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Speaker 1: Welcome to Gardening with Ben, your go to podcast for

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all things green and growing in twenty twenty five. Whether

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you're a seasoned gardener, a budding enthusiast, or just curious

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about cultivating your own slice of nature, you're in the

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right place. Join me Ben as we explore practical tips,

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inspiring stories, and the latest trends in gardening to make

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your outdoor space bloom with life, from a lotment adventures

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to wildlife friendly gardening. I'm here to help you grow

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your passion and read the rewards. So grab your gloves,

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roll up your sleeves, and let's get started on this

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year's gardening journey. Hey everyone, and welcome back to Gardening

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with Ben for another brand new episode. Well it's Friday.

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Friday is finally here. We've been counting down the days

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and it's finally approached. I do apologize for not having

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a podcast up yesterday. It got the better of me

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and I didn't get around to doing it. But we

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have got a podcast for you today, and make sure

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you come back for tomorrow's podcast because we'll be talking

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all about the jobs which we're going to be doing

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in the garden this weekend. So yeah, make sure you

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stay tuned for that. And just thank you for everybody

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that's been commenting on all my posts and liking them

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and getting involved. I'm trying to start respond to every

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comment on my social media's now and hopefully interact with

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you more. I know I've let you down in the past,

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so I've just let people comment and I've never replied,

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but I am starting to try and reply to them

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and take note of them all. I always read them,

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but I've never usually replied to them all, so hopefully

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I'll start to reply to them all and keep in

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touch with you all. So yeah, today's podcast, we're going

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to be talking about using your garden and allotment space wisely,

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as some people don't have big gardens, you only have

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small gardens. Same with your allotments. Some people have massive

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plots and some people just have half plots, or some

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people just share a little space. And it's about making

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the most out of it and working out how you

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can use a space wisely to get as much growing

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as possible. And I might actually try this this year.

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My plan is just to use one bed and try

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and grow varieties of different things in that bed and

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use it wisely and see what happens and whether we

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get a good crop from doing it. So obviously, like

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I said, some people don't have big gardens or big allotments,

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and some people don't have gardens at all. So sometimes

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you have to grow stuff in pots, and sometimes you

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have to grow stuff in walls on walls, and yeah,

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sometimes you have to grow stuff on balconies. But it's

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about using that space wisely, and you can grow a

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lot of fruit and vege and flowers in pots. Stuff

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work well in pots, obviously, the only issue with growing

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things in pots is that it dries out fast, so

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you have to keep things watered, especially during the summer

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periods because it does dry out. And also growing stuff

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in pots, it runs out of nutrition as it uses

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all the nutrition up, and you have to help it

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get more nutrition by feeding it and yeah, looking after

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it and giving it a bit more TLC. A bit

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like when you're growing too Martyr's in pots. You have

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to keep feeding them so that they get enough nutrition

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to grow well and get good produce on them. So

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the same goes for anything growing in pots because there's

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not much after it takes it from the compost, so

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it needs a bit of regular feeding and improvement to

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the soil to keep it well nourished. So when you're

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growing stuff in pots, obviously you can grow like lettuce

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in pots. You can grow spring, onions, carrots, beetroot, radishes,

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runner beans, peas, causeets, pumpkins even but like I said,

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pumpkins and obviously corseets, they do need a lot of water,

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so you have to make sure they get well fed.

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And yeah, obviously when you're growing stuff as well, just

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grow the amount that you'll actually need. I shouldn't be

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really saying this because I'd never do that. I grow

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more than well enough that I need. I'm one of

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these that shows every single seed in the packet, and

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I'll plant every seed in the packet. But yeah, if

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I'm going to try and grow one bed full of vege,

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I'm going to try and just grow a few of

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each vegetables and plant them in it and see how

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well we do with it, and see if we get

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a better outcome than we do having a bed for

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different vegetables and see how well it grows. So make

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sure you stay tuned for that because I'll be sharing

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my updates obviously on Instagram and Facebook with regards that

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I'll be talking to about it on the podcast, and

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I might try growing some more stuff in pots and

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also in baskets on my shed and on my fencing,

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trying to grow stuff and using it wisely in my space,

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so trying to get as much planted in the plot,

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but using every available space I've got around me to

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do it. I did try growing some stuff in hangers

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on the side of my shed, but I forgot to

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water so they all died. But this year I might

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give my extra time to it and give it a

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bigger push in trying to do it this year, because

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I do want to try and grow as much variety

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as possible down at the allotment. And I am going

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to crack growing carrots this year. That is on my

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mission list. I will grow some good carrots. You can

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hold me to it, and if I fail, you can say,

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well you did say that you would try. But yeah,

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I'm going to give it a try this year. So yeah,

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And it's about obviously planting stuff and as soon as

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it's been harvested, planting something else in that space which

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can then grow and continue. And when you like growing

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like lettuce and spring onions and beetroot, you have to

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keep sewing at regular intervals so that you can keep

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growing a crop throughout the year. Like obviously, you can

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start some lettuce off one week and then in a

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month's time start another batchel lettue off, so then as

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you're harvest in one lettuce, you can be planting some

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more lettuce to replace it. So it's about keeping that

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crop growing. And like I said, I never grow anything

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through the winter period. I've only got my onions of

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my garlkin throughout the winter period. And a lot of

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people do actually grow stuff through the winter period. And

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I take my heart off to people that live off

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everything that they eat throughout the year. They grow the

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full year and eat off it. I wish I could

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do that, and I wish I could spend the time

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down there to do that. But yeah, as long as

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you use your space wisely use try and grow as

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much as possible, and just grow what you actually need.

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And if you do grow an abundance crops, take it

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to your local food bank or take it to your neighbors,

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to your friends, to your families, and they will absolutely

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love you. Everybody loves free fruit and vegetables. Like I said,

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certain stuff I don't share with people. Some stuff I

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do share, but I won't be sharing like my strawberries

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or the sweet sweet call me anyone, or my peas.

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They're the one thing that I do not share. I

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can grow in abundance to them and I will eat

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them all. But so yeah, and that's why I always

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stress the importance of planning your allotment now ready for

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the summertime. Where you want to grow stuff, and how

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you want to grow it, and when you plan on

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planting it there, and just drawing like a treasure map,

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but of your allotment and a plan of it. And

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if you do it like that, then you can work

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out where things are going to grow. And if something

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doesn't work out there, you can obviously plant something else there.

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But it gives you a good idea of where you

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want to grow stuff. Look at where the sun shines,

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look at where it gets full somewhere it don't get

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full sun, where it's shady, and work out what things

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can grow in certain areas, and obviously googles your answer.

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It'll tell you what stuff can grow in the shade,

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which stuff needs full sun, so you can work around

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that and make the most of your garden to its

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full potential and your allotment. So yeah, I hope you've

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found this podcast interesting and let me know if you're

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going to use your space wisely and try and grow

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more stuff this year, and try and find unusual things

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to grow things in as well as like you see

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people growing stuff in watering cans, in pot different types

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of pots and stuff like that, recycla little containers, have

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a look around, try and grow stuff in different varieties

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and stuff and make it look attractive as well. So yeah,

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I hope you've enjoyed that. Like I said, tomorrow's episode,

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we're going to be talking about all the things we're

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going to be doing in the gardens, so make sure

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you stay tuned for that. Obviously, in a couple of

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weeks it's the Big bird Watch, which I'm going to

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be doing down at my allotment. I'm going to be

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spending a load of money on bird food and seed

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and different varieties of seeds, fill all my feeders up

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and just sit there and watch the bird's cub and

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hopefully get some good photos of different varieties of birds

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down at my allotment. So I'm looking forward to that.

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So if you don't know when the Big bird watches,

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Google it and get involved and joined me in doing

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the Big bird Watch. So yeah, I hope you've enjoyed

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the podcast today, and as always, if you've not followed

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this podcast, do give it a follow. Feel free to

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leave a review as well. And yeah, until next time, everyone, remember,

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keep smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening with everyone. Thanks

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for tuning in to today's episode of Gardening with Ben.

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I hope you've enjoyed our chat and picked up some

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tips to help your garden and allotment pride. Don't forget

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to stay connected with me on all social media for

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even more gardening inspiration, updates and behind the scenes content.

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You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Just

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search Gardening with Ben, hit that follow button or subscribe

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button and join our growing community of garden lovers. Until

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next time, everyone, remember, keep smiling, keep shining, and keep

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gardening with Ben.