1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:05,919 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Gardening with Ben. You'll go to 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:09,439 a podcast for all things green and growing. I'm Ben, 3 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:13,400 your allotment guide and here to help you cultivate your 4 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,079 garden and your passion for plants. Whether you're a seasoned 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,600 gardener or just starting out, this podcast is for you. 6 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:24,879 Speaker 2: Each episode will dig into tips, tricks, and techniques to 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:30,000 make your garden and allotment thrive from planting, sewing and growing. 8 00:00:30,199 --> 00:00:32,520 Speaker 1: We will share all the tips and add advice. 9 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 2: We will also have regular episodes talking about what we 10 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,039 have been up to on the allotment. So sit back, 11 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:43,520 grab a brew and enjoy today's episode. 12 00:00:46,359 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: Hey everyone, and welcome back to Gardening with Ben for 13 00:00:50,719 --> 00:00:54,719 another brand new episode for today. I hope you're all well. 14 00:00:54,799 --> 00:00:58,240 I hope you all getting in that festive mood. And yeah, 15 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,520 it's nearly the weekend. One more day and then the 16 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:07,640 weekend is finally here, so it's finally Friday. And yeah, 17 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:09,680 we're getting ready to go back down to the allotments. 18 00:01:09,799 --> 00:01:13,319 Fingers crossed this rain and windows stopped. It's been pretty 19 00:01:13,359 --> 00:01:17,840 stormy today here in Sheffield where I am, but hopefully 20 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:19,920 we'll be able to get down to the allotment this 21 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,239 Saturday and Sunday because I need to start filming some 22 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:24,519 more contact for you all, and I need to get 23 00:01:24,519 --> 00:01:26,799 back into doing a lot of more work down there, 24 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,400 because obviously the last few weeks I've been absolutely tied 25 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,439 up with moving and getting ready. I've just got a 26 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,840 new chair to sit on today while I do my podcast, 27 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,239 so I'm a lot more come for you. And yeah, 28 00:01:39,359 --> 00:01:42,200 I'm getting my setup pretty well here in my flat 29 00:01:42,239 --> 00:01:45,879 now and settling in pretty well. I just need to 30 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,239 find out where the local places are now and go 31 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:52,120 and visit a few sites around me. That's the next 32 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,680 plan on the tick list. But hopefully i'll settle in 33 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,719 in the village pretty nice. So, as you know, we 34 00:01:59,799 --> 00:02:03,079 start off with a Christmas joke to get you in 35 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,560 the festive mood. If you've not been watching them on 36 00:02:05,599 --> 00:02:09,080 Instagram or on Facebook, we'll deliver them here as well 37 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:13,520 for you. So today's Christmas joke is, what do you 38 00:02:13,599 --> 00:02:17,599 call a festive herb garden? What do you call a 39 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:26,000 festive herb garden? You call it seasons greeting, seasons greeting. 40 00:02:26,439 --> 00:02:30,240 So what do you call a festive herb garden? Seasons greeting? 41 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,039 I hope you're enjoying all these little dad jokes that 42 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:35,599 we keep throwing in every single day. You never know 43 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:39,039 we might continue them throughout the year and just do 44 00:02:39,439 --> 00:02:42,400 other gardening jokes. So let me know if you want 45 00:02:42,439 --> 00:02:44,360 me to carry on with the jokes, and I'll carry 46 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,240 on with them on a daily basis, as quite a 47 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,840 lot of people are enjoying them. So today's podcast episode, 48 00:02:52,199 --> 00:02:56,159 we're going to talk about five ways to transform you 49 00:02:56,199 --> 00:03:00,680 out allotment over the winter period. And these are probably 50 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,599 the five things that I mostly concentrate on during the 51 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:08,840 winter months down at my allotment. And in the olden 52 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,080 days when I first started my allotment, I used to 53 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,199 finish off my allotment at September and I never used 54 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:19,719 to get back to my allotment until in probably January 55 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,520 February time, and then I was rushing to get it 56 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,639 all ready in time for March when I'm starting to 57 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:29,199 sow my seeds. So I tend to do a lot 58 00:03:29,199 --> 00:03:31,800 of the jobs throughout the winter months when it's decent weather. 59 00:03:32,879 --> 00:03:35,599 And as you know, I've dug over all my allotment 60 00:03:35,599 --> 00:03:38,520 and cleared most of the rubbish away all ready, so 61 00:03:39,199 --> 00:03:42,800 I then concentrate on doing parts of doing my share, 62 00:03:42,879 --> 00:03:45,960 doing my polytonnel, and other jobs which need doing around 63 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,599 the allotment what I don't get chance to do during 64 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,719 the spring and summer months. So to get your allotment 65 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,479 ready in the winter, all these five easy winter tasks 66 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,039 which we like to stick by. So the first one 67 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,680 is clear and tidy your allotment. Now, this is the 68 00:04:04,719 --> 00:04:08,759 first thing I usually do when my allotment's finished end 69 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:12,680 of October beginning of November. I clear away all the 70 00:04:12,759 --> 00:04:16,680 old vegetables, all the old weeds, and give it a 71 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,600 good tidy up, and try and do any repairs that 72 00:04:20,759 --> 00:04:24,079 need doing down at the allotment and getting it all 73 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,279 in ship shape and tidy ready for the year ahead. 74 00:04:27,639 --> 00:04:30,279 And I write down little jobs which I need to do, 75 00:04:30,519 --> 00:04:34,480 and anything what I'm planning on changing, I'll like design 76 00:04:34,519 --> 00:04:38,160 it and draw it and hopefully get it built and 77 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,759 ready and support it. And now I've got my allotment 78 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:45,560 in pretty good shape with the layout. The layout I'm 79 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:49,120 going to stick with now probably forever as it works. 80 00:04:49,199 --> 00:04:51,519 I've got my beds set out, I've got my paths 81 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,160 laid out, and the only thing that I'm going to 82 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,480 change is I'm going to get paving slabs for paths, 83 00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:59,560 but they're expensive now, so it's only behind a few 84 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,240 pavings slabs every now and then to keep filling the 85 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:05,720 paths up and eventually hopefully we'll have all paving stone 86 00:05:05,959 --> 00:05:09,079 slabs down on the paths. I just like them down 87 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,600 because they don't get as muddy. It's suppressed as the weeds, 88 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:17,240 it's level, and yeah, it looks a lot more aesthetic 89 00:05:17,319 --> 00:05:20,959 as well with nice paving stabs down. Obviously, the slugs 90 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:23,600 like to hide underneath them, so they're not all beneficial, 91 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,399 but they do look a lot nicer. So that's the 92 00:05:27,439 --> 00:05:31,480 first job which we concentrate on doing down at the allotment, 93 00:05:31,519 --> 00:05:34,800 clear and tidy your allotment, and once you've done that 94 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,839 then you can start looking at some of these other jobs. 95 00:05:38,439 --> 00:05:42,040 So the next up is enrich your soil. Winter is 96 00:05:42,079 --> 00:05:45,839 the ideal time for improving your soil, and that means 97 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:51,319 either adding nutrients to the soil or growing green manure 98 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:53,839 in your beds and then digging them in the springtime. 99 00:05:54,399 --> 00:05:57,120 As obviously during the summer months a lot of the 100 00:05:57,199 --> 00:06:00,959 nutrition has been used up with growing vegetables, going your 101 00:06:00,959 --> 00:06:03,800 flowers in and yeah, you need to get that nutrition 102 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,519 back into the soil. And one way obviously you can 103 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,839 do that is by spreading a thick cleave of well 104 00:06:09,879 --> 00:06:13,519 wet manure down, covering it over and then in the 105 00:06:13,519 --> 00:06:17,399 springtime dig it into the soil once it's rotted down 106 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:21,120 even more and hopefully that will improve the soil and 107 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:26,639 get your produce growing absolutely fantastic with great results down 108 00:06:26,759 --> 00:06:30,279 at the allotment. Obviously, the more you look after the soil, 109 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:33,399 the more the produce will look after you, and that 110 00:06:33,519 --> 00:06:36,680 is what you want, really, you want great produce coming 111 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:44,360 from your allotment. So next up is plan your crop rotation. 112 00:06:45,439 --> 00:06:48,759 Now some people don't do this, but it is a 113 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,600 key factor in getting great vegetables and it leads on 114 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,759 from the other segment before enriching your soil, is that 115 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,319 if you don't enrichy soil, you need to make sure 116 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,160 that you've planted crops in a different place to the 117 00:07:05,199 --> 00:07:07,959 previous year. The reason being is that the crops will 118 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,319 take out the nutrition nutrients from the soil which are 119 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:13,800 needed for that plant. So if you plant the same 120 00:07:13,839 --> 00:07:16,639 plant in the same place, a lot of the nutrition 121 00:07:16,839 --> 00:07:20,040 has gone from the soil what that plant needs, so 122 00:07:20,399 --> 00:07:24,240 either enriched the soil and ad manure backing or movie 123 00:07:24,399 --> 00:07:28,639 vegetables around. Obviously, it would help if you did enrich 124 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,199 it as well, because they might not be the right 125 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:36,160 nutrients in the soil from a different crop as that 126 00:07:36,279 --> 00:07:39,519 might have used them. But yeah, obviously enriching your soil 127 00:07:39,759 --> 00:07:43,319 and moving your crop around is a key factor. And 128 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:45,879 that is one thing that I always do around this 129 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,720 time of year. January time, I draw a plan of 130 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:50,680 my allotment and a plan where I'm going to plant 131 00:07:50,759 --> 00:07:53,439 stuff this year, and I make a list of everything 132 00:07:53,439 --> 00:07:55,600 that I want to try growing, whether it be the 133 00:07:55,639 --> 00:07:58,279 same things, whether it be new things, or whether it'll 134 00:07:58,279 --> 00:08:02,480 be trialing things have never actually grown before. So planning 135 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:06,720 your crop rotation is a key factor of getting a 136 00:08:06,759 --> 00:08:11,399 great crop from your allotment. And obviously check where this 137 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,160 sun and where this shade as well, because different vegetables 138 00:08:15,199 --> 00:08:20,839 grow in different places. Next up is a job which 139 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:26,199 isn't that fantastic to do, but it needs doing. Maintain 140 00:08:26,319 --> 00:08:30,360 your tools and structures. When it means by maintaining your tools, 141 00:08:30,839 --> 00:08:35,039 obviously clean them up and store them away for the 142 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:37,200 winter if you're not going to be using them, and 143 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:42,240 oil them up. If you've got secretaries and different machinery tools. 144 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:44,320 Make sure they're all nice and clean, ready for the 145 00:08:44,399 --> 00:08:50,600 year ahead. Maintaining your structures. That means looking after your sheds, 146 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:54,799 after your polytunnels, after your greenhouses. And we've talked about 147 00:08:54,799 --> 00:08:58,519 this in previous episodes. Is that obviously in the winter months, 148 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,000 I do a lot of work on my shed. I 149 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:05,559 make sure all the polycarbonates fastened down well. I do 150 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,159 any repairs to my polytunnel by taping up any splits 151 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,279 in it. And if you've got a greenhouse, make sure 152 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:15,840 that all the clips are secure, that it's fastened down 153 00:09:15,879 --> 00:09:18,399 to the ground well, just in case we have some storms, 154 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:22,000 which we have been getting few recently, and it's case 155 00:09:22,159 --> 00:09:26,399 of making sure it's all in good shape. And obviously 156 00:09:26,399 --> 00:09:31,000 you can do different setups in your shed, like possibly 157 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,320 paint it to stop it from rotting, or whether it 158 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:38,159 be putting you shelving up, or just tidying up your 159 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:42,960 whole shed and making it last an extra year, because 160 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,120 if you don't do a bit of maintenance you could 161 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,879 end up with a disaster like I did where one 162 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:51,840 year half of my shed collapsed. I weren't able to 163 00:09:51,879 --> 00:09:55,559 grow in my shed for a year as it was 164 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:57,200 out of action. It was a mess. It We're all 165 00:09:57,279 --> 00:10:01,120 falling down, polycarbonate were falling off, and it had all 166 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:03,879 cracked and split. Winter got in and blown off of 167 00:10:03,919 --> 00:10:08,120 it away. And yeah, last wintertime I spent a lot 168 00:10:08,159 --> 00:10:11,799 of time rebuilding my shed and making it stronger and 169 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,559 a better structure ready, So hopefully it'll last a few 170 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,360 more years, but obviously I will keep an eye on 171 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,159 it through the winter and do anything that needs repairing 172 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:28,320 or replacing. And the last up is plant winter crops 173 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:33,679 and perennials. So if you're thinking about growing winter crops, 174 00:10:34,039 --> 00:10:35,919 now is the perfect time to do it. Obviously, if 175 00:10:35,919 --> 00:10:38,840 you've got a polytunnel, you can grow stuff throughout the 176 00:10:38,879 --> 00:10:41,879 winter months in the polytunnel or in a one call 177 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:44,919 frame or one greenhouse. I did talk about what you 178 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:48,159 could grow in previous episodes, so if you've not listened 179 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,240 to that one, make sure you go back and listen 180 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:51,919 to that one and find out what you can actually 181 00:10:51,919 --> 00:10:55,240 grow in the polytunnel and greenhouse at this time a year. 182 00:10:55,639 --> 00:10:59,639 I also talked about perennials and annuals, what you can 183 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:04,200 grow like sweet peas and geraniums at this time of year, 184 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,440 starting them off and obviously, if you think about growing 185 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:11,200 fruit down in your allotment are in the garden, now 186 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,360 is the perfect time to be planting any fruit in 187 00:11:14,399 --> 00:11:18,639 the plot because it is the perfect conditions. There's wet 188 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:23,039 weather and the plants are dormant, the concentrating on growing 189 00:11:23,039 --> 00:11:25,840 the roots. If you plant them in the summertime, it's 190 00:11:25,879 --> 00:11:28,799 worse off because they're concentrating on growing the fruit and 191 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,840 the flowers. So you want to be planting any fruit 192 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,320 in the winter months. And that's why you see the 193 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:40,799 supermarkets full of fruit trees, fruit bushes, et cetera. Because 194 00:11:40,799 --> 00:11:43,279 they know it's the perfect time to plant them. Now. 195 00:11:43,919 --> 00:11:45,519 If you go to a garden center and some of 196 00:11:45,559 --> 00:11:48,320 them don't have as many, but they'll still sell them. 197 00:11:48,399 --> 00:11:51,639 But it's ideal to plant them during the autumn and 198 00:11:51,759 --> 00:11:55,559 winter months down at the allotment. So those are the 199 00:11:55,639 --> 00:11:58,960 five key tasks of what you should be doing down 200 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,840 at the allotment are in the at this time of year. 201 00:12:02,279 --> 00:12:05,759 I hope you found it extremely useful, and if you're 202 00:12:05,799 --> 00:12:07,759 new to this podcast, make sure you do give us 203 00:12:07,799 --> 00:12:11,159 a follow, leave a comment, and feel free to share 204 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:13,600 it as well. Share it to other people, share it 205 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,519 to Facebook groups, the more people that listen to this 206 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:19,200 podcast and the more it gets out there, the better. 207 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:24,600 I've just had my Spotify review or my podcast over 208 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:27,399 the last year, and it's amazing to see how far 209 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:31,440 and how wide my podcast actually goes. And it's not 210 00:12:31,519 --> 00:12:34,919 just the UK that's big listeners. There's big listeners in 211 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:38,159 other countries as well, So if you're from a different country, 212 00:12:38,759 --> 00:12:41,360 I thank you for listening and I hope you find 213 00:12:41,399 --> 00:12:44,679 it useful way of your listen. But yeah, I am 214 00:12:44,919 --> 00:12:47,200 Gardening with Ben. If you don't follow me on my 215 00:12:47,279 --> 00:12:50,440 social media's, do give me a follow on my Instagram, 216 00:12:50,519 --> 00:12:53,519 on my Facebook page, on my TikTok page, on my 217 00:12:53,639 --> 00:12:57,200 YouTube they're all called Gardening with Ben. If you're listening 218 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,919 to this on YouTube as well, why not click on 219 00:13:01,039 --> 00:13:04,240 Spotify and find me on Spotify Gardening with Ben. It's 220 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:06,759 a lot easier to find the podcast and you'll get 221 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:10,360 notified when a new podcast is up as well. So 222 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:14,919 until next time, everyone, remember, keep smiling, keep shining, and 223 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:20,879 keep gardening with Ben. Everyone, thank you for joining me 224 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:23,960 on this episode of Gardening with Ben. 225 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,559 Speaker 2: I hope you have found some useful tips and inspiration for 226 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:31,360 your own gardening and a Lotment Journey. If you've enjoyed 227 00:13:31,399 --> 00:13:35,600 today's episode, please make sure to follow and subscribe to 228 00:13:35,639 --> 00:13:39,000 the podcast so you never miss a new episode. And 229 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:40,879 if you have a moment, I'd love for you to 230 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,159 leave a review and share the podcast with fellow gardening 231 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:48,639 phuty asks. Your support helps us grow this community and 232 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:52,879 continue bringing you great content. You can also follow us 233 00:13:52,919 --> 00:13:56,720 on social media on every platform for all gardening with 234 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:01,440 Ben for daily gardening tips and one day happy gardening. 235 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:06,080 And until next time, remember keep smiling, keep shining, and 236 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,799 keep gardening with them.