What We Got Up To at the Allotment 🌱 A Productive Saturday in January 🍅🥦

🎙️ Episode Description 🌱 In this episode, join us as we share everything we got up to at the allotment on a crisp Saturday in January! ❄️ From winter planting to tidying up the beds, we’ll take you through the tasks that set the stage for a successful growing season ahead. 🥕🌼 Whether you’re curious about what grows in winter or looking for tips to keep your allotment thriving, this episode has you covered. Grab a cuppa ☕, tune in, and get inspired for your own allotment adventures! 💬 Don’t forget to let us know what you’re up to at your allotment this January—we’d love to hear from you! 🌟

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Gardening with Ben, your go to podcast for

(00:03):
all things green and growing in twenty twenty five. Whether
you're a seasoned gardener, a budding enthusiast, or just curious
about cultivating your own slice of nature, you're in the
right place. Join me Ben as we explore practical tips,
inspiring stories, and the latest trends in gardening to make

(00:24):
your outdoor space bloom with life, from allotment adventures to
wildlife friendly gardening. I'm here to help you grow your
passion and read the rewards. So grab your gloves, roll
up your sleeves, and let's get started on this year's
gardening journey. Hey everyone, and welcome back to Gardening with Ben. Well,

(00:48):
Happy Sunday. How was your weekend day yesterday? Everybody? How
was your Saturday? Did you manage to get out in
the gardens. Did you manage to get some work done? Yes?
I did, I certainly did, and it wow, it was
absolutely freezing down on the allotment this weekend. Well, hopefully

(01:09):
it'll be a bit warmer today, but yesterday I forgot
my body warmer, so I was absolutely perishing down at
the allotment. But hopefully we will remember it today when
I go down, and if you're listening to this podcast early,
send me a message remind me to take my body
warm with me to the allotment. But yeah, hopefully we'll

(01:30):
get plenty done down at the allotment today. So what
did we get done down at the allotment yesterday? Well, yesterday,
I obviously feed the cat when I get there, and
it's now started waiting on my fence, perched on the fence,
and as soon as it saw me walking down, it
ran to the shed to get fed, like we feed
it every single day. So yeah, it's starting to wait

(01:53):
for me now it knows when I'm there. And obviously
I fed the birds as well. And I think the
squirrels are pinching my bird feeders. I really do, because
to disappearing. I don't know where they're going to, but yeah,
they're definitely hiding them somewhere. So I got to go
out and get some more bird feeders, which is a pain.
So we got that to do, but we felt we

(02:15):
filled the bird feeders that were available to be filled up,
so yeah, we got that done. What else did we
get done? We? Oh, yeah, I spilt some bird seed
on my bench when I was feeding them up, and
the robin came in my shed and started eating it all.
There's surtain robins that just appear and come close to you.

(02:36):
And I sat down in my shed and I managed
to get a good photo of the robin perched on
my tripod, and yeah, I posted that on Facebook and Instagram,
So if you've not seen that photo, have a look at.
It's an absolutely fantastic photo that I got of it.
And hopefully the robin will keep coming back. That's what
we want. I'm definitely tempted to get some robbin houses

(02:58):
down on the plot. I've obviously got bird bluted houses
and I've got some sparrow houses as well, So we
just need to get some robbing houses next to house
of robbins in on my lot. But they tend to
light hedges to robbins. So yeah, somebody's just like my
post now on Instagram my robbin picture. But yeah, thank

(03:20):
you for those that are following it on Instagram and
liking it. And we've got four hundred new followers on
Facebook last week. Wow, it's certainly starting to blow up.
And I am obviously posting more and more content now
and posting videos and posting information and giving tips, and
the last few days we've posted tips on what to

(03:41):
do in the garden in January, what start planting. We've
also shared about how to look after cyclement that you're
growing indoors, how to look what to do with your
alium bulb once not your alium I forgotten what it's called.

(04:01):
It'll come back to me, but it's the one that
we all grow at Christmas, So what to do with
that bulb when it dies back? And also what to
do with the slugs in the plot and how to
prevent them from coming onto your plot. Obviously we can't
stop them completely, but we can try and prevent them
as much as possible. So I'm going to talk about

(04:22):
that in one of my podcasts, what I'm going to
Do coming up. So, yeah, everybody seems to be enjoying
all the posts, and we've filmed a new YouTube video,
What's Out, So if you're not following me on YouTube,
go over to my YouTube channel and go and have
a look at that. We've shared a tour of my
allotment showing you what's growing, what's not growing. I've been
showing you my sweet peas, my geraniums, all my spring

(04:45):
and bulbs what are starting to come out. So go
over and have a look at that video. And if
you don't follow me on YouTube, do give me a
follow and then you'll see the videos come up as
the year goes on. So we've done that. What else
have we done today? Been busy tidy in my polytunnel up.
I am a real pain with my polytunnel. I just
tend to chuck stuff in there, and then at this

(05:06):
time of year I spent ages tidying it all out.
So I need to start being more tidy this year.
That is one of the plans, to be more tidy,
and then I don't have to do all this tidying
up in the winter period. I'll be saying the same
thing next year. But yeah, we've done that. What else
did we do? We've been sorting out all kanes because

(05:26):
they were all in my polytunnel and they still got
all the wires on and string attached to them, and
they've got old runner beans, plants that I died on
what were fastened to them and stuff like that. So
we've been tidying all them up. We've tied them all
up and hung them up in a shed. That's all
done and all sorted. But yeah, we've done quite a

(05:46):
lot down at the plot today and we've had a
massive delivery today which we're expecting to come today and
it was a big box from your garden and they've
done livered mate three big thirty liter pots and we've
got some potato fertilizer. We've got three varieties of potatoes.

(06:08):
We've got Desiree, we've got Rocket, and we've got Charlotte.
So we're going to be starting them off chitting them soon.
So we'll be filming that showing you how we chit them.
And the question is do you chit or do you
not chet? To chet or not to chet? That is
the question. So send me a message to let me
know if you chit or you don't chit. I'd love
to hear what people do. I tend to chip. I've

(06:30):
always done that, and then I always plant them on
Good Friday, even though it changes every year, I always
plant them on Good Fridays to do with the moon.
But we'll be talking about that in a podcast coming up,
how to start chitting your potatoes and how to grow them.
So we'll be doing that and what else we've got
a bonds eigeh tree being delivered, not an actual tree.

(06:53):
We've got five seeds, so we've got them to plant
and try and grow. I've never grown a Bond's eye before,
and to start one off from seed, it'll probably be
a tree by the time I'm dead, so we'll probably
be planting it and remembrance something. But yeah, I'm looking
forward to giving that try. It's all good fun. I
love trying new things and different things, so make sure

(07:15):
you stay tuned for that. I'll be posting my videos
for that on YouTube and Instagram and sharing the progress
with how it gets on. But yeah, it's been a
very busy day down at the plot today to say
it was freezing cold. I actually got quite a bit
done and we'll be back down at the plot today
we'll be recording. I'm going to try and record five
videos for you for this week, so stay tuned for them.

(07:39):
There'll be more informational videos rather than demonstrating videos because
it's not much to demonstrate at this time of year,
so it's a bit like my podcast, but you'll actually
be able to see me. So we'll be doing that
and hopefully tidying some more of my polytunnel up getting
a bit more done and by the time it comes
to summertime it should be spotless. But yeah, hopefully get

(08:03):
lots done down at the plot tomorrow. It doesn't sound
like I've done a lot, but it feels like I've
done a lot if you get me. So hopefully we'll
get lots done today. So we'll be back tomorrow with
another podcast talking about what we've got up to today
down there, and then I'll be having podcasts throughout the week.
Hopefully I'm going to get more recorded this weekend for

(08:25):
you to listen to all week because everybody loves my podcast,
and thank you for the messages that I do receive
about my podcast. I really do appreciate it. So yeah,
until tomorrow, everyone, remember keep smiling, keep shining, and keep
Guardening with Ben. Everyone, thanks for tuning into today's episode

(08:47):
of Gardening with Ben. I hope you've enjoyed our chat
and picked up some tips to help your garden and
allotment thrive. Don't forget to stay connected with me on
all social media even more gardening inspiration updates and behind
the scenes content. You can find me on Facebook, Instagram,

(09:07):
and YouTube. Just search Gardening with Ben, Hit that follow
button or subscribe button and join our growing community of
garden lovers. Until next time, everyone remember keep smiling, keep shining,
and keep gardening with Ben