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Speaker 1: Welcome to Gardening with Ben. You'll go to podcast for

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all things green and growing in twenty twenty five. Whether

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you're a seasoned gardener, a budding enthusiast, or just curious

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about cultivating your own slice of nature, you're in the

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right place. Join me Ben as we explore practical tips,

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inspiring stories, and the latest trends in gardening to make

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your outdoor space bloom with life, from a lotment adventures

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to wildlife friendly gardening. I'm here to help you grow

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your passion and read the rewards. So grab your gloves,

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roll up your sleeves, and let's get started on this

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year's gardening journey. Hey everyone, and welcome back to Gardening

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with Ben for another brand new episode. I hope we've

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all had a excellent weekend, because I know I certainly have.

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We're finally in February. Yes, it's a new month and

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is getting closer to spring. It's getting all that bit

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closer towards our mass so in time when we sow

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every seed that we've got, and I've still been purchasing

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more and more seeds, it's getting beyond the joke. Now

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I'm getting a bit addicted to this spot. Oh well,

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it's my little hobby and I enjoy it. So what

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have we been purchasing. We've purchased every variety of sweet

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pea on Amazon, so hopefully my garden is going to

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be absolutely gorgeous with sweet peas this year. I'm literally

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going to have a sweet pea form. They'll think that

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I'm not growing any vegetables on it or fruit, but

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we will have lots and lots of flowers.

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Speaker 2: That is the plan for this year.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I'm looking forward to trying lots of different

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varieties of sweet peas, and I hope that you enjoy

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seeing the variety is growing down on my plot as

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well and see how well they actually do down there.

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So we've got that to do. We've also ordered every

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variety of sunflower as well on Amazon, so we're going

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to have a beautiful smell of sweet peas earned a

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field of sunflowers for lots of lots of selfies to

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be taken.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, it's.

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Speaker 1: Going to be a busy, busy time this summer with

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how much that we're going to be growing, because we

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are going absolutely wild.

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Speaker 2: We are growing this year, and.

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Speaker 1: Hopefully it does rain during the summer so that we

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don't have to keep water with every day.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, so.

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Speaker 1: We've got every variety of sweetpea, We've got every variety

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of sunflower. I've got loads of varieties of melons to grow.

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So those are exciting things that we've got growing. Next up,

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we're going to be getting some different varieties of cucumbers,

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and we're going to get different varieties of squash as well,

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and different varieties of beans. So we're going to be

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trying lots and lots of different stuff this year down at,

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which I'm excited about. I'm excited to try new challenges

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down there, and I'm tempted to try and grow purple

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Brussels sprouts just to see what they actually taste like

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and if they taste nice or not. So hold me

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to that one and see how well we get on

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with that. So what have we been up to down

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at the Allotment this weekend?

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Speaker 2: Well, have big tasks.

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Speaker 1: What we've been getting done this weekend is I've started

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doing digging over my beds again, as the last time

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I dug them over around October time, so they were

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all compact again and weed are starting to appear now

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because it's a bit tiny bit warmer, but we like

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to dig them over quite a few times before we

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saw plant out in him. We won't be planting out

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in until May time, which is ages away yet, but

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we're going to be keeping him dug over for a

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couple of times and digging them over. You don't often

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need to pull the weeds out because if you're turning

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them over and it's cold at night, it will kill

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the weeds and the roots off, So we just keep

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digging them over and turning them over and not letting

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them roots get established in the beds. So that is

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our plan over the next few months to keep them

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weed free, fingers crossed, and then we won't have a

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massive job of keeping weeding them all before we plant.

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But we've got all that to do, and then I've

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got to paint them all. That's one big job that

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I need to do, and not that i'm looking forward

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to it.

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Speaker 2: I absolutely hate painting.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, my beds are starting to fall apart now,

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the woods getting a bit knackered, and they just need

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to bruce it up and making look smart again. So

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we've done all that, and we've also been busy building.

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Speaker 2: An arch on my plot.

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Speaker 1: As obviously you know that I've got climbing roses near

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my entrance, so we need them to climb up something.

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They're getting quite tall now, so we're gonna train them

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over the arch and hopefully have an archway of flowers

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on the allotment. So looking forward to that, it's tiding

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them up and keeping them n and hopefully not get

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spec to f because they'll be climbing over the arch instead.

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Speaker 2: Of blocking the entrance. So we've got that done.

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Speaker 1: We've also been busy chitting my potatoes, and if you

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don't know how to chip potatoes, I've just posted a

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video recently on my Facebook page and Instagram and YouTube

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of how to chip potatoes. So if you don't know

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how to chip potatoes, watch that video. It's only a

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two minute long video, and I show you how to

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chip the potatoes. It's about pairing them and getting them ready.

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I don't plan them out until Good Friday, even though

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it moves every year, but I always stick to that

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because it's to do with the moon.

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Speaker 2: It's an old garden.

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Speaker 1: Wives tale and I've just lived by that rule because

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it works for me and I usually get good produce,

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so I'm sticking to what works best for me, so

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we've done that. We've also been fixing up my polytunnel

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as some of the seams were starting to disintegrate and

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come aparts. As polytonols do, they seem to split where

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the creases are on it, where we're originally folded. So

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I've strengthened them up, putting tape along them and just

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strengthening it up make it last another year. Every year,

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I keep thinking it's gonna go, It's gonna go one year,

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and it doesn't.

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Speaker 2: It lasts a bit longer, and we keep repairing it.

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Speaker 1: And I'm talking to my dad about it today because

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if it does come off, I won't be able to

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replace it with another one because it's too much hard

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work digging out all around it and putting another skin

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over the top of it. It's a lot of hard work.

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Speaker 2: And if you've.

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Speaker 1: Never put a polytonal skin on, trust me, you have

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to dig trenches are put it over the top, then

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chuck bricks in on to hold the plastic down and

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weigh it down. Then chuck all the soil back in

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and make it tight. And it's a big job. It

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takes about four or five people to be able to

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do that. So if that does finally go the skin,

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I'm going to play with netting as I tend to

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grow a lot of my cucumbers and smartes outside last

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year and they did really well, so I don't necessarily

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need stuff inside my polytunnel. Obviously it's good for going

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to be growing watermelons and stuff like that in it,

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but I'll just grow them in my shed come greenhouse instead,

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and i'd put netting over the polytunnel, so then I'll

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use it as a bit of a brassica cage, have

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really fine thin netting so that I can grow my cauliflowers,

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my cabbages, my sprouts, my broccoli in there without butterflies

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and stuff getting eaten, and use it as a brassica

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cage instead, basically instead of a polytunnel. So that'd been

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my plan if it does finally give way. So yeah,

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it has been a busy week and I've enjoyed it.

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We've started filming new types of videos now as I'm

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trying different things all the time, different ways of filming

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and different types of content, seeing what works and what

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doesn't work. And I've started creating short little videos rather

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than me talking on the video and recorded myself speaking,

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I record the video and then I record the sound

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over the top of it with me speaking like narrating

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it basically, and I think they're coming out quite well.

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They're a lot clearer and they sound a lot better

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when I'm recording it, So I hope you're all enjoying

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them videos. Obviously, I've put one up recently about birds

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visiting my allotment. I did one about the best gardening

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tool that I use, and I've also done my chitting

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my potatoes that version. So yeah, I'm trying different ways

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out and I hope that you're all enjoying them. If

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you've seen any of my videos, please do let me

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know and tell me what you think of them. And

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even if a video just pops up on your page

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or something like that, just give it a thumbs up

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and leave a little comment on it, as it does

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help push it out to wider audience and our followers

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as blowing up at the moment, So keep on doing

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that and keep supporting me. Obviously you're not paying me

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for anything, so just do that and it'll all help

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me out in the long run, and it's free. So

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thank you everyone for what you do for me and

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how much you support me. So until next time, everyone, remember,

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keep smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening with Ben. Everyone,

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thanks for tuning in to today's episode of Gardening with Ben.

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I hope you've enjoyed our chat and picked up some

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tips to help your garden and allotment pride. Don't forget

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to stay connected with me on all social media for

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even more gardening inspiration, updates and behind the scenes content.

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You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

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Speaker 2: Just search Gardening with Ben.

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Speaker 1: Hit that follow button or subscribe button and join our

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growing community, our garden lovers. Until next time, everyone, remember

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keep smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening with Ben.