Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Gardening with Ben. You'll go to
a podcast for all things green and growing. I'm Ben,
your allotment guide and here to help you cultivate your
garden and your passion for plants. Whether you're a seasoned
gardener or just starting out, this podcast is for you.
Each episode will dig into tips, tricks, and techniques to
make your garden and allotment thrive from planting, sewing, and growing.
We will share all the tips and add advice. We
will also have regular episodes talking about what we have
been up to on the Allotment. So sit back, grab
a brew, and enjoy today's episode. Hey everyone, and welcome
back to Gardening with Ben. Yes, it's been a long
time since we've been here, a very long time. In fact,
I do apologize that I have just disappeared off the
podcasting world for the last few weeks or months, however
long it's been. It's been a while as I have
been struggling a lot personally with personal things that I
have been going on. I've had to find a new job,
which I can happily say I've got one, and yeah,
I'm not going to be working shift work anymore, which
is going to be pretty strange because for the last
twenty years possibly I've worked shift works, nights and days,
working on four off and now I'm going into a
nine toll five job, which will seem strange, which I'm
looking forward to because I'll be able to get my
routine back, I'll be able to get proper sleep at night,
and yeah, be able to wake up at normal times
rather than have to keep switching my body clock over,
which isn't healthy for yourself, for mental health and well
being as well. So I'm looking forward to that proper structure.
And yeah, I'll be starting my new job in a
few weeks. It'll be strange because obviously i'll have the
I'm used to having the four days off where i
can spend four good long days at the allotment, and
now I'll just be condensed to my weekends, my Saturday
and my Sunday down at the allotment, which will seem
pretty strange, but I'll get used to it and I'll
be able to try and work round it, and hopefully
when we get the summer back again and the long days,
I'll be able to go down have to work and
spend some time down there and enjoy the evening sunshine
for a change rather than being down in the morning
and get used to that adjustment. So that is the
main reason why I've not been around for a while,
and I do apologize for that, as obviously my work
life takes priority over my hobby sometimes. And now that
we've got that sorted, we can start doing the podcasts
again for you all to enjoy, and I see people
have still been listening to them, so I'm grateful for that,
and I thank everybody that's been listening to the podcasts
and stuck around and welcome back if you have been
listening to them and feel where's he gone? Where's he gone?
But we are back now with the podcast and hopefully
we can start doing some winter podcasts and autumn podcast
talking about everything what needs to be done down at
the allotment over the automa and winter periods. I don't
tend to grow a lot through the autumn and winter,
but I'm going to give it a try this year.
I'm going to try and do some bits and bobs
through the winter so that I can talk about them,
so that I can learn as well with you. Because
I'm not a professional gardener, I've always said that I'm
not a professional. I just share my tips and advice
on what I've learned and what i've picked up what
I've seen on other people's stuff, and I share it
along with you. And that was one of the things
that I did with my sweet corn tips, where I
share the advice about putting the bottles over the sweet
corn to save on them getting eaten by the rats
of the mouse. And a lot of people found that
useful and enjoyed that. So we're going to start sharing
more tips and advice podcasts again. Obviously, we won't be
talking much about my allotment because I'll be at work
Monday to Friday again, so we'll be sharing tips and
advice and hopefully, now that I can structure my days
and build a routine, hopefully we can get these podcasts
back regular on a regular basis. And I know a
lot of you enjoy them and a lot of people
enjoy listening to them on the way to work, or
while they're walking the dog, or while they're at their
allotment garden, or maybe just why you're having your brew
sat down. So I'm glad to be back. I'm glad
to be sharing these podcast with you all again. I
want to build up my little community and get it
all active again and get people chatting and talking. And
I've shared a post on my Facebook and on my
Instagram today about how I'm going to start doing videos
again and sharing little tips and advice or what I'm
getting up to, so make sure you stay tuned for them.
And also I'm hopefully going to be doing some more
YouTube videos again, as I do enjoy doing all the
filming and everything like that, but sometimes it can take
over and you never end up getting actually much done
down at the a Lotment because you're too busy filming.
So hopefully we can get all the content back up
and running for you again, as we were doing well
and people were enjoying it and listening to it. So
hopefully in the next podcast, what we're going to be
talking about is what you can sew and plant in September,
and then the podcast after that we will be talking
about all the jobs which need doing in September down
at the allotment and the garden, so we're going to
be sharing those with you, So make sure you do
stick around for the next few episodes because there will
be lots coming. If there's any specific thing that you
want me to talk about. Get in touch with my
I get in touch ry my Instagram page Gardening with Ben,
and I'll happily receive any suggestions on what you want
to listen to. So I just thought i'd do this
little podcast just to say that we are alive, we
are back, and we are going to start blooming again.
And I'm looking forward to this winter because again it's
one of my favorite times. And I know a lot
of people might find that funnyer that or it's freezing cold,
there's not much flowering, there's not much growing, not much happening.
But I use it as a busy time down at
the allotment. If anything, I'm more busy through the autumn
winter than I am through the spring and summer because
through the autumn and winter periods that is when I
clear all my plot well, I do any maintenance work
that needs doing, I rebuild any beds that need redoing.
I dig over all the ground because I don't do
no dig I do it all by digging, as that's
one method that I prefer. It keeps me fit and able.
And yeah, we do all that, then obviously we plant
all the spring bulbs as well, and I'm gonna be
planting a massive spring bulbs again this year. Last year,
I must have planted so many, and the blooms that
we had this year down at the allotment for the
spring bulbs were absolutely fantastic and out of this world.
I made two new areas on my plot this year
and they looked absolutely gorgeous, the best scenes ever. So
we're gonna be doing that again this year. I'm going
to be doing all the front of my plot because
we didn't get many blooms on the front of my plot,
which is on the roadside. And then I'm going to
be planting them down all one side of my plot
which hasn't got any bulbs down them. So we're going
to be concentrating on them areas this year, so hopefully
we're going to have some spectacular displays. Obviously, spring bulbs
aren't cheap because I like to go. Obviously, you can
buy daffodils, which are cheap. They're out all in the
shops at the moment you'll be seeing them. Daffodils a
bit pretty cheap. But I love the higher sims, I
love the aliums, I love the different varieties of tulips.
I don't like the standard versions. I like all the
frillier looking ones, all the peculiar looking ones, all the
special looking ones. And one thing I always talk about,
which I will probably keep talking about all through autumn
and winter, is that I encourage everybody to plant spring
bulbs on their allotment because it is the first thing
the b c when they wake up from hibernation, and
they need that next to be able to get the
energy to get started for the year ahead. And there's
not many flowers around at that time of year, so
spring bulbs are a must down at the allotment to
help bring that wildlife to your allotment. And the more
bees that you have at the allotment, the more they
will pollinate stuff and you will get more food and
more vegetables, so it all works in your favor. And
they look absolutely gorgeous and definitely great for pictures to
post online because I really do bombard everybody with all
my spring bulb pictures. But I'm going to be sharing
all that in the months to come, so make sure
you stay tuned for that. But I'm glad to be
back on the waves and on your devices again for
you to be able to listen to and enjoy. So
I hope you come back to the next podcast episode,
and like I said, next podcast will be talking about
all the things that you can so in September. Yes,
there's still plenty of stuff that you can sow and
get growing, and if you want to join in with me,
join along with me. But yeah, all the content is back, podcasts,
YouTube videos, and Facebook posts the lot We're going to
bring them all back to you and get a structure
built for you all and hopefully get fingers cracking again.
So until next time, everyone, remember keep smiling, keep shining,
and keep gardening with Ben. Everyone, thank you for joining
me on this episode of Gardening with Ben. I hope
you have found some useful tips and instegration for your own
gardening and a lotment journey. If you have enjoyed today's episode,
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remember keep smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening with them,