for tuning in to today's episode

166
00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,759
of Gardening with Ben. I hope you've enjoyed our chat

167
00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,000
and picked up some tips to help your garden and

168
00:09:44,039 --> 00:09:47,399
allotment pride. Don't forget to stay connected with me on

169
00:09:47,919 --> 00:09:52,919
all social media for even more gardening inspiration, updates and

170
00:09:53,039 --> 00:09:57,120
behind the scenes content. You can find me on Facebook, Instagram,

171
00:09:57,159 --> 00:10:01,120
and YouTube. Just search Gardening with Ben, hit that follow

172
00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,879
button or subscribe button and join our growing community of

173
00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:10,440
garden lovers. Until next time, everyone, remember keep smiling, keep shining,

174
00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:12,200
and keep gardening with Ben.