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 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 --> 00:00:40,039 been up to on the a Lotment. So sit back, 11 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:47,079 grab a brew and enjoy today's episode. Hey everyone, and 12 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:53,159 welcome back to Gardening with Ben for another brand new episode. Well, 13 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,280 it's middle of the week already, we're nearly at the weekend, 14 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,439 We're nearly at Christmas. Christmas is nearly here, and I've 15 00:00:59,439 --> 00:01:04,760 still not born a single Christmas present. But yeah, Christmas 16 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:07,200 is soon upon us. But that doesn't stop me if 17 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,400 I'm doing these podcasts, And it certainly doesn't stop me 18 00:01:10,439 --> 00:01:12,599 if I'm going to the allotment and doing my gardening 19 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:17,200 and enjoying what I do best, And yeah, it helps 20 00:01:17,239 --> 00:01:19,439 me so much to get to the allotment into the garden. 21 00:01:19,519 --> 00:01:21,760 It's one thing that I can always look forward to 22 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:24,760 at the weekend, getting down to the allotment, seeing how 23 00:01:24,799 --> 00:01:29,680 things are getting on, and it helps motivate me as 24 00:01:29,719 --> 00:01:33,439 well doing this for you guys, and it pushes me 25 00:01:33,599 --> 00:01:36,079 and keeps me going. If I didn't do all this, 26 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:38,640 I'd just sit back and lay on my bed all 27 00:01:38,719 --> 00:01:41,879 day and do absolutely nothing. So I do love doing 28 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:44,120 these podcasts for you all, and I hope that you 29 00:01:44,159 --> 00:01:46,879 all enjoy them too. If you're new to these podcasts, 30 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:49,079 make sure you do click that bell button, give us 31 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:51,840 a follow on the platform you're listening to, or if 32 00:01:51,879 --> 00:01:54,959 you're listening on YouTube, follow us on Spotify and you'll 33 00:01:54,959 --> 00:01:59,439 get updated when new podcasts are available to listen to. 34 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,480 So what are we going to talk about today. We're 35 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:07,400 going to talk about utilizing every area of your allotment 36 00:02:07,519 --> 00:02:11,960 to for its potential. Same free garden. Really, it's the 37 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:17,360 same sort of concept now, whether you've got a massive allotment, 38 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,400 whether you've got a small allotment, it's about utilizing the 39 00:02:21,479 --> 00:02:28,000 space correctly and appropriately. As I've learned from the past, 40 00:02:28,599 --> 00:02:32,599 and I've when I saw my seeds, I never say 41 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:36,400 tend to save any of the seeds, I just throw 42 00:02:36,439 --> 00:02:38,919 them all into a seed tray and chuck away the 43 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:42,280 plants that I don't need, or I'll try and plant 44 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,039 them all and use too many. And you don't actually 45 00:02:46,039 --> 00:02:49,240 need to plant as many plants as you end up planting, 46 00:02:49,319 --> 00:02:52,520 because you'll either not use them, all'll all be ready 47 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,039 at the same time, or they'll just go to waste. 48 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,599 So only plan what you actually need to plant, and 49 00:03:00,759 --> 00:03:04,360 by doing that you can grow other stuff and fit 50 00:03:04,439 --> 00:03:08,840 more stuff in. And it goes down to companion planting 51 00:03:08,879 --> 00:03:13,120 as well. As I've not really done much companion planting, 52 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,080 I know about certain things of companion planting and how 53 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:21,080 to plant things to use less space, Like I know 54 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,240 when people say, like plant sweet corn, plant your runner 55 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:28,159 beans to grow around your sweet cone, and then grow 56 00:03:28,439 --> 00:03:32,360 marrows or corgets along the floor to use that space up. 57 00:03:32,599 --> 00:03:37,719 So it's about utilizing the space and using what's available. 58 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,719 And I have to do this because I get a 59 00:03:41,719 --> 00:03:44,000 lot of shade on my allotment, so I don't have 60 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:47,560 much areas that I can grow stuff with sunlight, so 61 00:03:47,599 --> 00:03:49,800 I have to think about what can grow in the shade, 62 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:54,080 okay without much sun, and then grow everything what needs 63 00:03:54,159 --> 00:03:59,599 sun in the beds that need it. And obviously, like 64 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,039 the moment I've got my garlic growing, I've got my 65 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,759 onions growing, and they're in the beds that are sunny. 66 00:04:05,319 --> 00:04:09,960 And the thing is these will be harvested around June 67 00:04:10,039 --> 00:04:13,159 time July time. So when I harvest them, then I 68 00:04:13,159 --> 00:04:16,319 can use them beds again and plant maybe beatrooting and 69 00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:22,199 lettuce in them, marrows, corseats, runner beans in them. I 70 00:04:22,199 --> 00:04:26,519 can use them spaces up once a harvest the produce, 71 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,839 and it's about timing, about being able to use the 72 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,199 space wisely. Like if I were to use the sunny 73 00:04:34,199 --> 00:04:38,800 beds to plant Brussels sprouts in for instance, the brussel sprouts, 74 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:43,160 You'll be planting them out in March April time, and 75 00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:46,319 they wouldn't be ready to harvest on November. So I'd 76 00:04:46,319 --> 00:04:50,560 be wasting that full bed, a sunny bed on Brussels sprouts, 77 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:55,199 which I don't particularly like, and I'll end up using 78 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:57,680 a shaded spot to grow something that needs sunny, if 79 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:01,199 you get me. So, it's about you in the space wisely. 80 00:05:01,879 --> 00:05:05,839 And obviously certain things you can grow in tubs or 81 00:05:05,879 --> 00:05:12,240 in baskets, like you can grow tomatoes trailing tomatoes what 82 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,360 you can grow in like pots on your fence or 83 00:05:15,399 --> 00:05:18,240 in a hanging basket, and they can trail down, so 84 00:05:18,319 --> 00:05:22,199 you could, if you're shorter space, grow stuff in baskets 85 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,639 or in tubs, like lettuce can grow in tubs as well. 86 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,120 And yeah, make the use of all your fencing, like 87 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,439 grow your runner beans up your fencing or hanging some 88 00:05:33,519 --> 00:05:36,279 pots on your fencing and grow lettuce in it, spring 89 00:05:36,319 --> 00:05:40,839 onions in it, carrots in it. It's about using the 90 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,920 space as much as you can and making the most 91 00:05:44,959 --> 00:05:48,879 of how much space you've actually got. And mine's a 92 00:05:48,959 --> 00:05:52,279 big allotment. And I could grow lots and lots of 93 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,680 different varieties of stuff if I had time, or if 94 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:59,199 I had the patience to do it. But I tend 95 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:01,000 to like to leave quite a bit of space in 96 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:03,920 between my plants so that I can keep it weed freeze. 97 00:06:04,319 --> 00:06:07,040 Like if I were retired or something like that, I 98 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:09,360 could go down every day and weed in between all 99 00:06:09,399 --> 00:06:14,639 the plants on a regular basis. And because I can't 100 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:17,639 go down every day and I'm only down there twice 101 00:06:17,639 --> 00:06:19,560 a week now, I have to leave a lot of 102 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:21,319 space in between the plants so that I can just 103 00:06:21,399 --> 00:06:24,079 quickly whizz a whole around and scrape off the top 104 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,240 rout heads of all the weeds and keep on it 105 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:30,199 top of it that way, But I could plant the 106 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,120 beds to be absolutely fully stuff like you could have 107 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,800 a row of beetroot, you could have a row lettuce, 108 00:06:35,879 --> 00:06:38,000 you could have a row of carrots, you could have 109 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,160 a row of spring onions, and you could squeeze them 110 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,759 in as much as possible and grow an absolute ton 111 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:51,040 of vegetables on your allotment if you wanted to, again 112 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:55,759 utilizing that space. And I know there's a method called 113 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:59,680 square foot gardening. I think it is, and that's a 114 00:07:00,199 --> 00:07:05,560 sort of squeezing everything in in different rows but organized, 115 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,000 and it'll just be the right amount of vegetabrow for yourself. 116 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:13,639 And you can fit plenty of vegetables in doing it 117 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:17,519 in that method, as like obviously carrots don't take up 118 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:19,800 much rooms, bring onions don't take up much room, beat 119 00:07:19,839 --> 00:07:22,759 wood doesn't take up much room. So you can plant 120 00:07:22,759 --> 00:07:25,399 them all in rows like that if you want. And 121 00:07:25,639 --> 00:07:30,040 again I end up planting too much that I actually 122 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,639 need to actually grow, Like I've got two hundred strawberry plants. 123 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:38,279 Now you probably say that's too much, but it's not 124 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,360 too much. I absolutely love my strawberries. If I could 125 00:07:42,399 --> 00:07:47,000 have an altmonth of strawberries, I certainly would do. And 126 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,759 the more that I do of strawberries, I would do, 127 00:07:51,279 --> 00:07:54,120 Like if I could, I'd have them on in baskets 128 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:55,959 on the fence and I'd have them up the side 129 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,319 of my shed. But then they dry out every single 130 00:07:58,399 --> 00:08:01,199 day and I'd have to water them every single But yeah, 131 00:08:01,279 --> 00:08:03,720 there's so much stuff you can grow, like on the 132 00:08:03,759 --> 00:08:06,600 side of your fences and stuff, but obviously I can't 133 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:11,639 get down every single day to keep these watered. And 134 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,800 I think it goes back to my previous episode, is 135 00:08:15,879 --> 00:08:20,319 that using this time now to plan what you want 136 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,639 to grow in your beds and the layout of the plot, 137 00:08:23,959 --> 00:08:27,879 it all comes hand in hand in getting the most 138 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:32,120 out of your allotment and garden and trying to fit 139 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:35,840 as much in as possible. And yeah, I could grow 140 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,840 absolutely loads of stuff in my plot, and I might 141 00:08:38,919 --> 00:08:41,159 possibly try and do that this year. I might see 142 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:43,080 if I can grow the most stuff that I've ever 143 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:45,960 actually grown down at the allotment. It's going to be hard, 144 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,720 it's going to be tough because obviously I'm working nine 145 00:08:48,759 --> 00:08:51,720 to five monthay Friday now. But if I put in 146 00:08:52,759 --> 00:08:56,039 enough time and effort, I could actually do it. Because 147 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,559 having an allotment is like a full time job. People think, oh, 148 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:01,320 it's going to be easy, it's going to be so 149 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:03,559 easy to just like go down and do a bit 150 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:07,240 every so often, but no, it's definitely a full time job, 151 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:09,840 and I absolutely love it. I'd do it as a 152 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:13,039 full time job. I'd love to be down there at 153 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:15,840 the allotment all the time. But unfortunately this podcasts not 154 00:09:15,879 --> 00:09:20,200 gone viral yet. Once it does, then I can do 155 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:24,679 it full time. Keep sharing the podcast out everyone. But yeah, 156 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:28,879 hopefully we can grow as much stuff as possible next year, 157 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,120 So I might start looking in my seat catalogs, writing 158 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:34,320 down all the seeds that I want to do and 159 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,519 plan my layout and see about utilizing my allotment space 160 00:09:38,919 --> 00:09:42,000 a lot more and trying to grow more and more 161 00:09:42,039 --> 00:09:45,919 stuff this year and hopefully get some fantastic results in 162 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,720 some fantastic harvests and share with you all how well 163 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:52,879 I've actually done and on the little time that I 164 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:56,399 have to do it, and see what results we can 165 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:00,120 actually get. So stay tuned. I will be sharing pictures 166 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,799 and tips and advice on how to do it all. 167 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:05,840 But I hope that you do enjoy these podcast make 168 00:10:05,879 --> 00:10:08,440 sure you do give us a follow. Until next time, everyone, 169 00:10:08,519 --> 00:10:12,200 remember keep smiling, keep shining, and keep guardening with Ben. 170 00:10:16,039 --> 00:10:19,679 Thank you for joining me on this episode of Gardening 171 00:10:19,759 --> 00:10:22,919 with Ben. I hope you have found some useful tips 172 00:10:22,919 --> 00:10:26,519 and the integration for your own gardening and a lotment journey. 173 00:10:26,879 --> 00:10:30,720 If you've enjoyed today's episode, please make sure to follow 174 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,120 and subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a 175 00:10:34,159 --> 00:10:36,799 new episode. And if you have a moment, I'd love 176 00:10:36,799 --> 00:10:39,360 for you to leave a review and share the podcast 177 00:10:39,399 --> 00:10:43,799 with fellow gardening enthusiasts. Your support helps us grow this 178 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:48,679 community and continue bringing you great content. You can also 179 00:10:48,759 --> 00:10:52,360 follow us on social media on every platform for All 180 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:56,600 Gardening with Ben, for Daily Gardening tims and other days 181 00:10:56,919 --> 00:11:02,039 Happy gardening, and until next time, remember, keep smiling, keep shining, 182 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,840 and keep gardening with them.