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Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Gardening with Ben. You'll go to

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a podcast for all things green and growing. I'm Ben,

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your allotment guide and here to help you cultivate your

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garden and your passion for plants. Whether you're a seasoned

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gardener or just starting out, this podcast is for you.

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Each episode will dig into tips, tricks, and techniques to

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make your garden and allotment thrive from planting, sewing, and growing.

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We will share all the tips and add advice. We

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will also have regular episodes talking about what we have

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been up to on the Allotment. So sit back, grab

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a brew, and enjoy today's episode. Hey everyone, and welcome

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back to Gardening with Ben. Yes, it's been a long

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time since we've been here, a very long time. In fact,

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I do apologize that I have just disappeared off the

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podcasting world for the last few weeks or months, however

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long it's been. It's been a while as I have

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been struggling a lot personally with personal things that I

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have been going on. I've had to find a new job,

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which I can happily say I've got one, and yeah,

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I'm not going to be working shift work anymore, which

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is going to be pretty strange because for the last

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twenty years possibly I've worked shift works, nights and days,

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working on four off and now I'm going into a

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nine toll five job, which will seem strange, which I'm

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looking forward to because I'll be able to get my

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routine back, I'll be able to get proper sleep at night,

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and yeah, be able to wake up at normal times

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rather than have to keep switching my body clock over,

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which isn't healthy for yourself, for mental health and well

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being as well. So I'm looking forward to that proper structure.

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And yeah, I'll be starting my new job in a

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few weeks. It'll be strange because obviously i'll have the

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I'm used to having the four days off where i

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can spend four good long days at the allotment, and

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now I'll just be condensed to my weekends, my Saturday

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and my Sunday down at the allotment, which will seem

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pretty strange, but I'll get used to it and I'll

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be able to try and work round it, and hopefully

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when we get the summer back again and the long days,

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I'll be able to go down have to work and

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spend some time down there and enjoy the evening sunshine

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for a change rather than being down in the morning

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and get used to that adjustment. So that is the

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main reason why I've not been around for a while,

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and I do apologize for that, as obviously my work

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life takes priority over my hobby sometimes. And now that

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we've got that sorted, we can start doing the podcasts

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again for you all to enjoy, and I see people

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have still been listening to them, so I'm grateful for that,

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and I thank everybody that's been listening to the podcasts

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and stuck around and welcome back if you have been

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listening to them and feel where's he gone? Where's he gone?

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But we are back now with the podcast and hopefully

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we can start doing some winter podcasts and autumn podcast

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talking about everything what needs to be done down at

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the allotment over the automa and winter periods. I don't

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tend to grow a lot through the autumn and winter,

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but I'm going to give it a try this year.

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I'm going to try and do some bits and bobs

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through the winter so that I can talk about them,

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so that I can learn as well with you. Because

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I'm not a professional gardener, I've always said that I'm

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not a professional. I just share my tips and advice

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on what I've learned and what i've picked up what

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I've seen on other people's stuff, and I share it

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along with you. And that was one of the things

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that I did with my sweet corn tips, where I

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share the advice about putting the bottles over the sweet

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corn to save on them getting eaten by the rats

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of the mouse. And a lot of people found that

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useful and enjoyed that. So we're going to start sharing

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more tips and advice podcasts again. Obviously, we won't be

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talking much about my allotment because I'll be at work

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Monday to Friday again, so we'll be sharing tips and

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advice and hopefully, now that I can structure my days

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and build a routine, hopefully we can get these podcasts

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back regular on a regular basis. And I know a

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lot of you enjoy them and a lot of people

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enjoy listening to them on the way to work, or

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while they're walking the dog, or while they're at their

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allotment garden, or maybe just why you're having your brew

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sat down. So I'm glad to be back. I'm glad

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to be sharing these podcast with you all again. I

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want to build up my little community and get it

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all active again and get people chatting and talking. And

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I've shared a post on my Facebook and on my

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Instagram today about how I'm going to start doing videos

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again and sharing little tips and advice or what I'm

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getting up to, so make sure you stay tuned for them.

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And also I'm hopefully going to be doing some more

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YouTube videos again, as I do enjoy doing all the

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filming and everything like that, but sometimes it can take

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over and you never end up getting actually much done

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down at the a Lotment because you're too busy filming.

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So hopefully we can get all the content back up

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and running for you again, as we were doing well

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and people were enjoying it and listening to it. So

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hopefully in the next podcast, what we're going to be

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talking about is what you can sew and plant in September,

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and then the podcast after that we will be talking

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about all the jobs which need doing in September down

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at the allotment and the garden, so we're going to

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be sharing those with you, So make sure you do

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stick around for the next few episodes because there will

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be lots coming. If there's any specific thing that you

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want me to talk about. Get in touch with my

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I get in touch ry my Instagram page Gardening with Ben,

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and I'll happily receive any suggestions on what you want

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to listen to. So I just thought i'd do this

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little podcast just to say that we are alive, we

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are back, and we are going to start blooming again.

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And I'm looking forward to this winter because again it's

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one of my favorite times. And I know a lot

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of people might find that funnyer that or it's freezing cold,

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there's not much flowering, there's not much growing, not much happening.

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But I use it as a busy time down at

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the allotment. If anything, I'm more busy through the autumn

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winter than I am through the spring and summer because

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through the autumn and winter periods that is when I

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clear all my plot well, I do any maintenance work

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that needs doing, I rebuild any beds that need redoing.

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I dig over all the ground because I don't do

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no dig I do it all by digging, as that's

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one method that I prefer. It keeps me fit and able.

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And yeah, we do all that, then obviously we plant

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all the spring bulbs as well, and I'm gonna be

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planting a massive spring bulbs again this year. Last year,

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I must have planted so many, and the blooms that

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we had this year down at the allotment for the

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spring bulbs were absolutely fantastic and out of this world.

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I made two new areas on my plot this year

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and they looked absolutely gorgeous, the best scenes ever. So

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we're gonna be doing that again this year. I'm going

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to be doing all the front of my plot because

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we didn't get many blooms on the front of my plot,

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which is on the roadside. And then I'm going to

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be planting them down all one side of my plot

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which hasn't got any bulbs down them. So we're going

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to be concentrating on them areas this year, so hopefully

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we're going to have some spectacular displays. Obviously, spring bulbs

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aren't cheap because I like to go. Obviously, you can

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buy daffodils, which are cheap. They're out all in the

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shops at the moment you'll be seeing them. Daffodils a

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bit pretty cheap. But I love the higher sims, I

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love the aliums, I love the different varieties of tulips.

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I don't like the standard versions. I like all the

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frillier looking ones, all the peculiar looking ones, all the

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special looking ones. And one thing I always talk about,

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which I will probably keep talking about all through autumn

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and winter, is that I encourage everybody to plant spring

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bulbs on their allotment because it is the first thing

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the b c when they wake up from hibernation, and

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they need that next to be able to get the

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energy to get started for the year ahead. And there's

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not many flowers around at that time of year, so

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spring bulbs are a must down at the allotment to

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help bring that wildlife to your allotment. And the more

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bees that you have at the allotment, the more they

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will pollinate stuff and you will get more food and

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more vegetables, so it all works in your favor. And

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they look absolutely gorgeous and definitely great for pictures to

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post online because I really do bombard everybody with all

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my spring bulb pictures. But I'm going to be sharing

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all that in the months to come, so make sure

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you stay tuned for that. But I'm glad to be

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back on the waves and on your devices again for

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you to be able to listen to and enjoy. So

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I hope you come back to the next podcast episode,

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and like I said, next podcast will be talking about

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all the things that you can so in September. Yes,

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there's still plenty of stuff that you can sow and

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get growing, and if you want to join in with me,

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join along with me. But yeah, all the content is back, podcasts,

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YouTube videos, and Facebook posts the lot We're going to

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bring them all back to you and get a structure

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built for you all and hopefully get fingers cracking again.

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So until next time, everyone, remember keep smiling, keep shining,

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and keep gardening with Ben. Everyone, thank you for joining

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me on this episode of Gardening with Ben. I hope

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you have found some useful tips and instegration for your own

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gardening and a lotment journey. If you have enjoyed today's episode,

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please make sure to follow and subscribe to the podcast

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so you never miss a new episode. And if you

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have a moment, I'd love for you to leave a

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review and share the podcast with fellow of Gardening confusiasts.

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Your support helps us grow this community and continue bringing

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you great content. You can also follow us on social

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media on every platform or gardening with Ben for daily

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gardening tips and undays. Happy gardening, and until next time,

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remember keep smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening with them,