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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 allotment adventures to

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

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

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

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gardening journey. Hey everybody, and welcome back to Gardening with Ben.

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Sorry about the two day absence in the podcast, but

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we are here with a brand new podcast. We have

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been so busy this weekend getting bits done down at

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the Allotment and recording you content, and also I'm sorting

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out all my content for February. So yeah, it has

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been a busy weekend, so hence the reason why we've

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not had any podcasts over the weekend. But yes, it

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was the big bird weekend, the weekend that I had

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been waiting for all week. I've never shut up about

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it about you're figuring on the podcast, will you please

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shut up about the Big Bird Watch? Well, unfortunately this

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episode is about that. But yes, we had the Big

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bird Watch. I'd bought lots of seed, I'd bought peanuts,

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I'd bought sultanas, i'd bought fat balls, I'd foot bought

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s it blocks. Yes, I spent a load on bird

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seed and did it pull off? Well? Possibly, as obviously

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we're feeding the birds. It's good to put it out

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every day. And obviously my bird feeders hadn't been filled

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up for quite a few days since the last time

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I'd been there, so the birds didn't know to automatically

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come down to the bird feeders straight away. But we

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managed to get some birds down there after a while.

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And what birds did we see, you'll be wondering, Well,

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we saw absolutely loads of robins. Yes, there were all

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different robins that weren't the same one that just kept

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coming back because they were all different shapes and sizes.

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But I absolutely love seeing the robbins down there. They

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absolutely loved it. We saw a few blue its, not many,

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not many blue t its. We also saw the blackbird, blackbird,

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came down quite a bit because I put stanas out

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and blackbirds obviously love the fruit, so we saw a

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few blackbirds. We also saw a few pigeons. Obviously woodpigeons.

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They're always around the woodpigeons. They're greedy little beggars. But

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we're feeding them, that's the main thing. And what else

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did we see that was all the birds that we

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actually saw. Obviously you don't get as many varieties at

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this time of year because a lot of other hibernating

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or they're hiding away keeping warm. And it has been

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bad weather this weekend. Obviously we had the storm on

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Friday and then we had a lot of rain on Sunday.

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So yeah, it hasn't been the best of weekends for

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recording it. But I'm happy I did it, and I'm

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happy that I've invested in some new bird feeders and

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lots more bird feed so that'll keep us going for

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a few more months. And at this time of year

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when we need to be feeding the birds because soon

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they'll be getting ready for the mating season, and it

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helps fatten the males up and gets the energy up

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ready for laying eggs. Well. Obviously mating and the females

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laying the eggs in the bird houses in around March

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April time possibly, so that is why we need to

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keep feeding them, so hopefully keep my bird feeders filled

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up ready for around that time. So what else did

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we get up to down at the allotment at the weekend. Well,

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we didn't get up to too much to be honest,

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as it was absolutely bitterly cold, so cold, and it

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was so icy when I went down on Sunday, so

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I see it's my car skidded everywhere going onto the

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allotment site. But we went down for a few hours.

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I didn't necessarily do any work down there, but I

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just enjoy being out of the flat and in the

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fresh air for a bit and just being with nature.

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And we are hopefully going to be putting out a

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few videos this week. I've recorded a few YouTube videos,

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so make sure you stay tuned for them on YouTube.

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If you don't follow me on YouTube, go ahead across

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and listen find me gardening with Ben and you'll be

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able to see all my videos on there. We've filmed

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about four videos for this week, so I'm looking forward

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to them. We've also started putting out new content on

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our face Book. If you don't follow me on Facebook,

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head over to my Facebook page. I'm starting to share

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more informational posts. Obviously, it's nice to keep seeing photos

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of me and all my produce and my vegetables and

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what I've been getting up to. But I've started sharing

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more informational posts because I've got a lot of newbies

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on my allotment and I want to start sharing tips

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and advice and why gardening is good and encourage more

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people to get into gardening. And that's what I'm planning

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on doing over the next year, is trying to be

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more foot informative. That's if I can get it out

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with everybody. Obviously, we've got this podcasts where I talk

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about everything and what I'm getting up to. But I've

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started putting more posts on Facebook. So if you see

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one of my posts, feel free to like it and

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leave a comment. Comments do push my posts out, So

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please do just comment on it, even if it's just

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a few words, as it helps push it out. And

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obviously I've started replying now to all comments. That's my

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nightly job. What I do. I go through all my

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comments and update them. Well. It's good to keep up

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to date with them. Obviously I used to read them

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all before, but I am now replying to them as

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that obviously helps push it out as well, and i

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just want people to see that I'm actually active and

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reading them and keeping up to date with everybody. So

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we're doing that. And I've also filmed a video on

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my melon seeds what I'm going to be growing this year,

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as I ordered absolutely loads of varieties of melons off

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Amazon and they've all come now, and so I've filmed

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a little video for that, so make sure you stay

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tuned for this week, so that'll drop on YouTube this week,

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all the varieties that I'm going to be growing. And

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also I've put up a tour video of my allotments,

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so you because see how well things are growing at

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the moment and how things aren't growing. What's failing. There

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is something failing. If you watch the video, you'll see

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what's not doing very well. But yeah, we do have

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us ups and downs, and like I always say, I'm

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an honest gardener, I share with you what's working and

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what's not working. I've also been out and bought the

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Grow your Own magazine and the Kitchen Garden magazine this week,

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which is the February edition. I should have probably bought

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it a bit early because the March edition might be

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out soon. But when I were doing my weekly shop,

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I noticed that both magazines are now putting ten seed

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packets in a magazine. And yes, I often just buy

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it for the seeds, but I will share with you

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in an episode what seeds we have got in the magazines,

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So make sure you stay tuned for that, because they

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don't show you what's in the seed packets until you

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obviously open the magazine up, so I'll be sharing with

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you what seeds we're getting in with them. And the

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reason why I do like to get the magazines is

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because they have seeds in on what you probably wouldn't

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buy in the garden center or from the shops, and

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sometimes you think, oh, just give them a try. I

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might as well. I'm not gonna waste them, So you

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end up sewing them and they could be a different

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variety of a seed that you've never tried before, and

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sometimes they crop better than the ones that you often

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see regularly. That is how I came to try purple cauliflower,

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because I got a three packet of seeds and the

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purple cauliflower did better than the white cauliflower, so hence

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why I've continued to grow the purple cauliflower every single

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year now. So yeah, I'll be sharing them with you.

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And what else have we been up to? That's it,

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really what we've been up to. So yeah, I'm just

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getting into creating lots and lots more content for everybody

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because we're growing every single day. We're getting new followers

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and I do appreciate it. So if you are new

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to this podcast, do give us a follow and step Today.

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Towards the end of the week, we're going to be

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doing our February podcasts where we talk about what seeds

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we can sell in February and what jobs need doing

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in the garden and allotment in February. So that is

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a vital podcast which I know everybody loves to listen to,

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so make sure you stay tuned for that. So happy Monday, everybody.

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I hope you all have a fantastic week. Hopefully lots

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more podcasts have come this week, So until next time, everyone,

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remember keep smiling, keep shining, and keep Guardening with Ben. Everyone.

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Thanks 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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garden Him with Ben