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 --> 00:00:20,519 gardener or just starting out, this podcast is for you. 6 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:24,879 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 --> 00:00:33,640 We will share all the tips and add advice. We 9 00:00:33,679 --> 00:00:37,039 will also have regular episodes talking about what we have 10 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,840 been up to on the Alltment. So sit back, grab 11 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:47,920 a brew and enjoy today's episode. Hey everyone, and welcome 12 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:53,399 back to Gardening with Ben for another brand new episode. 13 00:00:54,079 --> 00:00:57,280 I've just been looking at how many people have actually 14 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,200 been listening to my podcast and wow, literally I had 15 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,680 five hundred streams of my podcast yesterday. I can't believe it. 16 00:01:05,799 --> 00:01:08,359 Thank you ever so much to everybody that's listening to 17 00:01:08,359 --> 00:01:11,239 my podcast and that has tuned back in and any 18 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,200 newbies that are listening to these podcasts. Make sure you 19 00:01:14,239 --> 00:01:17,480 can do click the follow button and click the bell 20 00:01:17,599 --> 00:01:20,799 and you'll get notified when new podcasts come up and 21 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:23,480 hopefully they will be uploaded for seven o'clock in the 22 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:27,560 morning and hopefully, fingers crossed, these podcasts are going to 23 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,480 be every day now, as like I say, I've got 24 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,560 an nice new structure now that I'm working back normal hours, 25 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,879 so I can record podcasts for every single day for 26 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:41,000 you to listen to and hopefully share some tips and 27 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:46,280 advice with you and talk about different topics from down 28 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:51,319 at the allotment. So what are we talking about today, Well, 29 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,120 today we're going to talk about looking after the wildlife 30 00:01:55,200 --> 00:02:01,359 during the winter periods, as I always find an important 31 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:06,920 thing to do down at my allotment. Obviously some people 32 00:02:07,439 --> 00:02:10,560 aren't that bothered about it, but I do like to 33 00:02:10,599 --> 00:02:13,680 look after the wildlife and as you'll have been seeing 34 00:02:13,759 --> 00:02:17,719 from like my posts on Instagram and social media, recently, 35 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,240 I've purchased a new bird feeder where the birds can 36 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:28,840 come along and help themselves to peanuts or seed or 37 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:31,879 I've also got a suet blocking it as well, and 38 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:34,479 it's also got some water on it so that they 39 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,400 can have a drink and a feed as well while 40 00:02:37,439 --> 00:02:40,120 they're on there. But obviously one of the things that 41 00:02:40,159 --> 00:02:44,639 it does attract is obviously rats, and it can attract squirrels, 42 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:47,800 So my dad's been out and purchased a special guard 43 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:50,639 that you stick on the pole to stop anything from 44 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,599 climbing up and pinching them all. Because obviously it's good 45 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:58,280 to see the squirrels there and look after the squirrels, 46 00:02:58,319 --> 00:03:00,120 but I don't want them to tweet it all. It 47 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,400 is quite expensive. And I do want to look after 48 00:03:03,439 --> 00:03:06,159 the birds on my allotment because attracting the birds to 49 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:08,919 the allotment it will help them come and they eat 50 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,680 insects off the plants and any bugs what are around, 51 00:03:11,759 --> 00:03:14,840 and also eat the slugs that are around. So encouraging 52 00:03:14,879 --> 00:03:18,479 the birds to the allotment is pretty much important and 53 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:22,759 something that I always want to do. And the other 54 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,840 week I thought, there's not many birds around here on 55 00:03:26,879 --> 00:03:30,639 the allotment. It's absolutely quiet, and I'm thinking, is it 56 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:33,599 because I've not been feeding them or is it because 57 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,400 it's not much around from tweet at the moment, because 58 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,719 obviously all the berries are finished now and stuff like that, 59 00:03:39,759 --> 00:03:41,960 so there's not as much around for the birds to eat. 60 00:03:42,439 --> 00:03:46,560 But I did have a sparrowhawk nearly dive bomb me 61 00:03:46,639 --> 00:03:51,599 down on the allotment. And yeah, obviously if there's a 62 00:03:51,639 --> 00:03:55,240 bird of prey around. The other birds tend to disappear, 63 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:57,560 so it's hard sometimes to attract them back to the 64 00:03:57,639 --> 00:04:02,319 allotment so that they're not scared anymore. And the last 65 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:04,039 time that I went down to the allotment, I was 66 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,199 happy to see that I had got birds coming back 67 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,759 to the allotment again. And I always love being down 68 00:04:10,759 --> 00:04:13,159 at the allotment with birds. Like literally, there would no 69 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:17,439 robbins around or anything like that. And when you're down 70 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:19,560 there on the allotment and you're digging over your beds, 71 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,000 you've always got like a little robin watching over here, 72 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,439 waiting for those worms to come up and to quickly 73 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:31,120 eat them and hurry off on the way again. And 74 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:33,160 it's nice to have some company down there. I know, 75 00:04:33,199 --> 00:04:35,360 I love being down there on my own on the allotment, 76 00:04:35,399 --> 00:04:38,439 but it's nice to have the robbins around you and 77 00:04:38,639 --> 00:04:41,639 the blue tits and everything like that enjoying it. So 78 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,439 I do love to look after the wildlife and attract 79 00:04:44,519 --> 00:04:48,160 them to the allotment. So the more that I can 80 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,040 do to attract the birds to the plot, I will do. 81 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,120 And yeah, it is expensive. You can be spending quite 82 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,399 a bit of money every week filling the bird feeders up. 83 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,079 But it's something that I want to do more and 84 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:06,240 help more down on the allotment because I have also 85 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:10,319 put some wildlife cameras outside as well, so I've started 86 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:14,040 filming where the bird feeder is, so hopefully we'll get 87 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,519 some good footage and some good pictures for you all 88 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:18,759 to see. And you never know, I might be able 89 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,759 to see some other wildlife on their light badges or 90 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,120 hedgehogs and stuff like that. So I'm going to be 91 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,680 keeping an eye out on these wildlife cameras because when 92 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:31,800 I had the kittens in my shed the other week 93 00:05:31,879 --> 00:05:34,800 when they'd been born, a lot of people were saying, oh, 94 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:38,240 get some wildlife cameras, gets wildlife camera. But I was thinking, 95 00:05:38,879 --> 00:05:40,800 I'm sure they used to be like one hundred pound 96 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:43,319 each and stuff like that. But no, they've come down 97 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:45,680 in price a lot now, the wildlife cameras and the 98 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:50,040 infrared and battery powered as well, so they were only 99 00:05:50,199 --> 00:05:53,360 like two for like eighty pounds or something like that, 100 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,480 and they came with the SD card and the night 101 00:05:57,560 --> 00:05:59,920 vision as well, so they see what happens at night 102 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,120 and pick it all up and either record it or 103 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,720 take photos of it for you to look back on 104 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:10,399 later and absolutely fantastic. The quality on them is brilliant. 105 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,920 So hopefully I'll start to get some footage from down 106 00:06:13,959 --> 00:06:16,480 at the allotment. So we're looking after the birds again, 107 00:06:16,639 --> 00:06:19,560 like I say, at the allotment and encouraging them. So 108 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,160 if anybody's got any tips and advice on what I 109 00:06:22,199 --> 00:06:25,040 can do to encourage the birds to my allotment, please 110 00:06:25,079 --> 00:06:26,639 do send me a message and let me know it's 111 00:06:26,759 --> 00:06:30,240 it'd be good to hear from you. I obviously have 112 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,480 two bird houses down on my allotment as well for 113 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,600 the blue teds, and for the last couple of years 114 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:41,240 I've had blue teds coming nest in my birdhouses, which 115 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:45,959 has been absolutely fantastic to see. And you can bluet 116 00:06:45,959 --> 00:06:48,879 its are so fast and it just amazes me how 117 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:51,519 fast they're going through the hole in the birdhouses, shoot 118 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,240 back out again and then come back again. And the 119 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:57,079 amount of insects they must catch to collect to like 120 00:06:57,199 --> 00:07:01,079 feed the young while they're in there is amazing. And 121 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:05,360 you can hear the babies cheaping and when they're getting 122 00:07:05,399 --> 00:07:08,839 ready to fledge you are waiting. You can see them 123 00:07:08,879 --> 00:07:12,160 like peeking the head through the little hole in the house, 124 00:07:12,199 --> 00:07:13,800 thinking are you going to come out? Are you going 125 00:07:13,839 --> 00:07:15,360 to come out? Are you going to start flying? And 126 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,399 stuff like that, and then all of a sudden they've 127 00:07:18,399 --> 00:07:21,160 all disappeared and they've left for the year. So you've 128 00:07:21,199 --> 00:07:23,240 done your little bit down in the allotment in the 129 00:07:23,279 --> 00:07:27,040 garden and looking after the birds and encouraging them, and 130 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,480 to have baby blue tits and build a family down 131 00:07:30,519 --> 00:07:33,759 there is absolutely amazing to see. I do really love it, 132 00:07:34,759 --> 00:07:37,399 so I encourage that every year as well. And one 133 00:07:37,439 --> 00:07:39,600 thing you can do around this time of year now 134 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:44,639 is if you've got bird houses, is to clean them out. 135 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,519 And when I mean clean them out, it's not just 136 00:07:47,519 --> 00:07:50,600 a case of clearing out the nest. It's a case 137 00:07:50,639 --> 00:07:54,079 of disinfecting inside them as well, because they can be 138 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:58,600 diseases in there and you can find spiders. Yes, they 139 00:07:58,639 --> 00:08:01,399 might be spiders hiding in there, so be careful if 140 00:08:01,399 --> 00:08:04,480 you don't like spiders and bugs and everything like that. 141 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:06,959 So make sure you clean them out well and then 142 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,920 hang them back up ready for the springtime because springtime 143 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:12,959 is when they start looking around for the houses and 144 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:15,920 ready to nest again. You never know, you might get 145 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:18,439 the same family back again. But you can't really tell 146 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:20,439 with bluet it's if it's the same family or not. 147 00:08:21,199 --> 00:08:24,199 But they won't move into the house if it looks 148 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:26,879 like it's been lived in before, So that is one 149 00:08:26,879 --> 00:08:28,519 of the reasons why you have to clean them out 150 00:08:28,519 --> 00:08:30,879 at this time you and get them are ready ready 151 00:08:30,879 --> 00:08:34,279 for next year for a new family to move in. 152 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,480 So that's one job that I have to do every year. 153 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,080 And my sister kindly bought me a present for my birthday. 154 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:46,320 She bought me a ren house as well, so I'm 155 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,960 going to have to put that up and hopefully we'll 156 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,039 get some ren's living in there as well. But I'm 157 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:54,799 looking to get in some more bird type of houses 158 00:08:54,799 --> 00:08:57,120 down at the allotment. I know you can get robbing 159 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:02,240 houses and other little houses as well, so I might 160 00:09:02,279 --> 00:09:04,720 do that after I've recorded this podcast, actually look on 161 00:09:04,759 --> 00:09:08,039 Amazon and see what other bird houses we can purchase 162 00:09:08,159 --> 00:09:12,240 down there. And that's one thing that I've put back 163 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:15,200 into my allotment. And also I've got a hedgehog house 164 00:09:15,279 --> 00:09:17,679 down at the allotment. What I need to put out 165 00:09:17,799 --> 00:09:20,600 ready for the hedghogs because there will be hibernating at 166 00:09:20,639 --> 00:09:24,240 this time of year, so we need to look after 167 00:09:24,279 --> 00:09:28,000 them and hopefully encourage the hedgehogs. It might be a 168 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,919 bit too late to put out the bird, not the bird, 169 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,240 the hedgehog house, but we can give it a try. 170 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:34,879 We can pop it out and see if we're getting 171 00:09:34,879 --> 00:09:38,679 the hedgehogs hibernating over the winds period. But the more 172 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,000 I can do down at the allotment to help look 173 00:09:41,039 --> 00:09:44,039 after the different animals down there, the more that I 174 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:46,720 can do for the better. And I also do it 175 00:09:46,759 --> 00:09:50,919 by encouraging different wild after the allotment by stuff that 176 00:09:51,039 --> 00:09:53,600 I plant down there as well. Obviously I talk a 177 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:57,000 lot about planting my spring bulbs to attract the bees 178 00:09:57,039 --> 00:10:01,480 down there, and yeah, the bees to the allotment, and 179 00:10:01,519 --> 00:10:05,360 obviously you can plant flowers to attract the butterflies as well. 180 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,600 So you can do all your little different jobs on 181 00:10:08,919 --> 00:10:11,840 helping the wildlife down at the allotment. So if you 182 00:10:11,919 --> 00:10:15,000 are wanting to help the wildlife more down in your 183 00:10:15,039 --> 00:10:17,919 allotment or in your garden, have a look online and 184 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,440 have a look see what you can do in your 185 00:10:20,519 --> 00:10:24,039 garden for encouraging the wildlife down there, whether it be 186 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:27,240 just helping the birds or whether it's putting up a 187 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,600 bird house or even the hedgehog houses as well. There's 188 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:34,759 all different ways we can help the wildlife in our 189 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:41,600 gardens and allotments. So if you found this podcast encouraging 190 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:45,120 and making you want to pop out some birds seed 191 00:10:45,159 --> 00:10:47,960 this winter time to feed the birds, let me know. 192 00:10:48,159 --> 00:10:51,080 I'll always love to hear from you. I like to 193 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:54,679 know if I've encouraged somebody to do something along these ways. 194 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:59,279 And obviously, like say, we had four hundred streams yesterday. Wow, 195 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,480 we five one hundred streams on my podcast yesterday, So 196 00:11:02,519 --> 00:11:05,519 a lot of people are listening to this podcast, and 197 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:10,200 I hope that you are all enjoying it and just 198 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:12,559 glad it's back as well. So I want to do 199 00:11:12,639 --> 00:11:15,440 this every single day, whether I just waffle on or 200 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,120 whether I talk about a topic. That is how it 201 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,679 all ended up. But obviously you all are enjoying this 202 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,519 and getting something from it, or you wouldn't come back 203 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:28,480 and keep listening to it. So fingers crossed, We're going 204 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,720 to have another podcast tomorrow for you all to listen to, 205 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:34,840 which I hope will go down well. Like I say, 206 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,440 if you are not following mate or got the bell clicked, 207 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,519 make sure you do that and you'll get notified when 208 00:11:41,519 --> 00:11:44,960 you podcasts come up and use like seven o'clock every 209 00:11:45,039 --> 00:11:47,679 morning for you to listen to, whether it's on the 210 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:50,799 way to work, whether it's taking the kids to school, 211 00:11:51,039 --> 00:11:53,679 or whether it's why you're having your morning brew or 212 00:11:53,799 --> 00:11:57,480 at the allotment. I hope you all enjoy them. Until 213 00:11:57,519 --> 00:12:01,480 next time, everyone, remember, keep smiling, keep shining, and keep 214 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:07,080 gardening with Ben. Everyone, thank you for joining me on 215 00:12:07,399 --> 00:12:10,960 this episode of Gardening with Ben. I hope you have 216 00:12:11,159 --> 00:12:14,960 found some useful tips and inspiration for your own gardening 217 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,440 and a lotment journey. If you have enjoyed today's episode, 218 00:12:18,639 --> 00:12:22,240 please make sure to follow and subscribe to the podcast 219 00:12:22,639 --> 00:12:25,279 so you'll never miss a new episode. And if you 220 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:27,200 have a moment, I'd love for you to leave a 221 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:31,679 review and share the podcast with fellow gardening enthusiasts. Your 222 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:36,080 support helps us grow this community and continue bringing you 223 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:39,879 great content. You can also follow us on social media 224 00:12:40,519 --> 00:12:43,840 on every platform for all Gardening with Ben for daily 225 00:12:44,039 --> 00:12:49,320 gardening tips and of days, happy gardening, and until next time, remember, 226 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,159 keep smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening with Ben.