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 alltment. So sit back, grab
a brew and enjoy today's episode. Hey everyone, and welcome
back to Gardening with Ben for another brand new episode.
Were halfway through the week already, Wow, where is this
week going? Well, today's podcast episode we're going to talk
talk about all the jobs which you can do in
the rain. Yes, there's plenty of jobs that you can
do in the rain or in the snow if it's not.
We should have done this podcast for the weekend when
it absolutely bounced it down. But we're here with a
podcast for you to give you some ideas and some
inspirational things to do while you can do in the
garden when it is absolutely chucking it down and during
those winter months of cold weather, horrible weather, when you
don't want to actually spend time in the allotment. So
what jobs can we do during the wet weather. So
we're going to talk about these and hopefully give you
some ideas. So first up is planning and organizing. Now
I do talk about these a lot in some of
my podcasts, and one idea is to review your garden journal.
If you've not started a garden journal, have a look
now on Amazon or on say different websites and see
about buying a garden journal. It's a good idea to
make notes of when you start your seeds, when you've
harvested them, where you've planted them, etc. Like that, and
then you can look back and see what worked well
and what didn't work well. Like I take lots of
photos obviously to share with you all on social media,
so I have a journal in photos as well as
in writing things down and seeing how well things are do.
Next up is plan your crop rotation. Now, obviously you
need to keep your crops rotated because growing things in
the same place every year, they won't grow as well
because they take all the nutrition from the ground, and
you need to try them in a different place, or
if there's some disease still in that soil from that plant,
it will come back and get on that plan and
not do as well that year as well. Next up
is make a seed list. Decide what seeds you want
to buy for the next growing season. Now, this is
one job that I need to do this week and
start writing down the ideas of things that I want
to try and grow next year and if we're able
to grow, and because obviously I'm only working nine to
five now and I only get weekends free to go
down on the allotment, so I need to see about
things that are feasible and that will grow with not
as much help for me, and just things that will
just grow by themselves and hopefully do well and still
get products on them. So have a look at them
seed lists and get writing them. And yeah, I'm going
to think about starting some chillis and peppers off next
month and possibly some auber genes, So stay tuned for them,
and stay tuned for the videos as I share what
I'm getting up to and what I'm getting growing. Sketch
your garden layout plan now plan your garden layout for
next year. Plan what you want to grow where and
how you're going to grow it, and if you're going
to change anything with your beds or your paths or
any new features that you want to add. So make
us sketchy your garden and decide where you're going to
be planting stuff. Next up, we're going to be talking
about maintenance tasks that need a rainy day. Now, rain
does help with things. If you don't think that rain helps,
it does. Obviously it helps with watering, but it can
also help with jobs in the garden, and one of
the main jobs it can help with is obviously weeding
weed to pull out much more easier when the soil
is damp. Use this opportunity to clear invasive plants, especially
bind weed my nemesis. But it keeps me busy, keeps
me occupied, and keeps me fit and getting dug in.
If we didn't have no weeds, we wouldn't have no
work to do on the garden and we won't be
keeping in good shape. Next up is planting perennials and shrubs.
The moils. The moist soil reduces transplant shock for new plants.
So if you wanted to plant perennials and shrubs. It's
ideal to do it when the ground is wet. Compost maintenance,
turn your compost pile or ADM materials to keep it
balanced and aerated. Rain can heap. Rain can help the
pile moist keep moist, so the rain can help keep
the pile moist. So rain helps your compost heaps, so
keep turning it and keep it rotting down. So what
jobs can we do undercover when it's raining. So obviously
I've got a greenhouse, I've got a polytunnel, so it's
an ideal time to do jobs in the garden. And
that is one of the reasons why I try to
get my allotment as cleared as fast as possible in
October November, so that I can do all the jobs
in the greenhouse, in the polytonnel, in the shed when
it is nasty, horrible weather, which is usually around December time.
It's never usually nice in December, it's usually rainy and
horrible like in January February. So yeah, that is the
perfect time to do all the jobs which need doing
in the shed, in the greenhouse, and that can be
obviously building new benches, painting things up. Washing those plant pots,
Yes you have to wash them. Don't take them home
and put them in your dish washer and get told off.
But yet you have to wash your plant pots because
there's diseases around, there's bugs, the pests, etc. Give them
a good clean and washing them in some nice soapy
water and get them all clean and fresh for next year.
Any tool maintenance. Clean your tools down, sharpen blades, oil,
l aing, moving parts and organize them in your shared
hang them up, make them look tighty, and get them
all ready for next year. Next up is potting bench projects.
Sow seeds in trays or RePOP plants that need larger
containers now. Obviously, in my previous episodes I talked about
all the plants that you can sow this month, and
we're going to be starting to sew our winter onions now,
So that is one job that you can actually get
started now ready far next year, get them growing and
then get them planted out in the garden in March time.
Next up is jobs which you can do in the
house while it's absolutely raining. Yes, you can still do
gardening jobs while you're in the house. Obviously, not messy jobs.
Because you'll get told off if you make a mess.
But there's certain jobs that you can do in the house.
And obviously you can care for your houseplants. If you're
growing any house plants in your garden, does the leaves,
pruneum and water them as needed. I've got a house
plant in my new house and I've not watered it yet.
I need to water it. That reminds me. But I'm
hoping to get some more plants in my house because
obviously more plants in the house makes a healthy you.
So I need to get some more plants for my house.
So if anybody's got any ideas of decent plants what
I can grow in my house, let me know. Start
a herb garden. Plant herbs in pots to keep on
your window sill for easy access, and obviously growing herbs
on your window sill in the winter months soil can
continue growing because they'll get the light, they'll get the warmth,
and yeah, you can grow your herbs through the winter
months in the house. Create your garden labels. Now, we
talked about this in my last podcast. My biggest failure
is not making plant labels. So why not get saving
those milk cartons trim them down into strips and get
making your garden labels ready for next year. So yeah,
there's plenty of jobs that you can actually do in
your garden in the winter period and things to keep
your busy, keep you occupied. And I know a lot
of people don't like going outside in the cold and
the wet weather, so use it as an opportunity to
go in your shed or in your greenhouse and get
them jobs done and hopefully get prepared ready for next
year and hopefully have a successful year. We are going
to try and have the most successful year down at
my allotment next year, even though I'm only down there
two days a week. I'm going to try and prove
to you all that you can actually do an allotment
in two days and still get a fantastic crop from
your gardens. So make sure you stay to inform of
videos next year on YouTube and Instagram and Facebook. And
if you're not following me on this podcast, please do
give me a follow and click that belt so you
get notified when your podcasts come up. I'd love to
get to one thousand followers on Spotify, So if you're
not following me on Spotify, just search for Gardening with Ben.
Give me a follow and click that and you'll get
notified when new podcasts come up with Thank you for
joining me of Gardening with Ben. I hope you have
found some useful tips and inspiration for your own gardening
and a lotment journey. If you have enjoyed today's episode,
please make sure to follow and subscribe to the podcast
so you never miss a new episode. And if you
have a moment, I'd love for you to leave a
review and share the podcast with fellow gardening putasts. Your
support helps us grow this community and continue bringing you
great content. You can also follow us on social media
on every platform for All Gardening with Ben for daily
gardening tips and to days happy gardening. And until next time,
remember keep smiling, keep shining, and keep Gardening with Ben.