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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 alltment. 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 for another brand new episode.

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Were halfway through the week already, Wow, where is this

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week going? Well, today's podcast episode we're going to talk

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talk about all the jobs which you can do in

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the rain. Yes, there's plenty of jobs that you can

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do in the rain or in the snow if it's not.

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We should have done this podcast for the weekend when

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it absolutely bounced it down. But we're here with a

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podcast for you to give you some ideas and some

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inspirational things to do while you can do in the

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garden when it is absolutely chucking it down and during

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those winter months of cold weather, horrible weather, when you

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don't want to actually spend time in the allotment. So

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what jobs can we do during the wet weather. So

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we're going to talk about these and hopefully give you

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some ideas. So first up is planning and organizing. Now

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I do talk about these a lot in some of

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my podcasts, and one idea is to review your garden journal.

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If you've not started a garden journal, have a look

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now on Amazon or on say different websites and see

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about buying a garden journal. It's a good idea to

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make notes of when you start your seeds, when you've

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harvested them, where you've planted them, etc. Like that, and

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then you can look back and see what worked well

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and what didn't work well. Like I take lots of

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photos obviously to share with you all on social media,

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so I have a journal in photos as well as

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in writing things down and seeing how well things are do.

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Next up is plan your crop rotation. Now, obviously you

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need to keep your crops rotated because growing things in

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the same place every year, they won't grow as well

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because they take all the nutrition from the ground, and

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you need to try them in a different place, or

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if there's some disease still in that soil from that plant,

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it will come back and get on that plan and

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not do as well that year as well. Next up

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is make a seed list. Decide what seeds you want

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to buy for the next growing season. Now, this is

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one job that I need to do this week and

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start writing down the ideas of things that I want

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to try and grow next year and if we're able

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to grow, and because obviously I'm only working nine to

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five now and I only get weekends free to go

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down on the allotment, so I need to see about

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things that are feasible and that will grow with not

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as much help for me, and just things that will

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just grow by themselves and hopefully do well and still

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get products on them. So have a look at them

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seed lists and get writing them. And yeah, I'm going

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to think about starting some chillis and peppers off next

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month and possibly some auber genes, So stay tuned for them,

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and stay tuned for the videos as I share what

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I'm getting up to and what I'm getting growing. Sketch

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your garden layout plan now plan your garden layout for

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next year. Plan what you want to grow where and

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how you're going to grow it, and if you're going

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to change anything with your beds or your paths or

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any new features that you want to add. So make

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us sketchy your garden and decide where you're going to

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be planting stuff. Next up, we're going to be talking

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about maintenance tasks that need a rainy day. Now, rain

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does help with things. If you don't think that rain helps,

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it does. Obviously it helps with watering, but it can

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also help with jobs in the garden, and one of

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the main jobs it can help with is obviously weeding

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weed to pull out much more easier when the soil

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is damp. Use this opportunity to clear invasive plants, especially

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bind weed my nemesis. But it keeps me busy, keeps

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me occupied, and keeps me fit and getting dug in.

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If we didn't have no weeds, we wouldn't have no

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work to do on the garden and we won't be

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keeping in good shape. Next up is planting perennials and shrubs.

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The moils. The moist soil reduces transplant shock for new plants.

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So if you wanted to plant perennials and shrubs. It's

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ideal to do it when the ground is wet. Compost maintenance,

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turn your compost pile or ADM materials to keep it

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balanced and aerated. Rain can heap. Rain can help the

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pile moist keep moist, so the rain can help keep

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the pile moist. So rain helps your compost heaps, so

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keep turning it and keep it rotting down. So what

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jobs can we do undercover when it's raining. So obviously

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I've got a greenhouse, I've got a polytunnel, so it's

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an ideal time to do jobs in the garden. And

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that is one of the reasons why I try to

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get my allotment as cleared as fast as possible in

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October November, so that I can do all the jobs

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in the greenhouse, in the polytonnel, in the shed when

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it is nasty, horrible weather, which is usually around December time.

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It's never usually nice in December, it's usually rainy and

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horrible like in January February. So yeah, that is the

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perfect time to do all the jobs which need doing

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in the shed, in the greenhouse, and that can be

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obviously building new benches, painting things up. Washing those plant pots,

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Yes you have to wash them. Don't take them home

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and put them in your dish washer and get told off.

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But yet you have to wash your plant pots because

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there's diseases around, there's bugs, the pests, etc. Give them

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a good clean and washing them in some nice soapy

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water and get them all clean and fresh for next year.

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Any tool maintenance. Clean your tools down, sharpen blades, oil,

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l aing, moving parts and organize them in your shared

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hang them up, make them look tighty, and get them

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all ready for next year. Next up is potting bench projects.

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Sow seeds in trays or RePOP plants that need larger

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containers now. Obviously, in my previous episodes I talked about

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all the plants that you can sow this month, and

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we're going to be starting to sew our winter onions now,

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So that is one job that you can actually get

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started now ready far next year, get them growing and

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then get them planted out in the garden in March time.

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Next up is jobs which you can do in the

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house while it's absolutely raining. Yes, you can still do

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gardening jobs while you're in the house. Obviously, not messy jobs.

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Because you'll get told off if you make a mess.

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But there's certain jobs that you can do in the house.

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And obviously you can care for your houseplants. If you're

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growing any house plants in your garden, does the leaves,

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pruneum and water them as needed. I've got a house

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plant in my new house and I've not watered it yet.

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I need to water it. That reminds me. But I'm

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hoping to get some more plants in my house because

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obviously more plants in the house makes a healthy you.

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So I need to get some more plants for my house.

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So if anybody's got any ideas of decent plants what

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I can grow in my house, let me know. Start

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a herb garden. Plant herbs in pots to keep on

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your window sill for easy access, and obviously growing herbs

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on your window sill in the winter months soil can

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continue growing because they'll get the light, they'll get the warmth,

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and yeah, you can grow your herbs through the winter

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months in the house. Create your garden labels. Now, we

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talked about this in my last podcast. My biggest failure

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is not making plant labels. So why not get saving

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those milk cartons trim them down into strips and get

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making your garden labels ready for next year. So yeah,

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there's plenty of jobs that you can actually do in

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your garden in the winter period and things to keep

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your busy, keep you occupied. And I know a lot

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of people don't like going outside in the cold and

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the wet weather, so use it as an opportunity to

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go in your shed or in your greenhouse and get

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them jobs done and hopefully get prepared ready for next

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year and hopefully have a successful year. We are going

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to try and have the most successful year down at

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my allotment next year, even though I'm only down there

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two days a week. I'm going to try and prove

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to you all that you can actually do an allotment

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in two days and still get a fantastic crop from

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your gardens. So make sure you stay to inform of

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videos next year on YouTube and Instagram and Facebook. And

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if you're not following me on this podcast, please do

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give me a follow and click that belt so you

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get notified when your podcasts come up. I'd love to

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get to one thousand followers on Spotify, So if you're

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not following me on Spotify, just search for Gardening with Ben.

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Give me a follow and click that and you'll get

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notified when new podcasts come up with Thank you for

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joining me of Gardening with Ben. I hope you have

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found some useful tips and inspiration for your own gardening

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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 gardening putasts. Your

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support helps us grow this community and continue bringing you

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great content. You can also follow us on social media

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on every platform for All Gardening with Ben for daily

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gardening tips and to days happy gardening. And until next time,

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remember keep smiling, keep shining, and keep Gardening with Ben.